The Sunday after Christmas Dell came up to me and asked if we could get together that week, he found out that I was heading back to Rexburg that Saturday and rushed to ask me out before I left. :) I was all prepared to say that I couldn't because I had to get ready to go back to school, but something about the way he asked me softened my heart and I decided to give him a chance. We met on Monday night for FHE and had a great activity, then we planned our date for Thursday. It was a great date! First we went for a walk in the park and had snow cones, then we went and played games with his family for a couple hours. It was really fun, and I felt really comfortable with his family. They made me feel like I was already a part of their family. After the games he took me to a yummy Chinese restraunt. Then we went to my house and he looked at some of my artwork. We ended up spending 7 1/2 hours together! It was wonderful, and I wanted to get to know him better. It was just so natural and comfortable to be around him and we had similar interests.
On Saturday I left for Rexburg. When I got there I was about to call him to let him know that I got there safely, but he beat me to it! Just as I was pulling out my phone he called me! We ended up talking for 2 hours! I have only talked that long with family before! We talked again on Sunday for 2 1/2 hours....then on Monday for about the same. We also emailed and chatted a lot as well. We talked all the time :) In a way it was good to be 6 hours apart because that really built our communication and helped us get to know each other that way, and we kept finding that we had more and more in common! In January we had a 3 day weekend for Martin Luther King day so I went home to visit. He came over on Friday and played games with my family. Then Saturday was my day to spend with my family in Caldwell, which was great fun. Then Sunday we went to church together, ate lunch with my family, then we went to his home later for dinner and played games with his parents. The weekend was amazing! I realized that I was falling in love...actually, by Tuesday I realized I was in love. We continued talking all the time and improving and getting to know more and more about each other.
It was amazing to find out how compatible we are and we just kept finding out how much we had in common and how similar we are. I never expected to find someone so similar. You know those lists that they tell you to write in young women's that has all of the qualities you are looking for in a husband? He matched all of them...he exceeded it! He is so much better than I deserve! There really is no perfect man out there for everybody, but there is a perfect man for me, and I found him. He treats me so well, makes me feel special, makes me happy,....he just makes me want to be a better person.
We had a 3 day weekend again in February for Presidents day, so I went home again. He arrived at my house just a few minutes after I got home and after eating soup we went over to Oma and Opa's to help Oma with her computer and help them find a hotel to stay in so they would already be in Boise in the morning for Opa's surgery. It was good to see them. On Saturday, which just happened to be Valentine's day, Dell picked me up from my eye appointment and we went to the park where we had our first date. While there he asked me to marry him. Neither one of us had expected a proposal that day, but the moment was right. We went to his house later and made a snowman in his Grandpa's yard, then he had me go on a treasure hunt for my valentine. That was fun :) After dinner we watched a movie with his parents and then he took me home. On Sunday we went to church again, then we went to my house for lunch and played games with my family and spent time with them.
Monday meant that it was time to return to Rexburg, but this time he came back with me to visit and look for some job opportunities in this area. On the 22nd of February, my birthday, he proposed to me. He had been giving me pieces of a heart all week with a message on it, and he gave me the last piece on the 22nd which told me where to meet him. So I met him at the Temple and he knelt down and proposed. He had a ring! I didn't expect that!! I was expecting a ring pop or a twisty tie because I am allergic to metal like mom, but he found a really pretty ring that doesn't bother me. After that we let everyone know that we were engaged. Since then we have just been enjoying spending time together and we have been looking for housing and working on wedding preparations and things. Last night was his last night here in Rexburg so we will be back to emails and phone calls until April 10th when we will be sealed together for eternity in the Boise Temple.
I never expected to go this fast in a relationship, neither one of us did, but it just feels right. Everything is working out, it is almost magical how it all happened/is happening. We found out that there were so many times where we could have met, we even lived in complexes right next to each other, I walked through his parking lot everyday! Even though we could have met then, the timing was right for us to meet now. The Lord's timing is so perfect!! This has been such a wonderful experience; I am so blessed.
We took our engagement pictures last week and got them back, so now you can see them too :)
Click here to see the pictures
Here is one of our pictures. We took one that looked like those Dutch kissing couple figurines :)
