The Proposal

Do you ever have those moments when you expect to be surprised and then, because you are expecting it, you actually are surprised when it really happens?  See, I was expecting beaches and twilight and white sand and crashing waves and warm ocean breezes...but I was wrong.  So wrong.

I knew Keith was going to propose while in the Dominican Republic.  It was pretty obvious.  I mean, we did get the ring sized the day before we left, and I did eavesdrop on Keith's conversation with my dad, and we had only been talking about it for months, so, I knew it was going to happen.

Here's how:

We had spent the afternoon dune buggying around the farmlands of Punta Cana.  I had never dune buggied before and Keith made me drive.  We drove to a pretty beach, to a hut to learn how they make coffee and cocoa, then drove to a cave and back again.  We were pretty hot and sweaty, not to mention muddy, by the time we got back to the resort, so taking a shower was the first and foremost thought in my head.  I should have known that something was up when Keith, who was showered and dressed first, said he was going outside for a few minutes.  However, I didn't think anything about it as I took my turn in the bathroom.

Once we were all dressed and cleaned, we headed down to our favorite restaurant for dinner, which was just out the door from our rooms.  Sammy, our favorite waiter, instead of taking us to our usual table by the wall, lead our group of 5 to a table in the middle of the floor with a fantastic ocean view.  Nothing seemed amiss until a few minutes later when I decided to order a drink.

"Sammy, do you have mango milk tonight?"  They had been out of mangoes for lunch, so I was hoping they'd gotten the fruit in time for dinner.

Sammy said he would have to see what he could do.  He came back about 10 minutes later, and very, very seriously said that he had only been able to find a very small mango and that he'd make the drink for me.  I shook off his seriousness, but I  got the impression that he had searched all of the other kitchens in the resort for the one tiny mango.

Eventually, Sammy brought me my drink and we continued on with dinner.  We comfortably got through the salad and entree courses without incident, then moved on to dessert.  I was fairly full so I almost didn't order dessert, but I did anyway because I can never say no.  Once our orders were in, Keith's aunt, Jacquie, pulled out her camera saying that she wanted to take pictures of our desserts that night.  I, again, didn't think anything about this oddity, as the food at this place was fancy and beautifully displayed.

When our dessert was brought to the table, Jacquie pointed her camera at me.

"What kind did you get, Jill?  What's inside?"

Like I said, I wasn't very hungry, so I hadn't dug into my dessert right away.  I looked at it and said, "I don't know."

"Well, you should start eating it and tell me what's inside."

"It looks like it has some fruit in it..."

"Tell me what's inside."

At this point, I was a little perturbed.  Why did Jacquie care so much about my dessert?  Keith's brother, James, had ordered the same thing, and he had already eaten half of it.  Why couldn't Jacquie ask him?

"James got the same thing I did.  Ask him what's in it."

"No, I want to know what's in yours."

"Fine!"

I started dissecting my dessert, but I didn't get very far; for there, artfully hidden behind a piece of decorative chocolate was a swirl of whipped cream...and a diamond ring.  I interrupted my description with a dramatic yet genuine gasp of surprise.  While I was busy digging the ring out, Keith got down on his knee.  He said a few words and asked me a question.

And then the entire restaurant broke out in applause.

The best part?  Aunt Jacquie got the entire thing on film.  If I wasn't already red-faced...

With a Thump and a Clang

Only 5 more days until Keith gets here.

Just the thought of seeing him makes my heart go zing.

I love old movies.

Distracted

I've had a hard time concentrating today.

     All day long I've been thinking about a certain boy...
 
     Who has a distinctive kind of laugh...

     And a definite way of smile...

     Attached to a particular pair of lips...

And then I'm gone.

I would ask you to help, but I like it this way.

Counting

I get to see this guy in 29 days.

29 long, long, long days.

I hope I last until then...

Leaping

According to the old folk tradition,
a woman may propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day and he must accept. 

With this in mind, I sent Keith a text this morning.
I proclaimed my love for him and then asked if he would marry me.  

His response?

"I suppose."

The man makes me swoon.

Sushi Related Thoughts

My stomach's been a little out of sorts today.  Yet, when I thought about lunch, I thought, "SUSHI!!"  So, I did what any girl who is mildly obsessed with raw fish and rice would do and I bought myself a little carton of sushi from Smith's and gobbled it right up.

