In honor of our one month anniversary a couple days ago, I wanted to share the story about how Jeff proposed! I will show you some pictures so you can see what a great job he did. Don't let Jeff know I'm saying this, but I had no idea he was so sensitive! He pretends to be such a tough guy. Which, of course, he totally is. ;)
Background: It was the end of winter semester, and Jeff had decided that he was going to return to Houston to help a man in his ward start up a pest control company. He was going to be gone the entire spring semester, leaving me alone in Utah! I was so upset! But he wanted me to come back to Texas with him for a week to be with his family and hopefully get engaged. So, I flew to Texas for the first time! (Sidenote: It is CRAZY humid there. . . I felt like I was literally swimming through the air when I got off the plane!)
For part of the week we stayed at their friends Beach House in Galveston. For weeks, Jeff had been talking about this amazing boardwalk in Kema that we were going to visit on Saturday. Like seriously, he could not get over this place. So naturally, I assumed he would probably propose there, and he thoroughly encouraged me thinking that.
On Friday, we spent the whole day playing on the beach and in the ocean. The boys kept saying how excited they were to go crab hunting that night, which I had never heard of, but accepted it would probably be cool (just for clarification, crab hunting is the equivalent of snipe hunting, which is not real). We used SPF 80 sunscreen, but we didn't realize it wasn't water proof! That turned out to be the worst mistake ever. I have never been burned so badly! So that night, at around ten, Cheryl (Jeff's mom) and I went to Walmart to get aloe-vera. When we got home Jeff was waiting on the front porch for me. He asked if I wanted to go crab hunting with the boys, and of course I did, so we walked down the street to the entrance of the beach.
This is when it gets funny, and I am appalled at my stupidity! When we got to the beach, I saw this light farther down the beach toward where we were staying, but I thought the neighbors were having a fire. So, I didn't think anything of it but called for Jeff's brothers to see where they were hiding. We walked down the beach and there was a tiny square made out of glow sticks. I was like, "What the heck?" Jeff said that if you put glow sticks in a square, the crabs are attracted to it and will get stuck in the center.
YEAH RIGHT.
Thinking that was awesome, I noticed there was something in it! Jeff bent down and threw it on me, causing me to scream and freak out a little bit. Needless to say, it was a flower and not a killer crab. :)
Still, I wasn't picking up on anything. Jeff continued to call for his brothers, and I continued to believe that crab hunting was real.
We continued down the beach, and the "fire" grew closer and closer. I soon realized it wasn't a fire, and asked Jeff what it was, but naturally, he ignored me. I shrugged, but about twenty feet away I realized what was in the sand, and it all clicked. It was a giant heart, probably ten feet across, made from glow sticks and candles. In the middle was the castle we built earlier in the day (complete with a courtyard!) and a jar of sand inside with a little tiny box inside the jar.
This is what was waiting in the sand! I hope you can see it, it is a bit dark. But it was really spectacular!
Here is the same thing, but with a light so you can see what it is. If you look closely, you can make out the glow sticks and candle heart shape.
This is the castle! You can see the jar, full of sand and the little box that held the ring!
So we got to this point, and Jeff walked over to the jar and pulled out the box. Of course, I was starting to get emotional (thanks mom).
Sidenote: I collect sand from everywhere I go and put it in cute jars, oftentimes layering the different colored sand. It was something my Grandma Dalton did, and I have always loved it. Great and beautiful way to keep memories close at heart!
Then, pointing to the jar, Jeff said something to the affect of, "This jar is just the beginning of all the sand we will collect in our lives together, and I can't wait to create enough memories to fill it up."
So, I said yes. :)
And his family came out from hiding and took pictures of us and celebrated. It was truly one of the sweetest things that has ever happened to me. I love that man!
And now we get to live happily ever after.
:)
