I attended the Living Faith Fellowship Christmas party with Kevin Grote and my friends Kristen, Sarah S, and D.J.  I went about the night visiting with friends and making my way around to different people to socialize.  After finding out that yet ANOTHER couple had gotten engaged and I hadn't, I expressed my frustration to Kevin and to my friends.  Oh, if only I had known that this was my big night.  My friends had trouble keeping silent and giggled but I suspected nothing.  I was talking to to Kristen and Sarah and they were facing into the room while I was facing the door.  I was not aware that a large crowd was forming around me, only that they had asked me moments before to move into a more open area closer to the door.  At one point I glanced back and noticed a few people looking our direction at once which I thought was a little odd but considered that they were probably just admiring my beautiful friends.  When Sarah noticed I had glanced back she asked for a hug, which I immediately granted because I love hugs.  I think I was about to glance back again but was distracted by Kristen who told me she had to tell me about some guy.  I'm a sucker for such gossip so I immediately gave her my full attention, only Pastor Phil was standing near by and immediately jumped into the conversation giving Kristen advice about relationships and waiting for the right Christian boy to come along.  I too was giving her advice.  Mikko came over and stood awkwardly next to P-Phil as though he had some interest in the conversation although he was akwardly stroking his chin or placing his hand on his lower jaw.  I thought he was being odd so amid conversing, I began to mimic his hand-on-face movements.  Mikko left soon after.  Then Daniel F came over and told P-Phil that his wife needed him right now.  P-Phil continued to give advice for another couple minutes, then walked away.  

Immediately Kevin came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.  My mind began doing this mental connect-the-dots and I remembered the people looking our direction not long ago.  I was wearing a cream colored dress and I just knew he was about to tell me I had something on my butt, but instead he got down on one knee with ring in hand!

I was so shocked when I realized the huge crowd around me all staring my way.  I was so embarrassed (in a good way) and covered my face as I was laughing and began to tear-up and he asked "will you marry me?" I nodded my head and mumbled "YES" as cameras flashed around us and the crowd cheered.  We hugged forever before I actually put on the ring.  I was so excited to be with the man of my dreams and amazed at the best propsal I could have asked for.  

Before the Christmas Party and during the Christmas Party, I made it my duty to tell as many people as possible what my plan was for the proposal. I asked her friends Sarah and Kristen if they'd be willing to help, and they both told me yes after they freaked out and screamed in excitement. I was telling everyone that the plan was for it to happen around 8:40. 8:30 rolled around and I began to get pretty nervous. The band was playing a few songs so I figured that whenever they stopped playing I would ask. During the 3rd song a crowd began to gather, just like I had planned. I thought the 3rd song would be the last, but the band continued to play another 2 songs. This was fine, but just meant I had to sit there in the group, looking extremely suspicious and nervous for another few songs, so when I realized I wasnt doing a good job keeping myself composed, I left to chat with a some friends from the crowd that was slowly growing larger. Kristen begins to talk about her boy stuff, all part of the plan. But then Pastor Phil joins the conversation to give good advice, not part of the plan. This was right about when I left, hoping Pastor Phil wouldn't be talking for too long. 5 Minutes later, the band finally stops playing. Pastor Phil is still just into the conversation as ever. I'm afraid Tiffany is going to start getting suspicious because right where I'm standing, theres a giant group behind me, and clearly they were waiting for something. Mikko says he's going to go in to try to get Pastor Phil out. He heads in, but because of how intense the conversation was, he didn't even have a chance to jump in. A few minutes later Dan Fink says he's going to go in to retrieve Pastor Phil. Instead of trying to work into the conversation, he just went for the straight shot and tapped on Pastor Phil's shoulder and told him he was needed in the back. Pastor Phil promptly agrees, takes about 3 steps away, then turns around to wrap up his advice for Kristen. This takes another 3 minutes, but felt like eternity. Finally he turns around and begins to walks away but see's the huge group and kindly throws his arms around my shoulders and a few other people near the front. Pastor Phil asks "So whats going on here?" and I quickly reply "I'm about to propose." Silence for a moment, then he asks "When?" I tell him "Right now, I was just waiting for you to move." and he immediately apologizes and tells me sorry. The crowd laughs. Oh no! That was a lot of people suddenly bursting into laughter! I hope she doesnt look. Tiffany glances, but only for a second. Somehow she wasnt fazed by the laughter that sounded extremely loud to me. I figure this is the best chance I've got. I walk up to her, so nervous I feel like I'm about to die. I can't even imagine how red my face must have been. With the crowd in place and my good friend Daniel Nyquist ready with his camera, I tap Tiffany on the shoulder. The instant she turns around, I drop to one knee and ask "will you marry me?" By now, she's realized what had been happening the whole time and was completely caught by surprise. Her hands go up to cover her face and she stares at me with the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. She slowly nods yes and that's when my stomach finally retreated from my throat.  By now, her group has backed up into the crowd, so Tiffany and I stand in the middle of everyone, cameras flashing. I stand up and throw my arms around her. I've never felt so happy in my whole life. I knew she was gonna say yes, but that didn't stop me from being nervous or from being extremely happy when she said nodded yes. I'm glad she really enjoyed the public proposal. She loves attention so it just worked out perfectly.