Who: Me and him
What: A proposal
When: Soon
Where: TBA
Why: To answer this, it’s important to think back to a time
almost two years ago. He and I had taken a spontaneous drive up through Bear
Lake and then into Idaho. We had never been on these roads before. It’s a
recurring theme that sometimes we get in the car and drive until we end up
somewhere else: San Diego, Hoover Dam, Yellowstone, Eugene, Craters of the
Moon. Spontaneity wasn’t part of my personality, so it required a lot of trust
for me to just drive somewhere – no
destination, time frame, or purpose.
It was on this drive that we talked about things. We
mentioned the idea of future plans. I don’t know the exact dialogue, but we
came to talk about marriage and proposals. He mentioned his interest in the
woman proposing to the man and I jumped in to say how adamant I was that this
should happen more often. We ended on an unspoken understanding that, if we
were to one day get married, I would
be the one to pop the questions.
Cue another long drive, this time a year later. Driving up
towards Bear Lake again, we took a left down to Franklin Basin. We spotted some
amazing camping spots off the road as we drove through fields of wildflowers
and quaking aspens. His sister had an outdoor wedding, so it naturally came up
in the beautiful outdoor space. We talked about the feasibility of having
family drive to this kind of location – whether it would really be possible to
have a wedding out in nature. It was on this drive, especially as we drove
farther along the road and down some precipitous, rocky trails that I decided.
Although it had always been the natural option, I made the conscious decision
to propose to him.
Since then, I have been toying with how to do it. Along the
way, I have let others on to the fact that I’m going to propose to him.
Everyone has been supportive because they support us and our relationship. The
funny thing about all this is that he has full knowledge of the fact that a
proposal is imminent. Honestly, he has been waiting for a long time and it’s
become a joke that I should get around to putting a ring on it. I have shown
him one of my earlier ideas for the ring (wooden rings from Touchwood Rings),
that I have since decided would be better for the wedding ceremony. For a
while, I wanted to find an antique pocket watch to use as an engagement token,
but my various antique store excursions haven’t been as successful as I’d hoped
(although I did find an amazing candleholder). After talking with a friend, I
have since decided it is more appropriate for our relationship for me to make
our engagement rings.
What follows will be the potentially frustrating,
exhilarating, intense, but ultimately fulfilling details of how this handmade
engagement came to be.
