All I Ask Of You (PS I'm Engaged!!)

I've always hoped that when I got engaged, the proposal would be simple, sweet, and sentimental, something private with just the two of us... and of course I wanted him to get down on one knee.

Well.... on Saturday night, Trevor knocked it out of the park with a perfect Shelece proposal. :)

This last weekend was the Denver Regional YSA Conference in Highlands Ranch. I was on the planning committee, so I was a little stressed out beforehand about how it would all go. Trevor was very supportive and came up with me. He mentioned to me that this was a big week for me, which in hindsight maybe should have clued me in, but I was convinced he was going to propose on August 4, because we had a special date planned for that day.

We slipped out of the conference a little early, because we were tired and we had a long drive back (at least, I thought that was the reason!). On our way out, I stopped to say goodbye to Sister Langston who headed up the planning committee. Trevor disappeared while we were talking, and then returned with a beautiful purple rose for me that he snagged from the conference decorations. (Which matched perfectly with the purple outfits we were both wearing). It was very sweet.

Once we were in the car, Trevor pointed out the gorgeous sunset and talked about how really this was the sunset of my YSA days. We usually listen to instrumental music while we are driving, and I realized that his playlist for that night had a lot of love songs. He kept making sweet comments tying me into the music. And then the song "Memory" came on, and Trevor asked me to share some of my favorite memories of our time dating. We had a great time creating our own little highlights reel. That's when I started to wonder if that night would be the night.

And then Trevor told me that before he took me home, we had to make a "short detour--emphasis on tour." We went to the Jamboree church building where we've spent so much of our time together. He took me on a tour and reminded me of many of the good times we've had there, like the Pinewood Derby activity where we first reconnected after he moved here (originally we met at the Back to the Future Ball in March--our love story probably deserves its own post :).

Trevor is a very gifted pianist and organist. I love to listen to him play, and sometimes he has me turn the pages for him when he's playing longer songs. He asked me if I'd be willing to do that again. He pulled out a Phantom of the Opera song book, and he played "All I Ask of You." When I turned the first page, I noticed he'd edited the lyrics a bit.

:)

When the song was over, I waited for him to ask the crucial question, but he said he wasn't quite done yet.

We went out to the hallway near a painting of Captain Moroni. Our very first date was to the Air Force Academy's baccalaureate service for the graduating cadets, and the painting was gifted to the YSAs at that time. We helped pack it up at the end of the service. Trevor and I spent a minute reminiscing about our first date. I wasn't sure it was a date at the time--he'd asked me for a ride, and I ended up bringing lunch for us beforehand and making sure we were one on one to make it date like, but I wasn't sure what he was thinking. We had the chance to meet the keynote speaker, Sister Elaine S. Dalton, and she asked me who Trevor was: "And this is your...?" "Uh.... Friend." Trevor apparently wasn't very happy with that answer at the time... but it all worked out in the end!

There is a plaque on the painting that says, "For the Blessings of Liberty" (the painting's name). Unfortunately it is not attached very well and so it always falls off, and we are constantly trying to put it back up. So I didn't think too much of it when Trevor bent down to get it... until he was kneeling on one knee and looking up at me.

I love that I've got a rose to match the one on the Phantom cover, and that Trevor is in the same pose as Moroni. :)

Trevor told me that he would be my Captain Moroni if I would be his title of liberty. I loved that. I've always wanted to find my own Captain Moroni. I remember in Young Women's they'd always tell us to find someone like him: "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." (Alma 48:17).

We'd actually picked out our rings already, but it turns out my fingers are freakishly small (size 4!) and the rings I like best in the twist style have to be custom made to fit me. There is one ordered, but it will take 6-8 weeks to get here. So, in the meantime, he made me a temporary ring out of a key ring because "you hold the key to my heart." :)

Then came the golden question, "Will you marry me?" "Of course, yes!"

:) :) :) It was all so adorable and I am so happy!

The perfect touch at the end--as we left the building, it was raining, so we got to kiss in the rain.

We are planning on getting married on November 4, exactly 8 months from the day we met. Stay tuned for more details! I am so grateful Trevor came into my life, and I'm excited for our future together.

London and Paris--the Plane Ride Over

My trip to Europe was phenomenal. We ran around every day all day to pack in as many things as we could. I loved it--but I didn't have much time to write about it, and my head is overflowing with many many posts about what I saw and experienced. We'll see if I can rein it in, or if this post turns into a series of posts!

