Even though Cody is ten times better at telling this story than I am, I figured I probably ought to write it now.
Here are some dates and events to know going in to this account:
16 June 2011: Cody and I admitted to each other that we loved each other.
17 June 2011: Cody and I went on the
7 Wonders of Provo date. It was on that date that Cody and I visited the Castle Rock Amphitheater by the Utah State Hospital,
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| At the Castle Rock Amphitheater by the Utah State Hospital on 17 June 2011 |
went to the Weeping American Elm,
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| At the Weeping American Elm tree together on 17 June 2011 |
and the night when, in a moment of my weakness when I was discouraged (because even though we knew we loved each other, what if it stopped? What if Cody decided he didn't love me anymore?), Cody told me that his intention was to marry me. After telling me that, we went and sat on the east side of the
Provo temple and talked a little bit more about our intention to get married.
23 June 2011: After Institute, Cody and I went to Rock Canyon Park and discussed and prayed about when we would get married. We knew December was right. We preferred December 23rd because 23 is my second favorite number.
9 July 2011: Cody and I went ring shopping in Springville so we wouldn't be met by any Provo-ites and so Cody could get an idea of what I liked before he went to his Uncle Dave with whom he would design the ring since Dave is a jeweler.
16 July 2011: Cody and I planned the meals we would be making together for the next week. On July 23 we decided we would have a picnic at the Castle Rock Amphitheater since it would be 5 months exactly before our unannounced-at-that-time wedding.
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| Pond area where were planning to have our picnic on 23 July 2011 |
20 July 2011: I broke my toe. For more details, please read
this post.
And now we come to the story: It was July 23. Cody and I ate breakfast together but then he went over to his best friend's apartment to do his laundry (because it's free there) and work on his talk for the next day and he didn't want to be "distracted" (while he admitted later that he probably wouldn't have been very distracted, he couldn't have me with him). I decided I would be productive, and accordingly, I spread out all the teacher materials I'd brought home with me and started curriculum mapping and planning and scheduling and feeling like I'd accomplished something by the time Cody came back. Cody left around 10am. He didn't get back until 3pm. Around 1pm I texted him asking him how his talk was coming since I hadn't heard from him for a while; he said it was nearly done but that he was waiting for his laundry. When he finally returned to Arcadia at 3pm he said that Tyler's dryer always takes longer on his darks than on his whites (which is
true but is not the whole reason why he was two hours late).
During that time that I was working on school stuff and he was doing his laundry and writing his talk, he made time to go pick up the ring that he'd designed for me. Unbeknownst to me, on 13 July 2011, Cody had gone into Dave's store and started the process of designing and ordering my ring--complete with an infinity symbol and a sapphire. Ten days after first going to Dave's store, the ring was ready (much to Cody's joy because it was the 23rd--my second favorite number--what better day than the 23rd to propose?) and he went to pick it up when he wasn't with me.
When we were planning out where to go
now for our picnic, since it requires a
little bit of a hike to get to the pond, we Xed that off of our list since I wasn't as mobile as I am now on my gimp foot. Cody had been thinking about that and proposed that maybe we could go eat at the Weeping American Elm (special memories, we'd visited the tree the same night that he told me he wanted to marry me, etc.).
However. I thought we were just going for a picnic. So I vetoed the tree (because I didn't want to just eat under a shady huge wonderful tree--I wanted to see some sun, lay on some grass, etc.) and
I proposed that we go to the "newly" (as in last fall) landscaped and finished trails on the south end of campus. Cody agreed. We made our delicious sandwiches and headed over.
We found a nice place to sit and eat that was a little off the path and that had a nice grassy area next to it--which I was way excited for because my wish of laying on the grass would be able to come true. We ate our food. It was yummy. Then we went and sat on the grass. We laid on our backs and talked--about my grandparents, about probably weird things--and looked at the dragonflies.
All during this time I was totally not paying attention to any of Cody's attention signals, I guess, because apparently he'd been looking out the whole time, waiting for all the pedestrians to leave the area. When the coast was clear, he sat up. I didn't think anything was different or weird about that. Sometimes he does that, sits up, I mean. I kept looking at the dragonflies. Then he asked me to sit up. I didn't think that was weird either. I thought we were getting ready to go or talk about something serious and he wanted us to have eye contact or something.
So there were were, both sitting up on the grass. Then Cody changed positions and was on one knee and I started
freaking out. "Are you serious? You're not serious? Are you serious? Are you
serious? You're
not serious!" And then he pulled out the ring box and I continued to freak out. "Cody, you're
not serious! You're
not serious!"
I managed to stop freaking out and Cody told me how much he loves me and how he'd waited a long time for this and would I marry him.
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| My pretty ring, 23 July 2011 |
Now. Cody knew I would say yes. I knew I would say yes. I'd told him that I would tell him yes. I'd even told him that I wouldn't ever make him wait.
But then I made him wait. I didn't mean to. And I didn't even realize it until later when Cody and I were leaving our picnic spot when he told me. Apparently I'd laughed (which I remembered doing) for about a minute and a half (I don't remember it being that long) before I kissed him and said, "Of course I'll marry you!"
Then he tremblingly took the ring out of the box and put it on my equally tremby left ring finger. And voila. We are engaged. And we get married December 22--not the 23rd--because the times at the temple work a lot better for the 22nd. Plus, it's easier for our family members who will be traveling around that time.
Je suis tres heureuse. :)
