Here's how it went down (from her perspective)

I have a treat for my readers today! Last week I posted my recollection of how my engagement to Emilysa occurred. Well, Em has been kind enough to put into writing her recollection of the events, as well as provide a little history of where things really started from. So, here it is, in her words:

Many of you are probably scratching your head, perplexed at the news of Patrick and Em actually getting it together enough to get engaged. It’s not even some cruel prank just to get back at all of you who have suggested this scenario for years. Yes, you know who you are and there are many of you. I know who you are, too. That’s part of what kept us talking, but that comes later. In an attempt to work out how it happened, for myself even, since it still baffles me, I decided to write it out. If you get bored in the middle, please feel free to skip to the end, though you already know the ending. Sorry to kill the suspense.

The story begins long ago, over a decade, in fact. A tall, handsome new kid wandered into my Sunday School class and I thought ‘Whoa!’ That’s about all I had to think about him for a few months, as neither of us were talkative enough to actually get to know each other. A few months later, he took me totally by surprise when he asked me to Prom, or he insinuated that he was asking me to Prom. He’s learned a lot about direct questions, as you will soon find out. Since we had almost nothing in common, on first glance, I told him straight out that we would have to figure out what to talk about at the dance. I don’t think we had much success then, but it was the start of a beautiful thing.

From there, we suffered through seminary and Human Biology together, we served on Youth Committee at church, and had a good time with a exceptional group of friends. (You know who you are too and thanks for everything!) Eventually, high school graduation came and it was time to move on to reality, He went off in the blazing heat of the U of A and I placed myself in the bubble at BYU. We saw each other every few months, if we happened to be in the same place, until he left on his mission. We kept in touch through letters through both of our missions, but didn’t see each other for over 3 years. During that time, as I learned about a month ago, both of us wondered what could happen, but neither was willing to change the relationship we had. The idea resurfaced often as you brought it up. Yes, you…okay, maybe not you, the one next to you, yeah. Don’t deny it. We even had a mental list running, and it was quite extensive, of all of you who thought it might be a good idea to try something different than friendship. I never denounced the idea outright, but I never really saw any soundness in the idea. He was the jock. I was the nerdy musician. End of story, right?

Except, both of us liked writing, as our Sunday school and seminary teachers may have noticed from all the notes. (Sorry) Somehow we found enough to write about, in letters or email, that we stayed in touch. It was enough that we still got together for dinner whenever we were in the same state. And it was enough to keep you all suggesting things, which continued the conversation further. That was the state of things until summer last year when both of us needed a little support from somebody. We emailed pretty consistently during the summer and fall until he found there was a concert in San Diego that he wanted to attend. Since there was no one else around, he asked if he could spend the rest of his weekend visiting me. At that point, I knew I needed to find out if there was a possibility, being rather older than the standard marrying age of my family, so I agreed. We had a good time, even with the stiff awkwardness that crept in occasionally, like during the jewelry store commercial at the movie we saw. My brilliant mother nudged me into asking him to come for Christmas, which I did, and he accepted, on the condition that he could come out again before then. Since then, and much to my astonishment, we saw each other every few weeks, and it has only gotten better and more comfortable. Well, obviously, but I don’t want to spoil the end remember?

We established relatively soon that dating was a good idea, as perplexing as it was that I, Em, could actually date someone, and even enjoy it, plus the other person claimed to enjoy it whole-heartedly as well. I am still baffled. However, he let me know in early February that he had purchased some jewelry that was not for him. He had peppered me with questions about my wants and ideas about life, marriage, and whatever enough that he felt secure enough to proceed, which he did.

On March 6, we wandered over to Torrey Pines, since he was very explicit that he wanted time at the beach on this trip…even in the rain. So off we went to the highest tide I have seen in a long time and thick dark clouds all around. It was really beautiful to watch, so watch we did, until he suggested a walk. We stumbled along the rocks, while I pushed down the temptation to chase all the seagulls - there were lots of them, until the beach ended in the waves. I stood up on a rock, which gave me about 4 inches, but I need any help I can get, especially around him, and he stood behind me while we talked. It felt so comfortable to have someone there with me, and very natural for it to be him. As much as we had mentioned marriage, I was totally unprepared when he turned me around and told me he had a question. He went down on one knee, pulled out a box, and (very directly) asked ‘Will you marry me?’ I had no voice, or maybe even brain function, at that point, and stood there, probably mouth open, staring. When I realized he wasn’t going to get up until I did something, I gave him a kiss, as I still couldn’t say anything, and told him ‘Absolutely’ once the voice returned. Yes, Em has kissed a boy. I hope none of you fell off your chair at that news. He then pulled out the ring and slid it on my finger, with a little effort, but it fits very nicely - and it’s gorgeous. He gave me a hug while I tried very hard to recovery from the giggles that overcame me. I’m pretty sure he thought I was crying, but I couldn’t help but laugh. We stood there for a long time in the wind and the waves crashing around. It was a lovely spot, full of a beautiful feeling. Love is something definitely heaven-sent and much bigger than I can comprehend. I’m just happy for the little piece of it I got. Now all that’s left is the ending, still left to be written.

Here's how it went down (from my perspective)

So, I fully intend that this will be posted well after news has gotten out there, and I'll have told this multiple times, but it's good to get things down in writing while they're still fresh in the mind.
If you don't know what news I'm talking about, then I should tell you that I recently became engaged. I'm marrying a wonderful woman, Emilysa, on August 13th, 2010. We'll be married in the San Diego Temple.

The date was Saturday, 6 Mar 10. It was a rainy day, but Em and I had been in her parent's house all morning and wanted to get out and do something for a little bit. So, we decided to head to the beach to watch the waves and talk. When we got to Torrey Pines, the rain had stopped but the wind was still blowing, which made for a lot of waves to watch. We sat in the car talking for a while, but seeing the break in the rain we decided to take a walk along the beach.

Now, we were at the northern end of Torrey Pines...right where it meets up with Del Mar. The beach there is more rocky than sandy, so we were walking on the stones until we came to a spot where there would be sand at a low tide (with a tide pool being left), but it was high tide, so it was all water. So, we stopped and watched the waves from our stony vantage point.

I was standing behind her...arms around her waist and my head over her left shoulder. We talked as we stood there, the waves crashing and the wind blowing. We talked as we stood there. From time to time, I looked off to my left, as there had been a guy nearby taking pictures. I was happy to see that he eventually walked away. I wanted a little privacy.

She mentioned how fortunate we were to be together. I agreed with her, told her how much I love her, and then told her I had a question for her. I turned her around, pulled a small black box from my jacket pocket, got down on my right knee, opened the box, and asked her "Will you marry me?"

Now, it's not often that I've seen Em speechless. She was after that question. She bent over, put her hands on my cheeks, and kissed me while she regained her ability to speak. This took about half a minute. When she spoke, it was a single word..."Absolutely!" So, still down on my knee, I took her by the left hand, took the ring out of the box, and slid the ring onto her finger. It fit! After the ring was on her hand, I finally stood back up. I put my arms around her, kissed her, and we stood there in a tight embrace. After a minute, I could feel her arm move, as if she was looking at the ring on her hand. The next thing she told me was that she loved the ring. That was another large weight off of my chest, as I had hoped that she'd like her ring.

We stayed at the beach a little while longer, then headed back to her car once it looked like the rain would begin again. And it did. It was raining sheets for a little while. But, we stayed there watching the beach and enjoying our time with each other.

Now we're well into planning things, and will be for the next few months. But, for as long as I live, I will look back to that day as the best day of my life (to that point).

Thus Sayeth Your Haus