Proposal: Origami Hearts, Parks, & a Cravat

It was around 6:30 pm on Friday, June 29. I had just gotten home from working a 10 hour day without a break and had ended my work day by taking patients from the adolescent pysch unit bowling. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I got a text from Nate asking what I was up to that night. I decided to be cheeky and told him I was going to wash my hair. Shortly after that, the door bell rang. My roommate Alicia had ordered a pizza and so I let her get the door. Instead of a pizza delivery man there was a GPS and a note folded into a heart (Nate gave me various origami pieces through out our courtship).  The note read:

This is the beginning of a great adventure for the both of us. Today I need you to find me somewhere around Pocatello by following the GPS I have given you along with clues I have left behind. I am sending you locations that have become dear to my heart, so at each destination look for the heart shaped clues. I will try to keep the clues close to where you stop your car. Best of luck, and I love you! Proceed to location 03 on the GPS favorites. Clue: The roots for my love run deep. P.S. Hurry, I am probably pacing nervously wherever I am if you can't find the clue you can always cheat and call me :P 

I had a feeling what was coming. I spent a little bit cleaning up, but tried not to take too long for Nate's sake. I jumped in my car and drove down the hill to a park by where both of us lived.

The second note read:

Welcome to Scarino Park! I came here to play a million times as a kid, but recently it has taken on new meaning. In this park we made a decision that starts my dream of living life along someone I love. That day {May 31, 2012} will always be in my memory as the one of the happiest I have ever had. Your destination is 06 on the GPS. You'll know it when you get there. Clue: I didn't need a SIGN to know the FIRST time you left my side you would also leave a HOLE in my heart. (Corny? You know you love it!)

 Nate didn't have the exact GPS location for this park and so it took me to an apartment complex which happened to be right across the street.

The note behind this sign read:

Ah, the old disc golf course. You had to see this one coming a mile away. I can't ever play without being reminded of our first "dates" (and the other boys you brought along.) {I brought along one boy and it was once} It was while playing that we really became friends and for me our friendship will always be the core our of relationship. I am lucky to have the privilege of walking through life with a friend like you. Your next destination is 04 on the GPS. Clue: I could sit here all day talking with you.

I knew the place where he was talking about, but had difficulty finding the note at the pavilion (I was looking on the poles and tables, not on the benches). I even asked two random girls that were hanging out at the parking lot if they had seen a red origami heart. I did try call him to cheat on the third clue, but apparently his phone didn't get service with where he was at. Part of our first date we went back to Nate's house for hot chocolate and tim tams, so I tried to call his mom to see if I was supposed to go up there. Finally, Nate got service and was able to call me and give me more of a direction. He tried to place the heart as close to where he remembered sitting (and if my memory is correct, he was right on).

The final note read:

Phew, that was a long drive from the last clue. {Note the sarcasm, it was really just up the street} It was here at booth barn field that we sat down and talked for the first time. You know the story here. It only took me four months from that time to "ask you out" and seven to actually ask you out. My admiration and love for you has grown leaps and bounds since then and we are still only at the beginning of love. I look forward to a lifetime of mistakes and growth but also happiness and joy. Your next destination is 09 on the GPS. From there turn left up City Creek Trail Road (the dirt road.) Stay on that road till you see my car on the left (marked as 02 on the GPS) Clue: I can't wait to see you there.

I didn't know if Nate and I were going to be hiking somewhere or not. As you can see in the last picture, I wasn't wearing the best shoes to go for a hike it. I texted Nate to see if I needed hiking boots and he told me that I didn't.

As was on this adventure I was listening to a mix of music by Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, and similar artists. However, I kept going back to "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Moonlight Seranade" both by Frank Sinatra. I remember driving up into the hills and thinking how beautiful Pocatello looked (normally I don't like the way that it looks).

The sun was going to be setting soon and the evening light was rich and golden. There was a fork in the dirt road and neither one really went straight. I started to go down one of the dirt roads, second guessed myself, turned around and then headed back to the fork and headed down the other one. I called Nate again after being on the other road  for a while and it turned out it was the first round that I was suppose to go down. Unfortunately, there was no place to turn around and so I had to drive it in reverse a good 200 yards.

I was beginning to see parts of City Creek Trails that I recognized. There are these little areas along the trails where people have cut out some of the branches and bushes and you have this private alcove. I remember on a hike up there thinking it would be a perfect place for a picnic proposal. This isn't what Nate had in mind; it turned out to be much better.



