April 15th

Today is a special day for us. A day that I more often forget than not. I always remember our anniversary, birthdays, even the day we met (mostly because it was over the fourth of July weekend). This day always seems to fly by though, and I usually don't realize it until a few weeks later. Today is the day that Adam proposed to me.

He put a lot of thought, planning, and creativity into this day... so it will always mean the world to me. The last thing he wanted was for me to suspect anything, so he waited for me to decide what we were going to do. That way, I would never dream that it would be that special moment. The one where you want to freeze everything in time... exactly what he said, the look on his face, putting the ring on your finger, what you said, your heart beating a mile a minute, emotions sky-rocketing. That one.

Luckily, I couldn't have picked a more romantic place to go. I had been wanting to show him Whatcom Falls for a long time. God's creation at its best, filled with hiking trails, waterfalls, and my personal favorite, a perfect spot to go cliff jumping. It was too cold to go cliff jumping that day, but we walked hand-in-hand through the trails together. We eventually discovered that we were completely lost. However, we came across a beautiful waterfall with a log outstretched from it so we sat down. Adam pulled out a game of giant checkers from his backpack and we played.

Thankfully, I won. OK, so he probably let me win now that I think about it. I only say this because I (along with my entire family) am super competitive with any type of game. If I win, I'm in a pretty good mood afterward... but if I lose, it takes me awhile to get over it. ;) I remember Adam saying with a smile, "You think you're so good, huh? Try this game then." He brought out a chain of letters, only the letters were all mixed up. It actually said - morilywarmuley. My job was to solve the puzzle, or to rearrange the letters in my head until they made sense.

This game took me FOREVER. No kidding... probably fifteen or twenty minutes to solve. I kept looking at warm and thinking it was one of the words. I can't remember what other words I found, but there were a lot of them. Finally, after several guesses and frustration starting to creep in, I miraculously saw the word "will". Then I found "you". Funny enough, I was still completely clueless and had to cover up the letters "will" and "you" to see what was left.

Then I saw them. The words "marry me". My mouth dropped to the ground and I completely froze in disbelief. This isn't what I think it is... is it? My question was quickly answered as Adam knelt down on one knee with my engagement ring. The whole experience took my breath away. Can't breathe. Heart pounding. Indescribably excited. Crazy in love. I said yes, and we hugged and cried in each other's arms. And we found our lost way out of Whatcom Falls to celebrate.

I remember calling a long list of people in the car. The same list of people you call when you have a baby. Adam thought it was pretty silly that my first instinct was to call all of my family and close friends. My mom was first. It was a scene straight out of Father of the Bride. "Mom? I'm engaged! I'm engaged, I'm getting married! AHHHHHH!"

It was a beautiful day that I will always remember. When I look at my ring, when I see the morilywarmuley chain, and hopefully... each year on April 15th.