As loyal followers of my blog, you will remember that this year I am marking the 10-year anniversaries of significant events in my life and relationship with Chris. Well, I am so out of it that I completely forgot to post about the engagement episode. Here it is.
Chris claims that he knew he would marry me the first time he saw me (that was around March 6). I knew with full confidence about halfway through our second date (that was around May 20). We started to discuss our future early in our relationship--within the first two weeks. We knew of course that only fools rush in. But timing is relevant. We waited FOREVER to get engaged--4 1/2 weeks! Chris thought it was a good idea to get married in June of 2000. I thought it was a better idea to get married in August of 1999. I won.
On Father's Day (Sunday, June 20, 1999), we drove together to my parents' to wish my dad a happy day. Chris was planning to ask Dad for my hand in marriage that night. The whole drive, he rehearsed what he would say. He was a little nervous about Dad's potential reaction. He role played (with himself) questions he thought my dad might ask and how he (Chris) would respond to the questions. For example, "He's going to ask me, 'How do you plan to support my daughter?' and I will say..." At this point I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that." So Chris would come up with another question Dad might ask. And again I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that either."
We had a lovely dinner. (I assume. I really don't remember.) Afterwards we were in the family room chatting. Chris asked my mom to come in the room. Brynn was there, too. Perhaps Michael was. This is the Rawlins family for you. It's all a family affair. Chris began to tell my dad how much he loved me. He was really very sweet and said some nice things. He even cried. Chris thinks it is humiliating that he cries when he feels things deeply. I think it is most endearing. Finally, at the end of his speech, he looked at my dad and said, "I guess what I'm doing is asking for your blessing." Dad responded, "Well, you've got it."
And that is what my dad would say. He's not going to ask a bunch of questions.
Well, some people would consider themselves engaged at this point. But I didn't. Afterall, he hadn't asked me yet. I did start planning a few things. We set a date. I called the temple and found out it would be closed for cleaning. We live in Utah. There are other temples. But this was a huge disappointment for me. When I was little, my mom would bake bread in the mornings and we would sell it door-to-door. We did this to earn money for the temple budget. When the Jordan River temple was being built, we would observe its progress every week when we went to the library. At the time it was completed, we could see it from our front porch. I had to stand on the milk box to see it, but there it was. (Since that time they've built a lot of houses and the trees have grown to maturity which blocks our view...but we know it's there.) I love the Jordan River temple. I had always planned to be married there. This might sound silly, but I thought it would be cool if the temple, wedding luncheon, and reception, as well as my parents' house were all technically within walking distance of each other. Think of the environmental responsibility that demonstrates! But that's okay. I reserved our wedding date in the Mount Timpanogos temple, which is also quite lovely. Personally I think the Timpanogos grounds provide better photo opportunities than the Jordan River. And inside, it's the same ceremony.
That was a little side trip.
I had a couple other disappointments the two days after Father's Day. On Monday night, we shopped for wedding rings. I hate shopping. It was high pressure and low success. I came home agitated. On Tuesday, I had some free time. I decided to go shopping for a wedding dress wondering if this would cheer me up. If you know me, you will know how stupid it is for me to think that shopping would cheer me. But I found a dress in less than an hour. It was only $100. (You have to know me really well to know how important it was that every aspect of my wedding was incredibly inexpensive.) So, by Tuesday evening, I was feeling a bit cheerier. But I was so tired and emotionally drained.
Chris came over after work on Tuesday, June 22. He suggested we go up the canyon. I said I was tired. I said I was exhausted. I said I was emotionally drained. I said, "Can't we just rent a movie and stay home?" How clueless can a person be? Couldn't I see that perhaps he had planned to propose? He had just asked my dad's permission. We had been ring shopping. I love to go up the canyon. I usually don't need an excuse. But whatever. That's the weirdest part of the story.
We ended up at Brick Oven for dinner. Delicious pizza and homemade root beer. It's still a favorite spot for our family. And now they've got that awesome balloon guy. While we waited for our pizza, we played one of those little "test your reflexes" games. Also called "hitting each others' hands." All of a sudden, Chris grabbed my hands across the table. He said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Wait." He grabbed a ring he had hooked on a caribiner on his belt loop. Then he put the ring on my finger and said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Yes."
The ring was not the ring I wear now. It was a handcarved wooden ring--engraved with hibiscus (Hawaii's state flower). I thought it was beautiful. Chris had ordered it when we had only been dating for two weeks. People had some strange reactions when I showed them my ring. Many said, "A wooden ring? He is perfect for you." Others said, "A wooden ring? And you said yes?" Neal's reaction was my favorite. He said, "And is he planning to someday get you a proper metal ring?" The answer is yes. I wore my wooden ring until our wedding. Then I wore my proper metal one on my left hand and my favorite wooden one on my right hand until it broke. I still have it, but can't wear it because it is broken. For future reference, metal lasts longer than wood.
Again, I apologize for my long-windedness. The end.