I turned the corner and I saw this:

I started to laugh only because I did not expect him to do that. Nate usually teases me about liking what he called "bonnet books" (19th century romances).  I get out of the car and walk over to him.  As he pulls a read origami heart from his coat pocket and gets down on one knee he tells me, "I have one last heart to give you and it's mine if you will be my wife." He unfolds it and there is his grandma's engagement ring.

I start to cry and I said "Yes" and quoted the 2005 Pride & Prejudice by saying "Yes! A thousand times yes!"
Then we kissed and took pictures.

I then asked if he would dance with me. I rolled down the window of my car and played "The Way You Look Tonight" (since I knew I would never see him in that outfit again).

Forget the knight in shining armor, I prefer a gentleman wearing a cravat.

My Nerdy Valentine

My nerdy valentine

Sweet, comic book reading valentine
You make me smile with my heart

Nate had just suggested that we not give gifts but spend time together for Valentine's day. However, I really wanted to get him something (and it turns out he didn't stick to this plan either). I thought about getting him a gift card to a restaurant here in town. That was my plan until the day before Valentine's day. The night before Nate and I were talking about things that we could do together. He had told me about wanting to try out a recipe from a comic that he read online. On Monday morning, I was on pinterest and stumbled upon one of my pins.

Nate is a pretty big Star Wars fan. So I thought this would be perfect for making pancakes. As I continued to look around on the website, I also found these:Star Wars pancake molds!

A pancake pen. It helps put the batter into the molds.

Nate was super excited about these and apparently I am "the coolest girlfriend a guy could ask for." I was rather nervous about how they would turn out. There were mixed reviews on the website, but as long as we sprayed the molds really well and filled them up only half way they turned out pretty well.
I'm pretty crazy about this Star Wars nerd. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. To me Valentine's Day is to celebrate love, romantic and non-romantic love alike. I really enjoy decorating for holidays and got a little carried away with my cricut this year.

This reminds me of a homemaking craft from the 1990's.

The one of valentines I made for Nate (this one had all the sappy stuff inside).

Nate got me carousel roses (one of my favorite flowers) and Reese's peanut butter cups. :)

Nate and I wanted to make dinner for Valentine's Day. We thought about making spring rolls. Apparently Idaho isn't the best place to look for oriental food. He was running all over town looking for ingredients. We ended up making fried rice. Nate's mom taught us how to make a recipe that is used in a bunch of Chinese restaurants around town. Can I tell you it made me ten times more nervous to be cooking anything with her in the kitchen. Nate's mom is not judgmental, but I am afraid of what she might think of my cooking skills (or lack thereof).

After Nate brought me home, I didn't want to go to sleep because that meant that Valentine's Day was over. It was a great first Valentine's Day with a valentine.

The Golden Question

My marriage prep professor taught the girls in his class that one of the best way to bring up the topic of marriage was to ask the golden question. He told us that we should ask our boyfriends, "If we were to get married, when would that be?" This to was to help signify that we were ready to take the next step in our relationship without stealing our boyfriends' thunder.

I wouldn't say that we are getting pressure, but Nate and I are certainly getting a lot of nudges and questions from different people around us. "I want an announcement!" "Shouldn't you be saving your money? You may have to buy a ring later this year." "Nova Scotia? That would be a great place to go on your honeymoon." "I know its too soon to ask but does this mean...wedding bells?" I think these questions and statements are not meant to put pressure on us and are simply curious and well meant. Nate and I have even done some light forward thinking like that. My laptop is slowly dying and Nate encouraged me to buy a nice one because "once you get married all the money just seems to disappear."

One nudge really made me giggle. My roommate, Alicia, said, "I have something for you. These were given to me when I was getting serious [with my ex-boyfriend]." She gave me two books. They made me giggle. Nate came over shortly thereafter and I showed them the books. I thought it would be funny if we took a picture of us reading them.

"He expects me to do WHAT?!"

I asked Nate how he feels about all of these hints, pressure, suggestions, questions, whatever you want to call them. He simply replied, "We both agreed that we need more time." I'm glad he doesn't feel pressured to move too quickly. It's been a long time since I've been in a relationship and I intend to enjoy it to its full extent.

I landed me a beau!

Meet Nate (one of the left). We met last April after the singles' wards were reorganized in Pocatello. The first time we really talked was at a BBQ FHE activity in May. He told me later that he wanted to ask me out then. I would invite him and his best friend, Travis (on the right), over to the house for game nights and parties.