Now, when eating sushi, there are two very important rules to remember--

RULE #1:  Never eat sushi on a queasy stomach.  Normally, queasy stomachs do not take kindly to seaweed and wasabi. 

RULE #2:  Never eat sushi that has been bought at the grocery store--especially on a queasy stomach.  Sushi from the grocery store has little to no taste and is slightly mushy, and the stomach just doesn't like it

So, you see, when I ate sushi for lunch today, I completely disregarded both of these rules.  To disregard one rule is bad enough, but to disregard both...  But then, I am "mildly obsessed", so who can fault me?  Even if it took my stomach some convincing to keep it down.

Anyway, thinking about sushi got me thinking about sushi:

First, I started thinking about how, even before I met Keith, I wrote this about a sushi-loving man. 

And then I started thinking about how almost every time I go to Canada, Keith and I usually eat sushi for our first dinner together and argue over who gets the last piece.  And he lets me eat all of the ginger, whether there is any sushi left or not.

And that got me thinking about how I can't wait to break out the sushi making kit I bought myself for Christmas for some future date night with Keith so we can try to make it ourselves.

And I remembered how on my latest trip, there we were eating our traditional opening night sushi, but this time we were eating it with chopsticks, in the car, while driving, in the total darkness that is Canada at 5:00 on a winter's eve.  It was fun...and completely awesome!

So, when I think of sushi, I think of Keith.

And that's when I came to the conclusion that I only really wanted sushi for lunch today because, due to the laws of association, I just REALLY wanted Keith.  But since he is a thousand miles away and really not readily edible, I needed a substitute.  Hence, the sushi.

I'll tell you what though: Even if the sushi had been amazing and I hadn't a queasy stomach, the meal probably still would have left me unhappy and unsatisfied.  Because no matter how tasty the sushi could have been, Keith is still far more delicious.

Wove, Twue Wove

Tonight Keith asked me a question.  "What was the purpose of God including the story of Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel in the Bible?" he asked.

My immediate response was, "True Love!"  And I explained:  As Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, he worked for seven years to earn the right to marry her.  But his father-in-law tricked him, and he ended up marrying Leah instead.  But as Jacob LOVED Rachel, he worked another seven years before finally being able to marry her.  Yep, definitely True Love.

When I was finished explaining how true love really does fit into the Bible, I continued by telling Keith that every time I hear the phrase "true love", it makes me think of the movie The Princess Bride.  It is mentioned a few times throughout the movie, but the scene that came to mind was where Miracle Max is commissioned to bring the Man in Black back to life.  When Miracle Max asks the dead Man in Black what he has worth living for, he responds, "True love".  Remember? 

As Keith was silent on his end of the phone at this point, I commenced to play out the whole movie scene for him, word for word, line by line.  I used voices, narrated the actions of the actors, and played each part.  It truly was an Emmy earning performance.  At the end of my soliloquy, while I paused for breath, Keith finally broke in with:

"You're weird."

Honey, you have no idea.

Goodbye and Hello

While on the phone tonight, I was trying to explain to Keith the difference between a

Persian Goodbye and an Oklahoma Hello.

However, being unfamiliar with the musical, Keith didn't quite get it.

I guess I'm just going to have to show him next time I see him. :)

I Sure Do Love This Boy...

But he never smiles for the camera.

Happy Birthday, Keith!!!

I love that his birthday is only 2 days after mine.
And next year, we WILL be celebrating together. :)

Happy

I heard this song yesterday as I was waiting for my plane to board. 

I was already feeling pretty good (as I was thinkinig about my boyfriend),
but this song made me feel even better.

Because he makes me happy.

My Green-Eyed Man

This is Keith's response to yesterday's post, the last two lines in particular:

You "had to turn him down, as [you] already had other plans"??? You better have had other reasons for turning him down... such as a very strong commitment to a person your friends refer to as "Canada."

He's so cute when he is jealous.

Note: "Green-eyed" refers to how Keith was feeling, not the color of his eyes...which are blue...ish.

