There were few instances in which I believed Josh would propose to me. I was wrong every single time. I was waiting for it. And he knew I was too. We went to Jerome, Arizona, for a weekend getaway. I had just finished up teaching for the year and needed to relax. We got to Jerome and there were no hotels available so we had to go to a nearby town and stayed at super eight which was pretty crummy but we made the best of it.

The next morning we drove up to Jerome and looked at all the little shops. It was a really cool town. It reminded me of Italy but more ghettohipster. I was getting pretty tired and the weather wasn't very good so we decided that we would leave. But first we wanted to look at the view over the valley.

Josh sat on the bench and I stood looking out over the cliff. He looked up at me and said, "This is fun right? Do you think we could keep doing this?"

I replied, "Yes, I like going on trips with you."

Then he asked a couple more questions. "Do you think this is sustainable? Do you want to be my queen?"

To which I replied, "Well I think we treat other pretty good, so sure."

He rephrased, "No, will you marry me?  Will you be my wife?"

It really caught me offguard I did not know if he was being literal or if he was just talking hypothetically. I responded something like, "Yeah. What? Okay! What? Are you sure?" My brain fell out I think.

He told me to sit down next to him so I listened, even though the bench was tiny and rickety and I thought it might collapse. He turned to me and said, "I want you to be the mother of my children. Will you be the mother of my children?" At that point my brain stopped functioning and I wasn't quite sure how to respond so I didn't.

He pulled out a ring and told me to try it on. I then started tearing up because I realized he wasn't speaking hypothetically. He actually did want to marry me and he actually did want us together.

The proposal was perfect. It wasn't something fancy. It was just me and him deciding to spend the rest of this life and the next together.

The wonderful girl that she is, Nicole was stressed from time to time about the path her life was taking. She wasn’t sure what school to sign a contract with. Should she serve a mission? Should she sell the wedding dress she hadn’t used? She questioned my commitment to us quietly to herself as not to scare any “big game” away. Little did she know I had already made my decision to ask her to marry me. I informed the Lord that she was great, that I thought it was a good idea, and that I was going to go through with it unless He told me otherwise. I had saved up a considerable sum with which a young man could get just about any toy he fancied, but I only wanted her. 

I began shopping for the ring of our dreams on my days off. I had to be more and more dishonest with her because she usually was the first to know when I had any time off work or school when we could play. After two days of asking around town I found a little mom and pop shop that had the right stone for the right price. It was beautiful and having worked a summer at a jewelry store I knew that THIS one had been made possible with the Lord’s help. 

I was not close enough with any of Nicole’s friends to get any help in finding Nicole’s finger size. So it turned out I had to steal a ring right off her finger one night and then act like I lost it under her bed. Two days later I had it sized and then tossed it back on the floor by her bed, while she was at work, where it WOULD have landed for her to find. It was a silver one she wore each day and each day I looked for it on her finger which would be a sign to me of success and that she was not the wiser. She took FOREVER finding it and even asked me about it!!! I then had to find it where I had left it and prop it up on the carpet and make it more noticeable. She was suspicious but found it with a little time and the plan came off without a hitch. 

At length I acquired the diamond ring and I hid the little box and custom made setting in my army boot in my closet for over a week. I looked at it every day and, though it was hard, decided to save it for a motorcycle trip we were planning to Jerome, Arizona. 

Just before the trip I stopped in at the restaurant that her mother managed and requested that she invite her husband to have lunch with us. I’m sure she knew what was happening. Nicole’s mom is a sharp lady. She called her husband many times to find out where he was and if he was on his way. It turned out that he and his brother had just sat down to eat at a different restaurant! Eventually he had arrived with his brother. We chatted and ate. Nicole’s mom sat down with us after some time and her father asked very matter-of-factly, why we were all there. He had thrown down the gauntlet. I told them that sending Nicole home each night sucked and asked for all of their blessings in marrying their daughter. All were very pleased with the arrangement and handhsakes and hugs were exchanged. They asked to see the ring and I promptly refused. 

Shortly afterward I left to go grocery shopping and had to lie to Nicole about where I had been. Please note that I have watched waaayyyy too many episodes of mission impossible for any of this to have gone sideways. 

 It was a great trip to Jerome that weekend and was only a little cold to start. Nicole was a soldier on the back and navigated us there with her phone. I wanted to keep the ring in my jacket in case opportunity presented itself but with her arms constantly around me on the motorcycle made that a “dangerous proposition,” because she might have felt the little box through the leather. To prevent me being found out I put my .38 pistol in the same pocket to disguise the feel of the ring box. It worked.

The second day after perusing shops, hoity-toity eateries and the largest kaleidoscope store in the world we went back to the bike and prepared to depart. We sat on a bench on a cliff that overlooked the Jerome mine. It was a little awkward for me as I searched for a Segway to ask her the question that had been on my mind for over two months. She was tired and not in a very sentimental mood but I did my best. I asked a series of questions to elevate her mood. Things she wanted. Places she wanted to go. If she wanted to be with me always. Then if she would marry me and be the mother of my children. She was not really sure what was happening but once we had sat on a rickety bench, on a cliff overlooking some sharp looking rebar and she had caught her breath, I presented her with the ring I had so carefully prepared. She wasn’t sure what to think and did not react as I had expected, but I just rolled with it. If the Lord was OK with it I had better just carry on and continue to expect his help if He had brought us THIS far. 

She was very happy and became peaceful as we toured the Mine museum. Afterward we headed for home and ever since have only wanted the days to pass quicker for when we would be married.