The trip started off great. I'm one of those people who usually can't sleep before I travel, for whatever reason. Even if it's just a little business trip, I'm often awake until the wee hours of the morning the night before. It's not because I'm worried or excited, necessarily... I don't know what it is. But somehow I managed to sleep just fine the night before. It seemed like a good omen. :)

Hayley recommended that on the flight there, I watch one in flight movie, eat dinner, and then go to sleep. So, I watched the new live version of the Jungle Book (I liked it, but I'm not really hankering for a rewatch), ate my dinner, and... conked out! Again, so surprised I could sleep.

Dinner was some chicken thing that was actually pretty good! And the cheesecake dessert was a very nice touch.

Amazingly, I was able to sleep on the plane. I had one of those neck pillow things--highly recommended! Usually I have trouble getting comfortable.

Hayley and I were on a row together--she was on the aisle and I was at the window seat. She booked the seats that way hoping that no one would take the middle seat, and no one showed up... but I wonder if someone booked the spot and missed the plane, because at meal times they would bring special meals someone had ordered and we'd tell them it wasn't either of us. So I woke up to the stewardess trying to deliver a special breakfast meal. She said, "Did you preorder breakfast?" I guess she didn't realize we were sleeping? We both popped awake and I just stared at her while she repeated herself at least 6 times as my fuzzy brain tried to figure out where I was and what was happening. This was the only time on the trip I had trouble understanding a British accent. Finally I noticed the tray in her hands and assumed she was offering me breakfast, which I didn't much want at that moment, so I said, "No thanks." She looked at me like I was a crazy person and tried one last time, finally getting through to me. "Did you preorder breakfast?" "Oh... no, sorry."

At last we landed. I was so giddy. Every little British thing excited me at that point because it was all so new. Look, the elevators are called lifts! Hey, their toilets look different. Wow, listen to all the British accents!

Customs was a nightmare. We were in line for 2 hours. But I got my first stamp in my passport, much to my delight. :)

Hayley's sister-in-law Anna was sweet and came to pick us up. For our first two days, we stayed with Hayley's brother's family while we attempted to recover from our jet lag. That first day, I felt like a total zombie. I didn't do much besides sit around the Carters' house and try to stay awake. I did try to take a nap at one point, and I couldn't even sleep! Craziness. Most of that day is a complete blur to me.

Haha, wow, okay, I've barely dipped my toe in here, but it's late, and I guess I'll post this anyways just to let people know I'm still alive. ;) The actual exciting trip stuff will come soon!

At Last I See the Light

Ever since I've seen the movie Tangled, I've wanted to go to a floating lantern festival, and tonight I finally got my chance. Lori and I went to the Lantern Fest held at the Pikes Peak Roadway down in Fountain. It was even more magical than I thought it would be.

Lori thought she was borrowing my camera to take a picture, without realizing it was set to video mode... and caught this cool video of the underside of a lantern as it was preparing to launch.



You can skip to 2:12 to see me and Lori (and hear our excitedness when they played the song from Tangled, "At Last I See the Light". :)

Crossing that one off the bucket list! :D I realized later that was especially appropriate considering my word of the year is Light! What better year to go? Before we sent the Lanterns up, we got to decorate them with markers. I covered mine with the quotes from my word of the year post. And of course, Mormon.org. :) Probably it will just get tossed but figured it couldn't hurt!

Published

Since I was a tiny little kid, I've always dreamed of publishing a book.

I was thinking more along the lines of an epic young adult novel, but... I think this counts too. :)

I got my free copy of the Family Life Education: the Practice of Family Science textbook today. They included one of my research articles as a book chapter. I'm especially psyched about this, because it's a textbook I used in my classes back in the day, and some of my professors will probably be using it in the near future here. :)

Sorry for all the pics. I know I'm a dork. :)

Now, to go work on that whole novel thing...

Dream Come True

So ever since I went to see the Christmas lights in Temple Square, clear back in my freshman year, I wanted to come back with my family someday so they could see it too.

Mom's in town this week, so last night my sisters and I went up with her to Salt Lake City. We had dinner at the Lion House and then headed over to check out all the lights.

One more thing to check off my life bucket list! :)