Chris claims that he knew he would marry me the first time he saw me (that was around March 6). I knew with full confidence about halfway through our second date (that was around May 20). We started to discuss our future early in our relationship--within the first two weeks. We knew of course that only fools rush in. But timing is relevant. We waited FOREVER to get engaged--4 1/2 weeks! Chris thought it was a good idea to get married in June of 2000. I thought it was a better idea to get married in August of 1999. I won.
On Father's Day (Sunday, June 20, 1999), we drove together to my parents' to wish my dad a happy day. Chris was planning to ask Dad for my hand in marriage that night. The whole drive, he rehearsed what he would say. He was a little nervous about Dad's potential reaction. He role played (with himself) questions he thought my dad might ask and how he (Chris) would respond to the questions. For example, "He's going to ask me, 'How do you plan to support my daughter?' and I will say..." At this point I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that." So Chris would come up with another question Dad might ask. And again I'd interrupt: "My dad won't ask that either."
We had a lovely dinner. (I assume. I really don't remember.) Afterwards we were in the family room chatting. Chris asked my mom to come in the room. Brynn was there, too. Perhaps Michael was. This is the Rawlins family for you. It's all a family affair. Chris began to tell my dad how much he loved me. He was really very sweet and said some nice things. He even cried. Chris thinks it is humiliating that he cries when he feels things deeply. I think it is most endearing. Finally, at the end of his speech, he looked at my dad and said, "I guess what I'm doing is asking for your blessing." Dad responded, "Well, you've got it."
And that is what my dad would say. He's not going to ask a bunch of questions.
Well, some people would consider themselves engaged at this point. But I didn't. Afterall, he hadn't asked me yet. I did start planning a few things. We set a date. I called the temple and found out it would be closed for cleaning. We live in Utah. There are other temples. But this was a huge disappointment for me. When I was little, my mom would bake bread in the mornings and we would sell it door-to-door. We did this to earn money for the temple budget. When the Jordan River temple was being built, we would observe its progress every week when we went to the library. At the time it was completed, we could see it from our front porch. I had to stand on the milk box to see it, but there it was. (Since that time they've built a lot of houses and the trees have grown to maturity which blocks our view...but we know it's there.) I love the Jordan River temple. I had always planned to be married there. This might sound silly, but I thought it would be cool if the temple, wedding luncheon, and reception, as well as my parents' house were all technically within walking distance of each other. Think of the environmental responsibility that demonstrates! But that's okay. I reserved our wedding date in the Mount Timpanogos temple, which is also quite lovely. Personally I think the Timpanogos grounds provide better photo opportunities than the Jordan River. And inside, it's the same ceremony.
That was a little side trip.
I had a couple other disappointments the two days after Father's Day. On Monday night, we shopped for wedding rings. I hate shopping. It was high pressure and low success. I came home agitated. On Tuesday, I had some free time. I decided to go shopping for a wedding dress wondering if this would cheer me up. If you know me, you will know how stupid it is for me to think that shopping would cheer me. But I found a dress in less than an hour. It was only $100. (You have to know me really well to know how important it was that every aspect of my wedding was incredibly inexpensive.) So, by Tuesday evening, I was feeling a bit cheerier. But I was so tired and emotionally drained.
Chris came over after work on Tuesday, June 22. He suggested we go up the canyon. I said I was tired. I said I was exhausted. I said I was emotionally drained. I said, "Can't we just rent a movie and stay home?" How clueless can a person be? Couldn't I see that perhaps he had planned to propose? He had just asked my dad's permission. We had been ring shopping. I love to go up the canyon. I usually don't need an excuse. But whatever. That's the weirdest part of the story.
We ended up at Brick Oven for dinner. Delicious pizza and homemade root beer. It's still a favorite spot for our family. And now they've got that awesome balloon guy. While we waited for our pizza, we played one of those little "test your reflexes" games. Also called "hitting each others' hands." All of a sudden, Chris grabbed my hands across the table. He said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Wait." He grabbed a ring he had hooked on a caribiner on his belt loop. Then he put the ring on my finger and said, "Megan, will you marry me?" I said, "Yes."
The ring was not the ring I wear now. It was a handcarved wooden ring--engraved with hibiscus (Hawaii's state flower). I thought it was beautiful. Chris had ordered it when we had only been dating for two weeks. People had some strange reactions when I showed them my ring. Many said, "A wooden ring? He is perfect for you." Others said, "A wooden ring? And you said yes?" Neal's reaction was my favorite. He said, "And is he planning to someday get you a proper metal ring?" The answer is yes. I wore my wooden ring until our wedding. Then I wore my proper metal one on my left hand and my favorite wooden one on my right hand until it broke. I still have it, but can't wear it because it is broken. For future reference, metal lasts longer than wood.
Again, I apologize for my long-windedness. The end.
4 comments:
A lovely story and a reminder to me that Jacob and I got engaged on July 8. I sense a blentry coming on.
It's fun to reminisce with you. I think I might have to copy. Well, with my own story, anyway.
I love your stories.
I enjoyed reading your story.
Post a Comment