It was April 16th and Stake Conference was being held that evening. I was finally starting to feel good about the message I had been asked to prepare, but that didn't help the nerves settle much. Geoff and I had made plans to meet up at my place for dinner and then head to conference together for the Saturday evening session. After reading through and practicing my talk several times, I began making a dish of sour cream enchiladas. My phone beeped with a text from Geoff letting me know he was on his way. Shortly thereafter Geoff comes through the door looking fantastic all suited up in his red tie, with a huge smile on his face, and a beautiful bouquet of red roses in his hand. He says he knows I've been nervous about my talk, but he wanted to get me the flowers to let me know I was going to be just fine. Wow. He was also excited to show me some pictures he painted with water colors of our dating experiences, but wanted to have dinner first. I went back into the kitchen finishing up the salads and found myself trying to figure out how I could tell Geoff that I was so touched by the flowers but I didn't want him to feel he had to give me anything at all for such occasions.
We sat down to eat and gabbed through dinner, but I noticed Geoff was just picking at his food. I felt so bad because I figured it was because he didn't like it which meant he was going to be hungry throughout the meeting. I was finishing my last few bites when Geoff encouraged me to get ready to go soon because he didn't want to be late. Confused, I looked at the clock which showed we still had a good 45 minutes before we had to leave, but I agreed that I didn't want to be late, we cleared our plates and I ran up to brush my teeth. When I came down I saw the tablet Geoff had brought and asked if he wanted to wait until after conference to look at it and he casually said that it looked like we had enough time to do it now. He had me come over to the sofa and sit down and I opened it up to the first page:
It's us! But I obviously didn't pay much attention to the tense of the text below our stick-figure selves because I said to Geoff, "But I don't wear glasses!" He then pointed out that we were much older in the picture, reflecting our past. Got it. So I turn the page to...
Yes, that's us sitting in the High Councilman room where we first officially met and Geoff made the smooth move of giving me his fake email account of "hunkycoman@gmail.com". Now, if that doesn't make a girl swoon over a guy, I don't know what will. Ha ha! I never emailed him, so he had to resort to finding my number and calling. Anyways, I then turned the page to this:
Once again, we are reflecting upon the future we hope to have of raising children and giving them the opportunity to achieve great things in life.
On to the next page:
Ah, the epic night in January when Geoff officially melted the "Ice Queen". This event took place before we were exclusive: movie night at my place. Geoff started making the moves, you know, moving closer, trying to cuddle or get any type of contact with me and I'm on the other side thinking, "Does he realize he's touching my foot and not the couch?" But when Geoff realized he was not dealing with Captain Obvious he finally said, "Your left hand looks cold, let me hold it." Thanks to Geoff's patience and willingness to COMPLETELY put himself out there, we had a wonderful DTR and decided to exclusively date one another that night.
And if that wasn't enough flattering stuff about me...here's the next page:
For the record, I certainly hope to be as pleasant as I can be when I am great with child, but I've never been pregnant before, so who knows what to expect, right? But we can see what Geoff is anticipating...
And now it's back to the past with:
Our wonderful first trip together when we went to visit friends in Omaha, Nana in St. Joe, and my family in Pittsburgh. We smiled and laughed the entire time. What a great trip and wonderful time together. (By the way, if you haven't caught on yet, Geoff's pictures start way into the future and way into the past and have been gradually coming closer together in the time line...and if you're wondering, yes, I was still extremely clueless as to what was coming.)
Okay, let's turn the page to see how completely clueless I really am:
The epic wedding day. First off, I was really impressed with Geoff's rendition of the temple--super amazing job! This day really can't get here soon enough, but I know one day we'll be reflecting on how wonderful it was to finally become husband and wife.
But I know what you're thinking...something has to happen before we get married (you know, like a proposal) but yes, I was still completely naive to what was next:
You weren't expecting this picture, were you? So now we are at PRESENT DAY. That is exactly where I was going to be in a little over an hour and Geoff almost got his exact spot drawn in the picture, but he was one more guy over--right up against the wall in the choir loft. Then, unsuspecting of anything, I turn the page to:
I don't believe I read the whole thing, I stopped at "asked me to marry you" and went absolutely BALLISTIC! Geoff calmly got down on one knee what his dashing smile and said, "Dianne, I love you and I want to be with you forever." (Just so you know, I had no idea that's what he said at the time, I was still so caught up in the moment that I had no idea he was even speaking English. Geoff was kind enough to re-share later...) Words did not come out of my mouth, I forgot how to form them. When Geoff realized I was not going to be producing anything verbal that was worthwhile, he pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring and asked, "WILL you marry me?" Finally I realized nothing audible had come out of me yet so I blurted out "Yes!" and he slid the ring on my finger and it fit perfectly.
By this time it WAS time to go. So we grabbed what we needed, took off in the car (forgot to close the garage door), picked up a friend who needed a ride and then made two U-turns before we got on the right route to the Stake Center.
I called my parents (who were over-joyed) on the way and then had to figure out how in the world I was to calm my nerves to speak. The time came for me to give my talk and I had no idea what (if anything) was going to come out of my mouth. So, for a disclaimer, I let the congregation know that Geoff came over for dinner and to calm my nerves he proposed just before we came. A resounding "Aaaaw" came from the audience and Geoff turned as red as his tie. There was no question from anyone who my new fiance was.
I delivered my talk (which I had thankfully written out word for word) and afterwards all three members of the Stake Presidency extended their congratulations from the pulpit, making comments like, "It's fun to see families forming before our eyes." and "I had a hunch this was coming." and "It looks like someone listened to the Prophet's counsel."
When conference was over, Geoff and I were amazed at how many people came up to offer their congratulations. We couldn't stop smiling and thoroughly enjoyed sharing this moment with others...we just didn't anticipate the large quantity of others...
Geoff and I then headed to "Yogurtland" to celebrate. We sat outside on a picnic bench behind a gas station (I know, we're killing you with all the romantic details, but the spot was just perfect) and called Geoff's parents to share the wonderful news. They were also very excited and didn't seem to mind us gushing about how extremely excited we were.
So there you have it, the amazing engagement experience. Geoff's thoughtfulness and careful planning made it extremely special and a moment I will cherish always.
P.S. In case you're wondering:
The flowers weren't for my talk.
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