Well, I’ve been asked by quite a few people for details on the engagement (SURPRISE!), and I think writing a blog post about it is probably the most appropriate way to spread the word (since I don’t have everyone’s email address).  I feel bad enough that most people learned about this on Facebook…

First off, Hayley and I have been dating since her first weekend in Houston.  I met her at Institute on a Thursday night (plug for Institute!) and thought, “Wow, she’s pretty great!  Easy to talk to, easy on the eyes…  That’s a good start, right?”  I failed to get her number (because I’m lame) that night, but the next day I looked her up on Facebook and sent a quick message asking if she wanted to attend a friend’s graduation party (Alina is now Dr. Alina) and meet some other wardies.  Hayley accepted and found my whit somewhat fun, so she shared her number and we made plans.  Well, things were going too well, so I decided to be bold and expand the plans by inviting her to dinner before the party.  Needless to say, things went so well she broke up with her boyfriend back in Utah!  (Kidding – that was already happening, but it’s funny to me that there was a mini-overlap of maybe 48 hours from our first date to her actually finishing the breakup.)

Since that fateful eve, Hales and I have had a blast getting to know one another, going on trips to Austin, Utah, Dallas, The Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland – shame on you if you didn’t know this), and throwing birthday parties for one another.  She has very naturally become my best friend, and I can honestly say that she makes me a better man through encouragement and the occasional chastisement.

So – the engagement!

We’ve been talking about getting married for a little while, so it was something we both knew would happen.  In fact, I picked out the diamond and ring about 3-4 weeks before actually proposing, then just waited for the jeweler to get everything squared away.  By the beginning of October I had a small box burning a hole in my pocket (figuratively – don’t worry about the pants in my room with the burn marks, that’s from something else) and wanted to just make it official.

Well, on October 15th I made plans w/ my friends Jason and Erin (and their baby girl) to double by getting some dinner and then heading to Miller Outdoor Theatrefor a recreation of the Pink Floyd album “Dark Side of the Moon”.  After picking up some food we headed to the park, got situated on some blankets, and began eating.  After a little while, Jason’s little one (she’s about 18 or so months old) was getting fidgety, so I told her to come grab some toys out of my camera bag.  She started digging through and found Gumby (thanks Gumby!), a slinky, and then this funny little mystery box.  When she lifted the box out I told her, “Uh oh!  That one is for Hayley! Do you want to go give it to her?”  She looked around, turned towards Hayley, and dropped the box at her feet.  (Yes, this was all kind of according to plan, though how much can you count on the acting abilities of an 18 mo/old?)  Hayley looked confused, Erin ended her phone call realizing what was happening, Jason smirked, Aliya ignored me, and I leaned over to whisper things in Hayley’s ear which left her blushing and excited.  I pulled out the ring, got a kiss, and then Erin caught this face with my camera:

Part of why this was fun for me was because I’ve been teasing Hayley that I would propose to her in front of a giant crowd, which I successfully accomplished since we were near the front of the lawn with a couple thousand people behind us.  They may not have known what was going on, but that’s probably for the best so Hayley wasn’t so embarrassed.  There was, however, a pet duck with the folks next to us that gave a celebratory *quack*.  (Yes, I may have imagined the *quack*, but the duck really was real and on a leash…)

We got a few more pictures of Hayley being excited and surprised (I had to apologize to her since she didn’t feel like she looked all that cute, but I always think she’s crazy when she says that).  Below is a decent shot of the ring – it’s the Tiffany Engagement ring (yellow gold band w/ a white gold crown).  The rock isn’t huge, but boy howdy does that thing sparkle!  (Note: SUCCESS!  Trust me gents, if you’re looking for rings, sparkle > size…  Multiple reasons: 1) carat size is biggest price booster.  2) lots of sparkle makes it look bigger anyway.  3) it’s honestly more noticeable.  4) non-sparkly huge rocks look like cz.)

After that, a few phone calls were made and I got a chance to play w/ my favorite neice.  She looooves the iPhone!

And yes, in case you were wondering, I was very happy.  It was kind of an odd moment…  You prep for that kind of thing for a long while and then it’s over… Done.  And then everything gets sappy and you have to just sit there and smile.  Haha!  Actually, it was a nice weight lifted off my shoulders – I was (and still am) a happy man.

This is either the official call to the ‘rents, or she might actually be talking with my Mom.  I let her do most of the announcing.

And as a thank you to my little helper, I made sure the youngin’ got a chance to call some people herself.  She used up the rest of my battery making phone calls, but since she helped me present the ring, I guess it’s only fair..  (BTW, isn’t she funny? She grabbed my phone, saw Hayley talking on hers, and decided to play along.  According to Erin this little lady loves her phones and Jason is going to struggle once she’s a teenager!)

As for plans going forward, we’re tentatively (95%) shooting for March 26th as the wedding date here in Houston, TX at the LDS Temple.  We’ll have a ring ceremony and a celebratory reception in the late afternoon/evening.  For all the Utahns out there, we’ll also be doing a reception near Ogden (possibly at Weber State’s Alumni center) a couple of weeks later.  For the Chicago folk, we will be doing an Open House at my parent’s place possibly the week after that (none of this is set in stone, btw).  The reason for an Open House instead of a Chicago reception is simply that I don’t know that many folks back home any longer – so many of you have moved across the country!!