Sometime around mid-August, Nate invited me to go play disc golf. We got in the habit where we would go and play disc golf on Mondays (my day off). I didn't know if these were dates or not. I didn't want to ask because we had become good friends and I didn't want it to make it awkward. There was one time Nate and I had a "tee time" for 3 o'clock. Another guy who had been asking me out on quite a few dates asked me to go play disc golf at 4 o'clock. This other guy is really shy. I thought it would be a good chance for him to meet other people. So I combined the disc golf "dates." It turned out to be more awkward than beneficial. This was the last date that the other guy asked me out. :)

I got to know Nate better on these "psuedo dates" (after all these were planned, pair off, and paid for... when we bought icees after the game). However, I still felt like conversation didn't flow as well as I wanted. I also didn't know how he felt and I didn't want to get hurt, so I didn't allow myself to like him. There was one Sunday in October where Nate was sitting next to me in church (this was typical). I was leaning forward and he had put his arm behind where I was sitting on the back of the pew. I leaned back and he had moved his arm back. Apparently Travis and his then fiance, Rachel (middle right), gave Nate a hard time about chickening out. He told them "I'm trying."

On November 15, Nate was working in the same city as me. He asked if I had gone to a certain restaurant in town. I told him I hadn't and he said we should go sometime. That's the first time he got somewhat close to asking me out on an actual date (although it was kind of like soft baptismal commitment). We have yet to go to the restaurant he asked me out to. :)

The past couple of the months, Nate had been working at ski swaps in different states. He was gone on one of these the first weekend of December. We had a break the fast after church. My roommates had gone home and the only people I really knew were Travis and Rachel. I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to sit with an engaged couple because engaged couples have the potential to be very "lovey dovey." I walked up to them anyway and started talking with them. They invited me to sit with them. Rachel said something along the lines of, "Let's get some food and then we'll analyze your situation with Nate." Which, I'm not going to lie, I was hoping to do that with them. Rachel was very blunt about it. She stated that Nate liked me and that he turned bright red when she confronted him about it. Travis said he knew something was up because Nate is usually a very outgoing unless he is around a girl that he likes. This made me feel better about conversation not flowing on our "pseudo dates." It also gave me the courage to be more flirty because it wasn't until the last couple of weeks of November that I decided that I liked him.

So that night I text him. He was on his way back from L.A. I had asked him if he brought me back any warm sunshine. He told me he did but it had a very short shelf life. He offered a big smile to warm me up instead. I decided to to take the leap and be obviously flirtatious. I told him that a smile may not be as warm as a kiss but it will have to do. He said that statement left him dumbstruck and would keep him up thinking all night.

He got back from LA the next day and came to FHE that night. The activity was a progressive dinner at the bishoprics' home. He was in the same car as me. I was in the middle between him and another guy (which left me with very little shoulder space). To give me more room, Nate put his arm around my headrest. I tried to lean in, but his arm was pretty high so it was awkward. I tried to be very obvious.. That night I texted him again and through our conversation he admitted that he liked me and that he has wanted to ask me out for a long time.

The next night (Dec 6), he came over and asked me out on a date. He put his arm around me and I turned to put my arm around him. He kissed me (which is not what I had planned. Apparently he didn't either). I was hoping to take it slow with him (although technically it was moving slow considering that he took 7 months to ask me out on a date). That's the night that both of us felt we became official.

That Thursday (Dec 8), we went on our first official date, miniature golf (we seem to like golfing activities). It was fun because it wasn't like typical awkward first dates (that happened on the pseudo dates). He told me that Travis had sent him a text and invited me to his and Rachel's sealing that Saturday. We knew that Nate would be getting a lot of trash from them for waiting so long to ask me out, so we decided to give them a hard time back. We decided to pretend that we got engaged during the week and Nate even came up with a story how he proposed (while decorating the Christmas tree). After playing our game, we went back to his house where we had Tim Tams and hot chocolate. It's also when I met his parents (so much for taking it slow). His mom is so much fun and is easy to get a long with. His dad is just like Nate (or the other way around). He walked me home and we said good night. It was a pretty awesome first date.

You may be wondering if Rachel and Travis fell for our "quick engagement". Yup, they did (although Travis was a little suspicious). We told them as we were getting ready to take pictures outside the temple (so we didn't have lie in the temple). We told them to keep it secret and we didn't tell them that it was a joke until the reception that night. :) Things have been going well since.

You may also be wondering about me calling him a "beau." Two summers ago, while I was home after I graduated, an elderly lady in my ward approached me. She asked, "When are you going to land a beau?" Normally, I would get annoyed when people I hardly know asked me about my love life, but the wording for that question was so perfect, I couldn't help but smile. When I went home for Christmas last month, I ran into her again. She asked me the same question. I smiled and happily replied that I had landed a beau. She smiled and said that had made her day.

I'm sure glad I landed Nate.