Part 4: Engaged!

{James' point of view}

The day after our phone conversation, September 23rd, just so happened to be the day of the dedication for the Brigham City temple. That was a rather enjoyable dedication to view, but frankly I was rather distracted throughout the service and the rest of the afternoon due to my preoccupation with Valerie and where we appeared to be rapidly heading. I was eagerly anticipating seeing her again that evening when I was to cook her dinner.

I prepared the food, Valerie showed up when she said she would, and we had an excellent meal, if I do say so myself. We visited and played my piano for a while afterwards, and then I suggested we take a walk in a local park. We walked around for a little while, then sat under a beautiful tree for further conversation. I remember it was rather cloudy that evening, and it started to drizzle part-way through our time at the park.

Our conversation had been pleasant overall, and we slowly drifted back to the topic of marriage when we were talking about Valerie's sister's wedding. It quickly became obvious to me that Valerie had very strong feelings for me, and that there was even the distinct chance that she might actually want to marry me! However, we also talked about how we had been dating for such a short period of time, and that we didn't want to rush something so important. It was at that point that, after agreeing with her, that I started to compare our situation to buying a house: You look around at a bunch of different houses, you learn what you like and don't like in a house, maybe rent one or two. When you find the house, however, you know it almost immediately. You don't want to rush into anything you're not ready for, but you know it's the right house for you. I then related proposing to jumping off a cliff; the first step is absolutely terrifying, but you're always grateful you took that step. In case you were wondering, yes, I like metaphors, and yes, I was incredibly nervous.

It was at some point during my spiel that I realized that I was going to propose that night, and the idea of doing so was freaking me out! Finally, with my entire body just about seizing up with nervousness, I said to her, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" She broke down, but not without first gasping out, "Yes!" I was stunned, first by the fact that I had actually asked the question, and second that she had said yes. She said yes! My gosh, I had never expected the night to turn out like this!

In somewhat of a daze, Valerie asks me to meet her parents. No, neither of us had met the others' parents at this point! We drive over there, I meet her mom and dad, and then I tell them that I had proposed to their daughter. That was only slightly less nerve-wracking than asking Valerie to marry me. They were both somewhat overwhelmed, as is to be expected, but I had very good first impressions of them. Because my parents were both out of town, and my mother was getting back the following night, we decided to wait and tell my parents until then.

The following day, I woke up and went about  my normal school schedule, but it was with some literal trepidation that I had dreamed the events of the night before, so I sent Valerie a text asking her if it was a dream. Fortunately and kindly on her part, she told me that it was not. When I got to the Taekwondo studio that evening, we both told our master, Tara. She was so stunned, she didn't believe us at first!

That evening is when we went shopping for Valerie's engagement ring. I won't comment on the terrible salesmanship of two of the sellers we went to, but we eventually found a ring that Valerie loved. Before taking her to meet my mother and other family, I proposed to her again the proper way, and she said yes again (I won't deny that I was the slightest bit worried she would've changed her mind by then.) My family was pleased to meet her, if somewhat outrageous in their remarks because my family is rather right-wing politically, while Valerie is a Democrat. Thanks, Daniel.

After calling the rest of my family and people I cared about to tell them about our engagement, we posted on Facebook, enjoyed the massively positive response, and began our lives together as a newly engaged couple!