So that’s my story!  We will have further adventures to share, I’m sure of it..  Just stick around and we’ll keep you posted!  There may even be a new blog a brewin’ that will chronicle all our happenings, with two authors (which hopefully means more posts)!

Well, my buddy Brian Corrales tagged me… I guess some folks have been playing the Blog Tag Game, or whatever they’re calling it, and I’m next in line.

1. I’ve been in two movies. Ok, so I don’t know the name of the second movie, but it has that Kirby kid from all the Mormony movies… It’s some family Christmas gone wrong picture, and my buddy Ben Meek and I are extras, floating around a Christmas party. The movie I’m slightly famous for (and only in my mind, I’m sure) is Charly. I wish I could capture a screen shot or something of the part (who am I kidding, there were at least 5) when the camera zoomed in and focused on my gorgeous melon… When I was on my mission, I returned to my greenie area after about a year where all of the members had seen me in the movie and had apparently been so excited that they showed the clip in both Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum (only in a Latin ward). Anyway, it’s usually something I only bring up after the third date, unless Travis (who is also in the scene with me) ruins it and brings it up right away.
2. I sing. So, some people know this, but generally only because I was given the calling of death to be the ward choir director this year… Generally only those that went to high school with me, or that witnessed the brief period in time when I had an a cappella group at BYU (ahh, good ol’ Resonance), know about this. I performed in several of the musicals back in the day, and was a leader in our school’s madrigals group. During my senior year I was ranked as a top 5 bass in the state of Illinois at the high school level. I don’t really know if that is something I should consider super impressive, but it felt good at the time. I don’t think I sing nearly as well as I did back in the day, but I still have a little skill left; actually, this is one of the things I think I’m looking to re-establish in my life… It gives me some character, right? :)
3. I still read Comic Books. OK, this is the ULTIMATE blow to my aura of cool. About a year ago I picked up a hardcover copy of The Ultimates, which is a modern retelling of the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, etc…), and I absolutely LOVED it! I was pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed the book, and then I went out and started buying some other hardcover copies of different titles. I must admit, I’ve always been a sucker for super hero stories, and some of the comics in this generation are definitely geared to a much older audience than they were when I was a kid (or maybe they were always geared towards an older crowd?). Anyway, I pretty much only keep up on the Marvel books, though I never hit up the Dragon’s Keep (the only comic shop in the Provo area). Anyway, this is probably the biggest and nerdiest confession I have ever made in a forum as public as this.
4. I absolutely despise Hollywood. I wrote a little bit about this in a post on my old blog a couple years ago, but my full emotions were probably not expressed in their entirety… Honestly, in that post I mentioned the idea of writing a book, and it’s probably a pretty decent idea. How Hollywood Blindsided America or something like that. Well, alright, I stink at the creativity stuff, but I think I could seriously go on a rant for 200+ pages about how I think Hollywood is corrupting American values and trying to push its agenda onto the easily influenced American viewing audience. Seriously, the average American has a much stricter moral composition than Hollywood portrays, and anytime someone stands up for their morals it seems like Hollywood comes blazing in accusing everyone of bigotry and lack of compassion. This type of thing is mostly seen during big elections (does anyone else remember Whoopi “Freak-Face-Hairy-Scary” Goldberg and Ben “I suck at acting, so I’m gunna convince America that they should subscribe to my values” Affleck trying to convince us that we should agree with them simply because they are famous? I know those weren’t the words coming out of their mouths, but what else could they be using as a foundation for their arguments? Higher intelligence? I understand that people who believe in things will use whatever platform they have to get their point across, but I don’t have to like it when Rosie “when did I become the most unlikeable woman on television” O’Donnell gets on her soup box and attacks everyone and everything in sight… I guess it may not be a problem with Hollywood using their means of communication to get out the message they want to spread, but rather it is a problem that the American people have given those in Hollywood an exalted status. Does it make anyone else sick to see a bunch of girls (and guys for that matter) in their 20′s and beyond reading some of the trashy “star chasing” magazines? Do we not have lives of our own to where we now have to live our lives through people who would place themselves (heck, many of us agree) as our superiors? Can you tell I have an opinion on this? :)
5. I’m a lover, not a fighter. Those who know me well already know this, but I really am a bit of a hopeless romantic type of guy… Sick, I know! It really is pretty much the downfall of my life, I’ve had my heart broken a few times (once really badly) because I put myself out there and I’m always looking to fall in love. I guess it’s something I believe in when there isn’t a whole lot to believe in during our generation. The love of God and the love we have for each other (especially between a man, his wife, and his children) is all that will save us in this world. I didn’t know what else to put as my number 5, so here ya go!

Anyway, I guess I’m done playing tag but I’m supposed to pass it on. Jason Malwitz and Aaron Hardy get the official invitations, so keep the game going!