Part Four:: * The Proposal *
It's been over a YEAR since I've been posting about the love story of how Jon and I met and where we are today. So sorry for the delay. It's been quite the year and a half since I last posted. For one, we had Ellie. Then we moved. We bought a house (still remodeling), miscarried twice, and moving into our house in February.
But tonight as my daughter is sleeping, hubby staying overnight at our new home, I think I can find some time to update you. It also helps that it is a week until our anniversary of when Jon proposed! This will take awhile as I search for reminders of the details of that weekend and look around for pictures to include. :)
If you are wondering about the first three parts of our love story: check here here and here first.
Well, here's our story. Not perfect. But this is how it went. As I look back I see my flaws, but I know in the end Jon still asked me to marry him....and I'm forever thankful! Happy (almost) four years since engagement honey! Love you now more than that day:
One day I was working retail (The Learning Post to be exact) and Jon and my brother came in and found me.
"Hey, guess what we just picked up!" Jon said with some excitement in his voice!
That little stinker! He knew I wouldn't be able to handle the rest of the hours I had to work knowing that!! I don't know what day this was, but it was probably the week that we got engaged.
Saturday I knew we were going out and he was proposing to me. No surprise there. I encouraged him we should get engaged before Christmas, because the plan was to get married the following summer. Plus it would be nice to spend the holidays together...engaged. :) So the last weekend possible before Christmas, we got engaged. ;)
I was all dressed up and we went out. I don't even remember what I wore but I tried to match (or closely match) what I wore the day he saw me in that Sunday School class. He told me I could pick where we ate, but it was going to be in Ankeny. Okay...I thought he probably was taking me somewhere from our dates we spent in Ankeny. But somehow he gave me a hint (since he kept talking about his concern about the weather), that it had to do with something outside. I picked a restaurant called Chips. It's not an overly expensive place, nor the atmosphere over the top....so just our style. ;) It just so happened to be the RIGHT location for where we were wanting to be for the "main event."
During dinner Jon was very closed off and his mind was elsewhere. I was pretty devastated about that and I remember forcing myself to learn on being selfless through the whole meal. I was going to need to learn how to love this man through the hard stuff....and one dinner isn't going to be HARD compared to the life ahead. He even left the table to make "quick" phone calls. We missed out on a lot of just communication during the meal and I was bummed he wasn't more "with me" during that time. (But little did I know....it was a BIG thing he had to focus on!)
See, his "big plan" for proposing was falling through due to the weather. He was trying to make plans to see if he could make it happen the following day. After dinner he pulled the car up and told me we weren't going to be able to do what he had planned, that we probably should just go home, and go for try number two tomorrow.
I was so upset.
Everyone at home knew when we left the house we were going to return engaged! My closest friends knew I would attend church the next morning WITH my fiance and surely would want to see the ring! I was bummed to think of all the confusing looks we would receive and I told Jon how I felt.
Isn't there another way?
Sweet hubby of mine was so desperately wanted me to have a proposal I would never forget. He wanted me to have a proposal I could be proud of and tell people the exciting story! He wanted it to be more than just, "Hey would you marry me?" He knows women (especially this one!) enough to know the proposal is such a special thing. and he wanted to make that moment special. Something we would be happy to tell our kids about some day.
And it was.
Driving towards home he was not content with the outcome of the night. He parked in a driveway and stepped out of the car and started to make numerous phone calls. At this point I'm like...really? What could he be doing? Who is he calling?
It's funny if you really think about it. Here we are in some strangers driveway and Jon is outside walking aimlessly talking to different people on his cell....and I'm sitting alone in the car...waiting. This was the night we got engaged.
He got back in the car not 100% thrilled but he was determined! And when Jon is determined about something he is ALL IN! He drove (and those who know the route we went from the area by Merle Hay Road towards 100th Street by the church--JEFC--where we first met). Right away as he started driving I knew what he was doing....if the first choice didn't work....he wants to propose where OUR STORY began! :) On the way I was still a little hurt. Jon is talking about how he thinks we should just go home but at the same time arguing with himself about how he wanted to do something else but it wasn't going to work out! His mind was working like crazy in all sorts of places!
Honestly, I had tears running down my cheeks. This is NOT what either of us were picturing our special night to be like. But such is life. This is life.
He pulled up to the JEFC parking lot. He looked at me and I remember looking out my window telling myself to look at him. The entire night was him spending time on the phone and not with me. I was so lost. (Remember I'm the planner of the two, it was crushing me.)
