The Story 2.0

So, now we're a couple. We dated pretty normally. I don't have a lot of stories to tell about our actual dating experience. We do a lot of homework together. We make a lot of sushi. We talk a lot. We laugh a lot. We cook a lot. We climb a lot. One significant thing was Memorial Day weekend. We went down to visit Jake's family (he's a sort-of local). It was probably the best Memorial Day weekend ever. It rained the whole time, so we just sat inside and talked and played games. It felt so natural. It was just like hanging out with my own family. One time during the weekend, Jake and I were sitting on the couch chatting or reading or something (not kissing, for the record) and he got up to do something. When he got up he said, "Sure love you." Then he paused. "I didn't even mean to say that. It just came out." Frankly, I can't remember what I said. Lame.

On Memorial Day, my mom hosted a bbq for my family and all my orphan college friends with no place to go. Jake and I went to my house early to help my mom get the house ready. I was in the kitchen helping my mom cook, and Jake was out weed whacking with Morgan. My mom and I watched them out the window. She said, "You could marry him, you know." I said, "Yeah. I could."

So we kept dating. It was pretty soon after Memorial Day that we had a long 3 hour conversation and at some point one of us said, "So....how soon can we get married?" So that was that. Jake had the impression that we should wait until the end of the semester to get engaged though, so we did.

At this point, we knew we wanted to get married, but neither of us had received any kind of prompting or spiritual confirmation in any direction. Honestly, that really distressed me. I was trying so hard to be in tune with the Spirit and ask the right questions, and it felt like God was being completely silent. I wasn't looking for a beam from heaven. I just wanted to feel peace and an assurance. Jake was the same way. We both agonized for quite a while. It was probably about a month, or at least several weeks of praying, fasting, and going to the temple before both of us found the peace and the assurance that we were looking for. So then we went ring shopping. I picked out my ring, but I didn't know when he bought it or when he was planning on proposing.

Last week on the 7th, we got up early and left to go climbing at 7. (We're both morning people and early birds, which is convenient.) We took a winding country road up the canyon to our favorite place to climb. It was such a beautiful morning. I can't even tell you. I could get drunk on mountain air in the mornings. So we climbed for a few hours. Nobody else was up there except for the birds singing. When we were done climbing, we packed up and were about to hike down to the car. But Jake stopped me and kissed me, and then he said, "Wait a second. There's something missing here." Then he pulled a box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. He said, "Kate, will you be my eternal companion?" And I said yes. Then we hugged and felt happy. I didn't cry, just on the inside. I'm an inside crier most of the time. We hiked down the mountain, and I washed the chalk and dirt off my hands so I could put the ring on. And then we took the one picture we have of us together. When we got back, we played foosball with our married friends and lost. Then we went to a family reunion. It was a good day. :)