The Big News...

Many of you have heard the news; I’m engaged! Many have asked for the proposal story, so here it is.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2010, I took Megan to the Roof Restaurant for a nice dinner. The folks at the restaurant were kind enough to give us one of the best tables in the place, overlooking the Salt Lake Temple. They even had a red rose waiting for her on her plate. The roof is a particularly wonderful restaurant because high quality food and all-you-can-eat buffet are not mutually exclusive. Brilliant.

After dinner I took her for a night hike up Ensign Peak. It was a miracle that for the entire hike up, our time on the summit, and the hike down we were the only people on the mountain.

On top of Ensign Peak, I explained why I love the place. The peak was shown to Brigham Young in vision while in Nauvoo and Joseph Smith told Brigham that the peak was a suitable place to raise an Ensign to the nations. Joseph told Brigham that if the Saints built under the colors of the ensign, they would prosper and have peace.

Of course, the Saints build directly under the peak and the prophesy has been fulfilled. That is not to say that everything went right from then on. The valley received an unfriendly visit from the U.S. Army, experienced a plague of crickets, and went through numerous droughts, to name a few of the things that went wrong along the way. But in the end, the Saints have prospered and had peace. It is an impressive sight to stand on Ensign Peak and see the beautiful landscape that occupies the desert Brigham Young saw 163 years ago.

I thought this was a fitting Metaphor for starting out our lives together. I’m sure that things will go wrong along the way, but we have the promise that if we build under the colors of the ensign (the gospel of Christ), we will prosper in the end.

Anyway, the metaphor softened her enough that when I knelt down on my knee, fake ring in hand, and asked her if she would be my wife, she said “ya,” followed by a more affirmative “yes.” After I proposed I was filled with a feeling of optimism. That is a good sign, right? Needless to say it was a great moment. The night, however, still held some surprises.

During our decent of the mountain, we turned a corner and the beam from our flashlight fell upon an owl in the middle of the trail. We must have blinded the bird with the sudden flash because it began to fly around erratically. It started to fly away, but then made a sharp turn and began to fly right at us and hit Megan in the leg! Fortunately, no injuries were sustained by my new fiancée.

I took her home and dropped her off for the night. I had her good roommate, Rachel, get some flowers I had waiting in my apartment and place them in Megan’s room along with some rose petals while we were gone for the evening. I think the flowers provided a nice finish to Megan’s evening.

We are both excited to start our lives together. Megan is bright, energetic, spiritual, and totally gorgeous. It has been a pleasure to spend so much of the last year of my life with her and I look forward the eternity ahead of us.

The Beginning.