Customs and Cows

During school last night, my classmates and I were discussing how, after 2 plus years of sharing graduate school, our group has still yet to marry any of us single gals off.  As Keith and I have been dating for forever, they issued me a challenge: Engagement before Graduation.  I have until May 6, 2012 to get at least a ring on my finger.  And if Keith wouldn't ask me, I need to ask him.  2012 is a Leap Year, after all.

When I talked to Keith later, I mentioned my school conversation and that we need to have a proposal soon.

"I want you to ask me, though," I told him.  "I'm a traditionalist."

"A traditionalist, eh?  So does that mean you come with a dowry?"

I scoffed, "A dowry?  Do I have a dowry!?!  Ha!!"

You see, Keith doesn't know much about Utah girls--especially Utah girls who don't get married when they are 19 and still live in their parents' basement when they are 27. 

And so, I started naming everything I have stuffed in my closet.  Dinner plates, cake plate, pie server, steak knives, serving platters, mixing bowls, finger bowls, punch bowl, drinking glasses, chopsticks, rice cooker, bamboo steamer, cutting board, blankets, towels, bed sheets, baking sheets, casserole dishes, mandolin, lemon zester, vegetable peeler, food processor, etc.  And the list goes on because, well, at 27, I've been collecting for a while.

Needless to say, Keith will be gaining a lot from this marriage.

But that got me thinking:  If I am expected to provide the dowry, what about the bride price?  The man needs to provide something, too.  What is Keith bringing to this union?  How am I going to gain?  He should be required to give something for as glorious a gift as myself, shouldn't he?

Whatever he pays, the price better be pretty steep; because, let's face it, with my awesome skills and killer looks, I am at least a six cow woman.

A Hunk or Two of Burning Love

Tonight's Phone Conversation

Me:  "If we were in the same country and could have gone on a date tonight, what would we have done?"

Keith:  "Gone to see Green Lantern."

Me:  "I wouldn't mind seeing that.  Well, actually, I wouldn't mind seeing Ryan Reynolds."

Keith:  "You like us Canadian hunks, eh?"

Oh, yeah!

Homework and Hockey

I was going to blog--really blog--but I had to do my homework and I ran out of time.

However, I did talk to my boyfriend and I did watch Game 6 of the Stanley Cup (as I studied, of course).

And even though Vancouver lost, I decided that I like really like Canadians...

...and that I really dislike homework...

...and that I really like one particular Canadian in particular...

But then, you already knew that.  :)

Go Canucks!!!

Mama Hawk Eyes

My parents picked me up curbside at the airport yesterday. 

The first thing my dad said to me as I climbed in the car was, "How was your flight?"

The first thing my mom said to me was, "Nice hickey."

It's amazing how sharp my mother's eyes can be at times.

Did I Mention My Boyfriend was Back in Town?

No?  I didn't?  Well, he is, and I've been busy.

So busy that I haven't blogged about anything since the last time he was here.

So busy that my left eye has been twitching for two weeks.

So busy that I saw Keith on Sunday and won't get to see him again until Wednesday night.

Honestly, it has been the longest 2 days of my life!!

But he's here (well, in Provo), he's mine (between work and school and practicum), and it's going to be awesome.

Maybe this time I'll take pictures.

Did I Mention My Boyfriend Came to Town?

Well, he did.

He kissed me 'hello',
he kissed me 'goodbye',
and he may have kissed me in between,
but then he left.

But don't worry, he'll be back to kiss me again.

And next time, I'll take pictures.

Deal Breaker?

Bad news:

Keith likes Miracle Whip.

Gross.

But I think I'll keep him anyway.

A Sunny Snapshot

Whenever I take pictures of my boyfriend,

one of two things always happens:

1. I chop his head off (he is 9 inches taller than me);

and/or

2. He's making a funny face.

Oh, well. 

At least he's winking at me...I think...

My Boyfriend's Birthday

It was Keith's birthday yesterday,

and I didn't do nearly enough to celebrate it properly--which is hard to do from 1000 miles away--but is mostly because I am a lame girlfriend and should be fired.

But I want him to know that he is awesome and that I love him.  And hopefully next year we'll be closer together and can get the party done right.

Happy Birthday, Keith!

P.S.  I did get his present to the post office, though.  Too bad he won't get it for another 5-10 days...