A Little Over 10 Years Ago...

Yes, I am (once again) way behind on blogging.  I have lots of things to tell you about...including Cohen's 2nd birthday, but today I thought I would write about the day that still ranks as one of my top 5 days EVER.  It happened 10 years ago last Friday...July 28, 2000.  That's the day that Mike asked me to marry him.  And, the day I said "yes."  So, today, I thought I would tell you how Mike proposed to me all those years ago...

First of all, Mike & I started talking about getting married at the beginning of July...a whopping 8 weeks after we officially started dating.  Yes, I'm "one of those people."  I always said I wouldn't...but look what happened.  We had basically decided that we were getting married, but Mike told me that he wouldn't have enough money to buy me a ring until sometime in the fall.  This totally bummed me out because I felt like we were engaged, and wanted to tell people...but how can you tell people you're engaged when you don't have a ring to prove it.  It's no fun to tell someone, "Hey!  I'm engaged...I just won't get my ring for a few months."  There is absolutely NO FUN in that!  So, needless to say, I was kind of bummed.

During this time, I was doing my internship at Channel 2 (the place I work now).  My normal schedule was Monday through Thursday from 2:30 pm to 10:30 pm.  One week, the meteorologist I worked with asked me if I would mind coming in on Friday for a few hours to help him out with a live shot he was going on.  I told him that wouldn't be a problem since I didn't have any plans for that particular Friday night.  Well, when that Friday rolled around, Mike came over to my apartment in the morning & asked me what I wanted to do that night.  I told him that I had to go into work.  The boy literally started freaking out!  "What?!?"  he said, "You have to go into work?"

"Yeah, Chris asked me to come in and help him with a live shot."  I said.

"Well, what time are you going to be home?!?"  he asked.

"I don't know...8:30, maybe."  I replied.

"Okay,"  he said.  "But, make sure you're home by 8:30."

What?!?  This guy is telling me what time to be home?  What in the world?  He's never acted like this before.  What is going on?  Does he think that now that we're "kind of engaged" that he can tell me when to be home?  I was baffled by the way he was acting.  So, what did I do?  I PURPOSEFULLY CAME HOME LATE!  Yes, that's right...I wanted to show him that he couldn't boss ME around.  Haha.  So, I got home about 9:00 that evening.  Yes, I'm awful...I already know.

When I got home, I went over to his apartment.  I started thinking that maybe he had something fun planned for that evening, and that's why he had wanted me home by 8:30.  Maybe a movie or dinner or something.  So, when I walked into his apartment, I was surprised to hear him nonchalantly ask, "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

What?!?  He didn't have anything planned?  He told me to be home by 8:30 and then he had NOTHING PLANNED?  Sheesh!  Then he said, "Do you want to go get some Chinese food or something & take it up the mountain?"  "Up the mountain" was an outlook that we used to drive to sometimes that overlooked Provo.  Yes, we went there to make out sometimes.  Okay, we went there to make out ALWAYS.  There...now you know.  I agreed to the plan and off we went.  When we got to our overlook, he parked the car and started to grab things out of the back.  He had blankets, candles, etc.  I still didn't realize anything special was going on.  Mike's a pack rat and MacGyver, so the fact that he had all this stuff in his trunk didn't surprise me at all.

We hiked up a little hill that was by the parking lot and had a little picnic...a Chinese picnic.  When we were done eating, Mike said, "Hey, I did something kind of cheesy today."

"You did," I replied, "What did you do?"

"I wrote you a letter," he said.

He then pulled this letter out of his back pocket with a big smile on his face.  I asked him to read it to me, so he did.  It was the sweetest letter I have ever heard in my entire life.  It basically talked about all the qualities he had hoped his future wife would have and that I had all those qualities.  He finished it with a simple "I love you."  Then folded the letter up, and gave it to me.  (I still have that letter in my nightstand & I read it regularly.)

When he finished, I told him how sweet it was & how much I loved it.  He then did something kind of weird...he picked up his phone to "see what time it was."  After that, I gave him a hug & a kiss.  Then he said, "Well, stand up so I can really hug you."  I stood up & gave him a long hug.  Then, he started going down on one knee...and pulled a BEAUTIFUL ring out of his pocket.  That's when it finally hit me that he was proposing to me.  I didn't think it was coming until fall, so I totally wasn't expecting it.  Little booger!

He said, "Lindsay, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"  I screamed with tears in my eyes.

He put the ring on my finger & jumped up to kiss me.  Just then, the coolest thing happened...

FIREWORKS started going off all around us.  Yes, fireworks...and not the legal kind either.

Apparently, Mike's little brother & some of his roommates had gone to Wyoming a few days earlier to stock up on the goods.  They had pulled up in the parking lot after us & had begun setting them up.  When Mike picked up his phone to "see what time is was" right before he popped the question, he had really called his brother...which was the signal that he was about to propose.  It was awesome!  The fireworks show lasted for several minutes and was the perfect ending to the night.  Later, I asked Mike what would have happened had I said "no" to him.  He replied, "Well, we would have enjoyed a nice fireworks show...and then never talked to each other again."  Haha!  Lucky for me, I didn't say "no."

So, that's the story of how Mike proposed to me.  It is so hard to believe that that night was 10 years ago!  It seems like it was maybe 3 or 4 years ago.  Time seriously does fly!

Thank you for asking me to marry you Mike!  You are definitely my better half, my cheerleader, my confidant, and the reason that all my dreams have come true!  I love you!  --Lindsay