But then he started speaking, sharing his heart. He apologized for the crazy night. It was not what he originally planned. He wanted a nice dinner where we could just chat like we were on a normal date but with extra excitement. He then wanted to do something else but it didn't work out, so he started to call people to try to get into the church and take me to the room where he first saw me. He said he wanted to propose to me in that room...the room where our story began. But he couldn't get anyone to be able to get us in the church. So he decided we would just park and be as close to that room as possible. It was cold and we stayed in the car. He then talked about our relationship from the very beginning. Our story fits us. We focused on our friendship first. He shared more but I just can't remember. All I remember were they were perfect. He had tears in his eyes. I had never seen him tear up before. EVER. He got the ring out and held it and sincerely asked me to marry him.
And I SAID YES!!! :)
Afterwards, the whole whirlwind of emotions I told him I didn't feel like going home! It was just a CRAZY night! He agreed and we went to VillageInn for dessert. I looked at that ring for pretty much the entire time. We were like little junior high kids. very giggly. :)
We got home and some of my siblings were there and they congratulated us! Then Jon said he wanted to take me on a walk. Wait, what? It's freezing! We grabbed extra warm things (including a blanket) and walked. I knew where we were going. :) Remember our first date? We walked to a park near my parents house....we were going to that bench swing that we spent a long time talking while swinging. :)
On our way there we saw a car drive by and we stopped them. It was my parents!! :) I introduced them to my fiance. ;) They were so excited for us! We spent some time on that swing just talking and going through the emotions of the night and what was to come!
The next morning we attended church and people were so excited for us! It was just so much fun! The ring was so sparkly! While there Jon whispered to our friends what we were doing later that day (the big surprise that didn't work out the night before). By the time we were getting ready to leave I figured it out. ;) Jon is not good at keeping secrets when he's REALLY excited about them!!
We drove to Ankeny AGAIN and got on a helicopter! :)
They even took us over the holiday lights. It was so cool to see all the Christmas lights from above. It was so cool! Something I'll always remember! Wish we had pictures, but neither of us had a camera at the time that worked.
Here's some pictures from our first Christmas together as a "couple." :)
But tonight as my daughter is sleeping, hubby staying overnight at our new home, I think I can find some time to update you. It also helps that it is a week until our anniversary of when Jon proposed! This will take awhile as I search for reminders of the details of that weekend and look around for pictures to include. :)
If you are wondering about the first three parts of our love story: check here here and here first.
Well, here's our story. Not perfect. But this is how it went. As I look back I see my flaws, but I know in the end Jon still asked me to marry him....and I'm forever thankful! Happy (almost) four years since engagement honey! Love you now more than that day:
One day I was working retail (The Learning Post to be exact) and Jon and my brother came in and found me.
"Hey, guess what we just picked up!" Jon said with some excitement in his voice!
That little stinker! He knew I wouldn't be able to handle the rest of the hours I had to work knowing that!! I don't know what day this was, but it was probably the week that we got engaged.
Saturday I knew we were going out and he was proposing to me. No surprise there. I encouraged him we should get engaged before Christmas, because the plan was to get married the following summer. Plus it would be nice to spend the holidays together...engaged. :) So the last weekend possible before Christmas, we got engaged. ;)
I was all dressed up and we went out. I don't even remember what I wore but I tried to match (or closely match) what I wore the day he saw me in that Sunday School class. He told me I could pick where we ate, but it was going to be in Ankeny. Okay...I thought he probably was taking me somewhere from our dates we spent in Ankeny. But somehow he gave me a hint (since he kept talking about his concern about the weather), that it had to do with something outside. I picked a restaurant called Chips. It's not an overly expensive place, nor the atmosphere over the top....so just our style. ;) It just so happened to be the RIGHT location for where we were wanting to be for the "main event."
During dinner Jon was very closed off and his mind was elsewhere. I was pretty devastated about that and I remember forcing myself to learn on being selfless through the whole meal. I was going to need to learn how to love this man through the hard stuff....and one dinner isn't going to be HARD compared to the life ahead. He even left the table to make "quick" phone calls. We missed out on a lot of just communication during the meal and I was bummed he wasn't more "with me" during that time. (But little did I know....it was a BIG thing he had to focus on!)
