The Proposal

Our friends, Derek and Nicole at a CEU dance 1998. I really never thought that I'd be in a photo that looked so dated!

I didn't buy him a ring and get down on one knee and ask him to marry me. Although what I did may be considered just as forward.

Christian and I had been dating for about a month (which seemed like a long time....at the time). We had been hanging out together every day and going out with friends or on dates at night. I was in my first semester of college and was eighteen. He was in his second year of college, had been home from his mission for 5 months and was twenty one.

At the time I was in the process of turning in my papers to be an EFY counselor, and had been working hard to scrounge up letters of recomendation. Also, as part of the application process I had to provide my feelings about the gospel and answer several personal questions, all of which required a lot of prayer and thought.

Dating Christian along with doing the studying necessary to complete the EFY paperwork sent me on a spiritual high. I felt that things were great and that I was doing the right things in my life. I had also had several strong feelings or impressions that Christian was a person that I could spend the rest of eternity with.

So, one night, after a bishop's fireside we were riding home together(30 minutes from Castle Dale to Price) and we started talking about where our relationship was headed. Without a hesitation I told him that I thought he was the one for me, and that we should get married. Then the tears started flowing and my anxiety level rose. I talked about my feelings for him and some of the personal feelings I had felt. He didn't look as stunned as he was. He just listened, then told me he would have to think about what I had said.

The next day, he told me that he felt the same way, and that he knew I was the one for him. I talked to my dad about my feelings and told him that Christian and I would be getting married in May (It was October at this point). My dad told me to do what my heart told me to do. I told my mom, and she said the same thing.

Later that semester (December 15th to be exact) there was the ring and the "formal" proposal, where Christian did get down on one knee. So that's that!

Here's what I've learned from that experience:

• When you are 18 years old you have much more courage, because you are unaware that there is a possibility of failing.
• My parent's reaction to me announcing my upcoming marriage has taught me many things about parenting. I have on occasion asked my mom what SHE was thinking, letting her 18 year old daughter act like that. She always says, "could you have been stopped?" I know the answer to that questionn.
• When times have been hard for us, or things don't seem to be working out like I've planned. I have often reflected on the feelings and impressions that I had leading up to my gut spilling proposal. Remembering how I felt has brought me comfort and strength and a committment to always do better.

So here we are! Nine years and a couple of kids later. More humble and a lot smarter!