Sunday, January 13th was to be a mostly normal day comprised of an 8 hour shift at the hospital then skiing at Snoqualmie for my second time ever. I was so excited to get on the slopes again despite not being quite recovered from the busyness of the holidays; I was hooked my first time down the bunny hill. I returned home from the hospital at 4 pm and the carpool including Mike, Chris, and Keisha, was to meet at my house at 4:30. Tim was a bit late and, voicing his thoughts out loud, Mike said “I thought he would beat me here. I don’t know why, but he called me earlier to make sure I brought my camera.” Mike hardly got the words out before the light went on. His face blanched and he immediately changed the subject. Unfortunately, he was a bit too late. As soon as the words registered in my brain I had turned my face and smiled at myself since the only explanation I could reason that Tim wanted Mike to bring his NICE camera to the snowy slopes is because his own digital wouldn’t suffice. At the same time, the scene from the day before of my sister showing me pictures of beautiful wedding bands with designs and engravings came flooding back. Her excuse was researching designs she wanted engraved on her own wedding band (she got engaged last year).
At the time I half believed her since it was a plausible explanation but I realized that the detail in the bands was a bit much for simply researching “designs.” I commented on a few of the pictures but mostly kept my mouth shut. It wouldn’t be the first time in two months I noticed something out of the ordinary so, like Mary, I simply tucked the scene away in my heart but refused to dwell on “what if.”
With Mike’s comment, for the second time in two days I tucked something away and refused to dwell on “what if.”
Once Tim arrived we quickly piled into his car and began the 1 hour journey to the top of the mountain pass. Everyone was relaxed and joined in our typical disjointed conversations, including Tim. However, we arrived at Snoqualmie to discover a mass exodus. We got out of the car and someone not in our group voiced the question “Are the slopes open?” Someone else leaving said “No, they are closed for the night.” Needless to say, we were all pretty bummed but I noted that Tim was especially disappointed. More than a few times he did some exasperated motion with his hands or fists and said “Ahh! Thwarted!” As we piled into the car and headed back down the mountain I finally allowed myself to put the three pieces together and consider the possibility. It only took me about a minute of serious contemplation to begin chuckling to myself and, with pity, think “Poor Tim. I’m about 95% sure he was going to propose tonight and now all his plans are ruined!” My suspicions were confirmed when, 10 minutes after turning the car around, Tim received a call and proceeded to talk in pure generalities… something about the slopes being closed and now having to figure something out. He hung up quickly and simply shook his head when I looked at him, asking with my eyes who called. I couldn’t help it any more! I turned my face to the window and grinned! Tim noticed and asked what was up and I simply responded with a shake of my head, too. It was then that Tim knew the cat was out of the bag.
During the drive back the five of us decided on Teriyaki and a movie at Tim’s apartment instead of skiing. At this point I figured that Tim would wait for a more opportune time and I couldn’t hope on a proposal that night. Finally we got home and I went to pick up the Teriyaki and Tim and the others headed to his apartment. I had no suspicions that Tim would continue with plan “What-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-now?” otherwise I would have changed my clothes into something more photo-worthy.
When I arrived at Tim’s apartment complex I saw his shape completely silhouetted against his window. Apparently he was trying to be sneaky and watch for me through the blinds. I waved at him thinking “silly boy.” At the door he didn’t say a word. He only grabbed the bags of teriyaki out of my hands and pinched my fingers with my keys in the process which gave me enough time to observe that he had changed into a nice outfit and our three friends were nowhere to be seen. Finally untangling my fingers from the plastic bags and keys he put the bundles on a strategically placed chair by the door, pulled out a silver box, and got on one knee. I vaguely registered the close of a shutter from somewhere around a corner as Tim said “
Needless to say, we didn’t watch a movie that night. My parents and my sister and her fiancée came over then Tim and I called his parents to give them the good news. Then we all talked for over an hour about what led up to us wanting to be married and funny stories were shared all around.
Later we went to Century Ballroom in
The question that, I’m sure, is floating around in your head cannot yet be answered. Tim and I are considering getting married in April since, beginning in the middle of May, there are myriads of other weddings that either I am in or I must plan around. On the other hand, we may simply try to squeeze it in a little later in the year. Like June. Maybe. It depends on a lot of factors right now. I didn’t have a venue lined up since I was hoping for an outdoor summer wedding so a lot of plans have to be made really quickly. Please keep us in your prayers as we plan for a short engagement. We also don’t have housing plans yet though I’m sure my parents will be a fantastic help with that.
Thanks all for your well wishes and your prayers. We have both been thoroughly blessed by all of our friends and family throughout our relationship.
Song of Solomon 3:4 "...I found the one my heart loves."
