It's Time for the Proposal Story

I had already started writing this post when I realized today is the 19th...which means Jake and I have been engaged for exactly one month. Wow, that has flown by! Only 11 weeks and 3 days left. Or 80 days. Or 1,931 hours. Or 115,860 minutes. But who's counting, right? 

This story begins, for me, back in January, probably around the 5th. At least, that's when I realized a proposal may be coming soon.

Jake and I were together that evening looking at some calendar items. I saw his birthday on my phone and mentioned something about it. He told me not to make plans that evening and that he wanted to plan a night with just us. That's what got my mind rolling about the idea. Looking back, Jake says that he wasn't thinking about proposing that night. I don't know if I believe that. It seemed so obvious to me.

The next couple weeks, I saw clues popping up everywhere. Mentions of a secret I'd find out about soon. Comments in conversations with friends. Little things here and there that under normal circumstances might not stand out. But PROPOSAL was on my mind, and I saw mention of it everywhere. Jake definitely stepped up his romantic side (he's always great at that anyways) and surprised me with notes, little presents, and a ton of cute comments about me and our relationship.

As his birthday inched closer, Jake expanded his request for me to not make plans to the entire weekend. Don't plan anything all weekend.

On the Wednesday before that weekend, Jake and I were together at his house both on computers doing homework (him) and working on client projects (me) when he asked something along these lines: "If I planned a big date, would you want to know details or would you want to be surprised?"

"Hmm. I'd be ok being surprised."

That satisfied him for a few minutes, but he couldn't hold in the news when he excitedly asked "Want to go to Vegas this weekend?"

Jake served his mission in Vegas, and we had talked about going to visit before. So the idea wasn't completely random. Again, not necessarily suspicious in other circumstances. Jake thought I'd like a little notice to pack and such, rather than surprising me with that. He told me to pack for an evening out, church, and hiking.

We set out on our drive around 6 am Saturday morning. We both really enjoy road trips and had a splendid time talking, listening to music (yes, I made him listen to multiple Taylor Swift albums), joking and having fun. We arrived at the home of a family from his mission where we brought in our bags, chatted, and prepared to head to the strip for the evening. We walked around for just a little bit, watched the Bellagio fountain show, and headed to see the Blue Man Group.

I could tell Jake was waiting for the right moment. And that he had considered popping the question at the fountains, but in the end, he didn't feel that the atmosphere was right for our relationship. I was simply enjoying spending time with my favorite person and trying not to make him any more nervous. As we headed back for the evening, I knew he was a little disappointed and a little stressed about finding the right moment. He was so darn cute. I was trying not to focus on anything and to simply let things happen—or not happen—as they may.

Sunday morning we got dressed up in our church clothes and headed to Calico Basin. Because of schedule conflicts, we opted to enjoy the outdoors with a casual boardwalk stroll instead of a formal hike. The boardwalk makes a big loop around the area. We took things slow, stopping often, chatting, holding hands, kissing...being a really annoying cheesy couple. In the center of the boardwalk, there's a big deck type of area. We made our way there, enjoying the scenery, the weather, and the company.

This was the moment. I knew it.

Jake knew it too. He stops me and looks me in the eye. I will forever remember the intensity on his face. Leading up to this moment, he shared a poem in pieces every few steps. I'll spare you the details, but it was full cheese, expressing love and happiness and the such. Yes, I loved it. As he looks at me, he asks what I want out of life. After my response, he says how much he loves me. He smoothly pulls the ring out of his pocket, gets down on one knee, and asks me to marry him.

I immediately pull him up, kiss him, and say yes. He has to stop me to say, "You've got to put on the ring!" Oh yea. The ring is on. We are engaged.

We continue our little stroll holding hands, being really happy, with me more than occasionally staring at the ring on my finger. We continued the day by attending a ward Jake served in and visiting another family from his mission—their home is where Jake first introduced me as his fiance.

The family whose home we stayed out provided a fantastic meal for dinner and for Jake's birthday. After dinner, we headed back on the road where we made our phone calls to family and began discussing all the splendid planning details that follow an engagement.

If you haven't heard, we are getting married in the Washington, D.C. LDS temple on May 10. Thank you for all your support and excitement!

Motivation Monday: Track Your Progress

First off, for those of you who do not know me in person or stay up-to-date on social media, I have an announcement.

I'm engaged!

Yes, that tidbit of information deserves a post of its own, and in all honesty I haven't posted about anything else because I felt as though a future marriage announcement deserved a presence on my blog first. I've been meaning to write a post on the subject, but time keeps flying by, and—hey—I've been busy. But don't worry; if you want all the details, I'll share those here soon.

Now on to Motivation Monday.

In January I implemented "simplicity" as the theme for the month. I can't believe January is over, but I've been thinking A LOT about what I want to focus on for February. I kinda categorize January as "Before He Proposed" and "After He Proposed," and I feel that the short phrase I've selected will help me tackle all of my goals/focus from both before and after.

"The most important key in finding success is tracking your progress."

I've kept it simple (inspired by January's theme) to allow it to apply to a variety of topics. I've found that I feel more on top of things anytime I'm really good at tracking things. Throughout February I'm going to focus on tracking the following:

• Calories Burned 
• I want to make use of my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor and keep track of the calories I burn in all of my classes as well as my additional exercise endeavors.
• Calories Eaten
• After I have the calories burned accounted for, I want to make sure my body gets back the calories it needs. I rarely eat enough on a day to day basis, so I want to focus on feeding my body properly to give it the nutrients and energy needed to operate in the best way possible every day.
• Fruits and Veggies 
• Also connected to the various two points, I want to increase the presence of fruits and veggies in my diet. Yes, I eat these pretty regularly, but I was inspired to track it via the Gym Pact app I've mentioned before. The company added a new pact for eating a certain number of fruits and veggies each week. I'm trying it this week...I set my pact for 7 this week since I wasn't sure how it worked. I got credit for 5 today (which I learned is the max). I think next week I'll do 25 or 30.  (Side note: The company also added a pact to track your calories eaten through MyFitnessPal. I've done that before and may do it too since I'm trying to get enough calories anyways. We'll see.
• Following Budgets
• I've been focusing on organizing my finances for a while, so I want to focus on incorporating and following the budgets I've set. I want to challenge myself to only spend a certain amount of money each month on food, entertainment, etc. I'll be doing the same thing as my fiance and I plan our wedding. I want to operate having a clear outlook and what I have available and making the most of what's available.
• Scripture/Gospel Study
• How about I put together a little schedule that actually gives me some direction in my study? Yea, that's a good idea.
• Cleaning Schedule
• Yea, because otherwise I put off EVERYTHING.
• Wedding Planning Calendar
• My fiance and I are both very organized about this and currently have several shared Google Docs and Calendars outline what needs to be done and when and by whom. We are definitely going to have to be moving forward on lots of things this month. Tracking is key.

Those are just a few aspects of my life that are on my mind that will help me feel oh so much better about my outlook on everything on my plate. 

If you want to track your progress on something/anything, let me know so we can support each other!