A year ago, Michael and I started dating. I knew pretty early on that this boy and what we had was special. He gave me crazy butterflies, we could talk forever {well I could...he is a super good listener}, and things just felt natural. When I say natural, I mean that every step forward we took in our relationship seemed obvious and expected. Like, of course we're dating. Duh, I love you. And are we seriously discussing spending every day together for the rest of eternity? Why even talk about it because you know I want to marry you?!
Our first marriage talk took place in April 2014. Even though we both realized this was something that we wanted for our future, Michael made me be patient. I tried to remain cool and not go wedding crazy on him, but my patience broke after we looked at rings for the first time in early June. Pretty much every day following that shopping experience, I asked him if this would be the day that I would "get something shiny." He had way too much fun with this. The silly boy would pull out pieces of aluminum foil and hand it to me asking if that's what I wanted. Or he would ask me if he could engage me.....long pause.....in conversation. Or Michael would check to see if I was wearing our friendship bracelet, and if I wasn't, he would claim that as the reason for not proposing that day. Sigh. It was a rough couple of months for my little heart.
He knew I wanted to be engaged before school started, but we were running out of time for that to happen! Summer was winding down when we went to his hometown of Effingham, Illinois {shoutout to Michael's dad for the tickets!} at the end of July. The trip was super fun, but with each passing day, I realized I was not going to get engaged in the Midwest and I would have to wait til we both were in Utah again in two weeks. Double sigh.
On Monday, August 4th, I woke up, went for a run, showered, and went to look for Michael. He was on his phone a ton and being way protective of it when I tried to jokingly take it from him. I thought it was kind of weird, but moved on from that so we could discuss that day's plans. I knew that I was going to hang out with his really good high school buddy, Nicole, so I asked him when I should do that. He told me that I was all set to go over there to do a Pinterest craft at one and he would pick me up after "Bachelor in Paradise" was over at 9. SERIOUSLY? EIGHT HOURS?? Nicole seemed like an awesome girl, but I barely knew her! I was annoyed at Michael for making these plans without my consent, so he agreed to push it back an hour. Gee, thanks. (Side note: Nicole, if you're reading this, I now realize I had nothing to worry about! You're the best!)
We started our marathon hangout session with Michael at an Effingham classic, The Homewood Grill. Delicious food always puts me in a way too happy mood, so we were off to a good start! Michael then left us, and we headed to Wal-Mart to get supplies for a couple of Pinterest crafts we were planning on doing. Nicole and I got to her house and got right to work on a picture that I am supremely proud of! It was very easy to talk to her and I had a fun time all around while there. The only downside was that I was missing my boy, as he was sending me sweet texts all day that made me excited to see him again. I now realize he was just buttering me up.
See? So cute! Can't even believe I made that!
Michael picked me up with another couple at 9:02 so that we could go on a late night dinner double date at Steak n' Shake. A whole other blog post could be dedicated to how much I LOVED that place. Their garlic double burger and fries cost $4 and tasted beyond amazing. IS THIS REAL LIFE? Anyway, the dinner was filled with lots of laughs, happy tummies, and fun times. I was having such a great day, I was visibly giddy.
We hopped back into his friend's car around 10:20 and we brainstormed what we could do next. Someone threw out the idea that we could go mini-golfing, claiming that we had to hurry because it closed at 11. Sounded fun enough, so we drove five minutes over to the park it was located at, only to find almost all the lights were off. It closed at ten apparently! We didn't want to end the night yet, so Michael suggested very enthusiastically that we play "Sardines-- Hillbilly Style." Ever played? No? Of course not. Because the boy made it up, so that I could have the world's most perfect proposal.
After I begrudgingly agreed to play one round of "Hillbilly Sardines," Michael explained the rules. The two boys would hide together and after seven minutes, me and Rachel would go find them in the dark park. I had some legitimate questions about the logistics of the game, but they brushed over them and said I'd figure it out. So, the boys ran off to hide and we hung out at the car and chatted. When the timer went off, we start walking towards the deserted park. Rachel stopped about six seconds into the walk and stated that she had to go get Tyler's iPad from the car because he's a freak about leaving his electronics alone. I thought nothing of it.
We started walking and talking again when she started rambling about something whilst signing on to Tyler's iPad. I thought that was a little weird, but kept going. Then she thrust the iPad into my hands, urged me to push play, and took off running.
Then I knew it was happening. After all of the waiting, wishing, and anticipating, the moment was finally here! The ultimate, most perfect surprise that there ever could be! I started smiling, crying, hyperventilating a little, and shakily pushed play to see the sweetest video that led me to my man, in a darling lit up gazebo where he asked me to be his partner for eternity. Basically, up to this point, that was the best night of my life. :) Also, the rules weren't incredibly clear, but I think I won that game of "Hillbilly Sardines."
Credit goes to Tyler Yocum at Scarlet Creative
The slightly poor quality of the video is totally my fault cuz I'm a dunce and don't know how to embed a video. The real one is much better!!
The best night of my 22 years of existence!
The perfect ring for me:)
Re-watching the video because I was freaking out too much the first time to pay attention
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A special thanks to all of those that helped make this proposal possible:
Tyler Yocum, Rachel Gouchenour, Tyler Semple, Michael's family, Nicole Zimmerman, and of course Michael Taylor Gadberry:)
'Twas perfect!
