4/4/10

This is the date of Easter this year. Also the date that I got engaged.
That's correct, you read it right....Engaged!!!
I am so happy right now, even though it hasn't completely set in yet. It's getting there though! For those of you who have the time or enjoy sappy stories, here is the full story!

So it definitely hadn't been the best week of my life. A professor in the Communication Studies department (with whom I've had three classes, been advised by, and corresponded with about grad school) passed away unexpectedly (see previous post). I had been feeling very down/depressed about it. I felt so heavy and cried frequently. On Thursday evening I went to an informal vigil held for her on campus, and this gave me some closure and helped me to feel a little better. Secondly, I was somewhat down about not being home for Easter weekend and being able to spend it with my family. So Jake, Jeff, Mike and I planned on eating an early Easter dinner at my apartment then going to White Sands to play and watch the sunset. I had invited one of my best friends, Danielle, but she was in Los Alamos for the weekend and "was staying for Easter dinner with her family" (I'll explain the quotes later), and my other girl friend was in Los Alamos as well. So Sunday comes around, Jake and I go to church in the morning, and after that I made scalloped potatoes for dinner. Mid-afternoon Jeff and Mike showed up with ham, strata, and pie, and the four of us had a yummy dinner, then headed to White Sands. We played catch with a baseball, frisbee, and football for a while and just goofed off.

Around 7:15 or so the sun was beginning to set, and the boys told me we should move to a different dune. Being stubborn and wondering what the point of moving to a different dune was when they are all the same, they told me "That one is better. It has fewer footprints" and Jake tried explaining why we should sit on a dune without so many footprints because the grounds would be harder and less sand would get into our pants (???). Whatever. So we moved to a "better" dune and Jeff and Mike went back to the car to "get some things". Jake and I sat down on the dune and looked at the sunset for just a little bit, then he grabbed me and made me turn around and face him. After some protests and saying I couldn't see the sunset that way, he started a conversation with me. By this time I had noticed he was acting pretty sketchy and thought something was up, but I had had my suspicions before and nothing happened, so I figured it was the same. He was acting pretty paranoid though, like when I would turn my head to just glance around the pretty scenery, he'd be like "What are you looking at? Don't worry I'm looking out for Jeff and Mike."

After a little small talk, he said "Stand up. You have way too much sand on you, let me brush it off" and I was thinking "Um...this is White Sands! There's sand everywhere and it's not going to stay off of us!" But I stood up and by this time I was thinking "Um something's going on" but still trying not to believe it. Then after Jake did some meager sand-brushing off my legs from where he was seated on the ground, he looked at me and said, "You know how you have said that you don't know what you parents would say if we got engaged?" (We've talked about it) Then he got into a kneeling position and said "Well I already know" (By this time I am like OH MY GOSH!!!) "Because I already talked to them about it." Then he started reaching into his pocket and I started shaking like crazy and saying "No no don't don't!" or something like that for whatever reason (not that I didn't want him to...it was just a freaking-out reaction I guess lol!)and he simply asked, "Will you marry me?" I leaned over and hugged him around the neck and buried my face in his shoulder and let out a muffled "Yes" as he slipped the ring on my finger (he started putting it on my middle one haha!). I got teary eyed, but mostly I was shaking and I was kinda crying without the tears. We looked at each other happily, hugged some more, then he said "Look back there" and I looked behind me and Jeff and Mike and a third person (I didn't even notice a third person at the time because I was in shock)were walking toward us on the dune that we had been on before.

I turned back to Jake and he yelled "She said yes!" then I heard a high-pitched girly scream, and immediately realized, "Danielle!!!" So she ran over to me and hugged me. Jeff and Mike had, in reality, gone to the car to meet Danielle by the road, then the three of them were sneaking up on us, mission-impossible style, dodging behind dunes, and spying and taking some pics. Jake had known that I would have wanted a girl friend there, for female relief/support. Someone I could jump around and scream with. So two pleasant surprises :) Danielle had brought a blanket, some wine, and plastic wine glasses, so we spread out the blanket, cracked open the wine, and celebrated! Once we got back to the cars I made the first phone call to my house. My mom answered, and you could definitely hear in her voice that she knew why I was calling (Jake had let them know when to expect the call). I told them the story, and they told me about when he asked them, and my brother was at home too so I told him. My next phone call was to my sister, and after some nervous laughing I finally told her "Jake asked me to marry him!" She didn't believe me at first, and kept saying "Not uh. Are you joking?" And when she finally believed me, she started crying and made me almost cry too! Then the next was to Alayna, another best girl friend, and called her on speaker phone with Danielle. After another scream fest, many more calls to family and some friends pursued.

And that concludes the story of one of the greatest days of my life! White Sands at sunset. So perfect :)

Everyone has been very supportive of us and very happy :) I thank you all for that!
We don't have a date yet, but it depends on several things.

If you care to see some pics, check out facebook :)