Preview of our Wedding Video

Proposal Story

Well, getting the ring was quite the task. Not really, just lots of driving. Thanks to Dave Love for designing it and making it for me from scratch! I'll be honest, I'm not super creative (I stare at a computer all day, how could I be?), but I did want the proposal to be private. There isn't really anywhere here where that situation is possible besides Provo canyon, so once the ring was almost done I went and scoured the canyon for a good spot. OK I didn't scour it, but I did spend 30 minutes looking for the spot. I happened across a road up South Fork, and as I drove up it I found a park, South Fork park (a surprising name I know). I looked around on the other side of a creek and found a nice spot in the woods alongside of the creek. So the next night around 2 AM I took my roommate there to show him so he could take pictures. I still couldn't think of a good way to get Shalie up the canyon though, which was kind of a problem. So Saturday morning came and I woke up to drive to Logan to pick up the ring (but not after sleeping 2 hours past my alarm). As I drove back, Shalie gave me my excuse to get her up the canyon: she wanted to go on a walk that night. So I suggested this "cool park I heard about in the math lab that I haven't been to" and the plan was in motion. After a few hurdles, I got my roommate on his way to the spot while I delayed Shalie for about 15 minutes (he was "going to the library" on a Saturday night). We got there and I wanted to take her straight to the other side of the creek, but she was difficult and drug me a different way. I'm surprised she didn't notice me constantly looking around to find my roommate's car, which was a good thing, and eventually I got her where I wanted her. But once we were there.....I COULDN'T TELL IF MY ROOMMATE WAS EVEN THERE. So I kept walking further downstream until I got lucky and noticed his head peeking from behind a bush. So I drug Shalie to a dry spot, said some cheesy stuff, got on a knee, laughed to myself at Shalie's "OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU DOING" (I guess she forgot this was coming?) and proposed! Of course she said yes, and here we are, happily engaged :)

How We Met

While I was serving in Samoa, unbeknownst to me, my mom and Siri, Shalie's sister, decided that Shalie and I should somehow meet. I don't know how that conversation started, but it resulted in us being friends on Facebook. Apparently there had to be some convincing to get Shalie to accept it: I guess my good looks weren't enough ;). Well I got home on December 3rd, 2011 and as I started to reacclimate myself with life not on an island, I came across an attractive girl on my friends list, but I had no idea who she was. Being a smooth RM I started with "so how do i know you?" We went from there, sort of forced at first but I kept trying, and by the end of the night Shalie had given me her number without me asking for it. Skilled, I know.

As time went by until the end of December we got in a habit of skyping. Conversations would last for hours, and they would end fairly late at night. I had nothing to do at all the next day, and she was two hours behind, so no big deal. Despite all the fun in chatting, there still was a slim chance we would actually see each other ever. But then Kayla White was a life-saver and decided to visit Utah, which drew Shalie down to Provo. So on January 6th we went on our first date, and we saw each other every night that weekend, and then again the next week when she came down with her dad after leaving. I must have made an impression because she came back down really quickly. Then I REALLY must have done something right because Shalie decided to move down here to Utah, and the rest is history!

So thanks to Siri and my mom for "setting us up:" if you hadn't we wouldn't have ever found each other!

Our Engagement Photos

 Here are all of our engagement photos. Michelle Witbeck with Memorable Moments Photography took them and we love them. We are still waiting for our wedding pictures and are excited to see them!