See, his "big plan" for proposing was falling through due to the weather. He was trying to make plans to see if he could make it happen the following day. After dinner he pulled the car up and told me we weren't going to be able to do what he had planned, that we probably should just go home, and go for try number two tomorrow.
I was so upset.
Everyone at home knew when we left the house we were going to return engaged! My closest friends knew I would attend church the next morning WITH my fiance and surely would want to see the ring! I was bummed to think of all the confusing looks we would receive and I told Jon how I felt.
Isn't there another way?
Sweet hubby of mine was so desperately wanted me to have a proposal I would never forget. He wanted me to have a proposal I could be proud of and tell people the exciting story! He wanted it to be more than just, "Hey would you marry me?" He knows women (especially this one!) enough to know the proposal is such a special thing. and he wanted to make that moment special. Something we would be happy to tell our kids about some day.
And it was.
Driving towards home he was not content with the outcome of the night. He parked in a driveway and stepped out of the car and started to make numerous phone calls. At this point I'm like...really? What could he be doing? Who is he calling?
It's funny if you really think about it. Here we are in some strangers driveway and Jon is outside walking aimlessly talking to different people on his cell....and I'm sitting alone in the car...waiting. This was the night we got engaged.
He got back in the car not 100% thrilled but he was determined! And when Jon is determined about something he is ALL IN! He drove (and those who know the route we went from the area by Merle Hay Road towards 100th Street by the church--JEFC--where we first met). Right away as he started driving I knew what he was doing....if the first choice didn't work....he wants to propose where OUR STORY began! :) On the way I was still a little hurt. Jon is talking about how he thinks we should just go home but at the same time arguing with himself about how he wanted to do something else but it wasn't going to work out! His mind was working like crazy in all sorts of places!
Honestly, I had tears running down my cheeks. This is NOT what either of us were picturing our special night to be like. But such is life. This is life.
He pulled up to the JEFC parking lot. He looked at me and I remember looking out my window telling myself to look at him. The entire night was him spending time on the phone and not with me. I was so lost. (Remember I'm the planner of the two, it was crushing me.)
But then he started speaking, sharing his heart. He apologized for the crazy night. It was not what he originally planned. He wanted a nice dinner where we could just chat like we were on a normal date but with extra excitement. He then wanted to do something else but it didn't work out, so he started to call people to try to get into the church and take me to the room where he first saw me. He said he wanted to propose to me in that room...the room where our story began. But he couldn't get anyone to be able to get us in the church. So he decided we would just park and be as close to that room as possible. It was cold and we stayed in the car. He then talked about our relationship from the very beginning. Our story fits us. We focused on our friendship first. He shared more but I just can't remember. All I remember were they were perfect. He had tears in his eyes. I had never seen him tear up before. EVER. He got the ring out and held it and sincerely asked me to marry him.
And I SAID YES!!! :)
Afterwards, the whole whirlwind of emotions I told him I didn't feel like going home! It was just a CRAZY night! He agreed and we went to VillageInn for dessert. I looked at that ring for pretty much the entire time. We were like little junior high kids. very giggly. :)
We got home and some of my siblings were there and they congratulated us! Then Jon said he wanted to take me on a walk. Wait, what? It's freezing! We grabbed extra warm things (including a blanket) and walked. I knew where we were going. :) Remember our first date? We walked to a park near my parents house....we were going to that bench swing that we spent a long time talking while swinging. :)
On our way there we saw a car drive by and we stopped them. It was my parents!! :) I introduced them to my fiance. ;) They were so excited for us! We spent some time on that swing just talking and going through the emotions of the night and what was to come!
The next morning we attended church and people were so excited for us! It was just so much fun! The ring was so sparkly! While there Jon whispered to our friends what we were doing later that day (the big surprise that didn't work out the night before). By the time we were getting ready to leave I figured it out. ;) Jon is not good at keeping secrets when he's REALLY excited about them!!
We drove to Ankeny AGAIN and got on a helicopter! :)
They even took us over the holiday lights. It was so cool to see all the Christmas lights from above. It was so cool! Something I'll always remember! Wish we had pictures, but neither of us had a camera at the time that worked.
Here's some pictures from our first Christmas together as a "couple." :)
 |
| trying to get a good one for Christmas card my brother, me, and Jon |
 |
| my sister does evil santa gifts and Jon got a nice one this year "welcome to the family" Jon the "new guy" :) |
love reading things like this! i love love! XOXO
ReplyDeletethe well-traveled wife ♥
Thanks!
ReplyDelete