The Five W's

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.