Love Story Part VII: The Proposal

Derek and I knew we were going to get married pretty soon after we started dating again. We talked about it and decided that if we did get married, it would be in June, so we would probably get engaged in March so we wouldn't have a forever long engagement.

Something about me - I'm really good at figuring out surprises. I can pick up tells and everything. So I told Derek "Derek, I'm not sure how you're going to surprise me with the proposal. I'm really hard to surprise."

We were on a date and somewhere during the conversation, he said "Hey, I entered a free photo shoot contest." This confused me because Derek hates having his picture taken. When I asked him why, he pulled his usual line "It seemed like a good idea at the time." A few days later, he emailed me this.

So I went along with it because it didn't seem fishy at all. I looked this lady up, and found pictures of one of Derek's friends from High School. I asked him about it "Is Julie the one who told you about this photoshoot thing?" and he said "Yeah she's like a family friend or something." We scheduled a Saturday for the shoot.

January 23rd, 2016

All through the day there were moments where I suspected something was going to happen, but I had engraved in my mind that we were getting engaged in March. So I kept telling myself "He won't do it today."

We had breakfast at Kneaders. Derek was shaking a little, and acting a little weird, like when he asked me to be his girlfriend again. I asked him about it and he said he just hadn't eaten anything. Then we went to pet stores and Puppy Barn. We bought a dog together. No just kidding. Someday though. We went to RC Willey and looked around. Then it was time for the photoshoot. We met Cheryl at the Spanish Fork Golf Course and she took a couple of pictures. Derek took his coat off and I was like "IT'S FREEZING." We took some pictures on a bridge, and in some trees. She then led us to a small clearing and Derek ran to grab his coat and she followed him. That's where I knew something was happening. They walked back and I heard Derek say to her "It's in my coat." I knew what "it" was.  AHHHHHHHH!

He comes back over and she does a few more shots and then says "Okay, Why don't we do a few candid shots." That was his cue. He froze. I'm freaking out and screaming in my head "JUST DO IT!" So he looks at me and is all awkward and doesn't know what to do. So Cheryl says "Okay Derek, why don't you take Jenny's hand and get down on one knee?" AHHHHHHHH!

"Jenny?"

"Derek?...Whatcha doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? Jenny, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"YES ABSOLUTELY!"

"...Oh yeah, this is Julie's mom." As in he's known her pretty much his entire life and she made the flyer specifically for him. He's sneaky. AND HE SURPRISED ME. He's a keeper.

I love you my sweet Derek.
Here's to Forever.