Betrothed.

Here’s the story of our engagement:

I went to Colorado for the Easter weekend and to interview for a few jobs in Denver on Good Friday. Nick dropped me off at the interviews and waited in the car for me (one of the interviews was almost two hours long!) because he’s just perfect like that.

He was pretty quiet that day, but I thought he was bored from sitting in the car and trying on every pair of sunglasses that he had in his glove compartment, which was, surprisingly, several pairs.

After my last interview, I was exhausted and wilted. That’s a nice way to say sweaty. Because they asked me a question I hadn’t thought about, and as the words started streaming out of my mouth, my face started getting red and my glands also started the cooling down process. Anyway, I wasn’t paying attention when I got back in the car to notice that we were going the long way, or that my mom was uncharacteristically short on the phone, or that Nick was apparently as nervous as a junkyard dog. They’re nervous animals.

We were supposed to meet our friends Bryan and Stephanie for dinner in Boulder. Stephanie called at 4:45 p.m. to say our 6 p.m. dinner would be pushed back to 7 p.m. So Nick suggested we go take pictures somewhere pretty until dinner. I was agreeable, but really just hungry and ready to eat.

After winding up Flagstaff Mountain, Nick just “happened” to find a good parking spot, and he helped my high heel-clad feet over the rocks and to a beautiful overlook. Nick was getting his camera out of his bag, and I was looking at the scenery. When he said my name, I turned to him and saw that it was a small, black box he had in his hand, and not a camera. He got on his knee and said, “Will you marry me?” Somewhere in the midst of my “what?!” and my jaw dropping and a few more “are you serious?! what?!” I said “YES!”

THEN he went to get his jacket from the car and I sat at a picnic table, in a daze. He brought back wine, cheese and crackers and we talked and prayed and laughed. We made a few phone calls to his sister and a few others, and then headed to a quiet dinner for just the two of us.

That’s why, when we walked in to the restaurant, my eyes got big again and I said, “What?!” a few times more, because our families and friends were there to celebrate with us. I think there was a toast and some clapping and oohs and ahhs, but I don’t remember much. It was all perfect.