Greetings From Utah's Armpit!

So Josh helped me move up to Vernal yesterday. It was a fun car ride, and even more fun when we got there and could actually walk and move around. Weather was good, roads were good, it was a surprisingly easy trip. And...well, I guess I have nothing to report. I'm here. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

P.S.

Job hunt starts tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Big Brother

So I'm pretty sure Facebook knows that I'm engaged, because all the ads along the side are about wedding parties and dresses and caterers and designers and on and on. Stupid facebook, convincing me to post my life on it and then trying to sell me crap because it knows my situation. Facebook is worse than Big Brother, because it sits there, silent, and waits for us to come to it and give it everything it wants. There's some kind of evil genius to that idea.

P.S.

As soon as we were back in the car, Josh asked if he could call his best friend, because of course once you propose to a girl, you've just got to tell somebody, right? Even if that girl is still in the car and listening to everything you say. He called his buddy Josh and they congratulated each other on being super cool guys, and I was just smiling and shaking my head, because he is just so darn cute sometimes. When we got home, my family was at the table and they got really quiet, waiting for me to admit what I'd gone and done to myself. So I smiled and showed them my finger. My sisters dove into our leftovers while my mom asked me lots of questions that I don't remember.

Then Emily walked in and asked what all the fuss was about. Apparently no one had bothered to let her know what the significance of Josh coming to Vegas was, so when I told her I had gotten engaged, she absolutely didn't believe me until she eyed the ring on my finger.

"Nobody tells me anything!" Oh, Emily.

My Turn, I Guess

Jonathan, Rachel, and Josh have all posted their engagement stories, and it occurred to me that maybe I'm supposed to do the same, so here goes:

Josh asked my dad for his blessing on our marriage the Sunday before, and during the conversation he suggested that Josh come down the next weekend to surprise me and propose. There was a suspicious gap in conversation that both my dad and Josh wouldn't explain to me when I asked about the phone call, so I was mildly suspicious at that point. The next day, Josh became hellbent on getting a car asap, and although it was something we had talked about, I was amazed by how quickly he went through with the entire process. A couple of days later, he had a car and was talking about all the trips to Vegas he'd be able to take. Clue number two.

Josh and I talk on the phone every night, and every night last week, he would bemoan the fact that we couldn't see each other in person until I moved back to Utah. By then, the hints were getting a little silly. I get it, Josh -- you're coming to surprise me!

Finally, Thursday night came, and I was trying to milk Jonathan for information on when to expect Josh. He wouldn't give me anything. If I don't know when to expect him, how can I get all "gussied up" for when he comes? Well, Friday rolled around, and I was leaving to go pick up my sister from school, but I left the house with the express instructions that I was to be informed the minute Josh arrived.

Of course he just had to come when I was out of the house. Not ten minutes after I had left, my sister Rachel(1) gave me a call and cryptically let me know that a certain someone had rolled into town. Well of course he was there already, because I was out running errands and hadn't even bothered to change out of my pajamas or do something with my hair. That should have been my clue that Josh would inevitably arrive.

So I hurried home after Josh had left the house, still trying to surprise me by arriving after I got back. I ran upstairs, changed and pulled my hair back, and ran back downstairs in time to pull open the door and see Josh leaning up against one of the pillars in front of our door. Man, I love that guy.

So we hugged and I pulled him into the house and everyone was all happy and smiley and junk. We basically sat on that couch together and talked with the family for the next several hours until the rest of my family got home from school and work. My parents were pleasantly not surprised, as were all my sisters. Except for Emily. She was, in fact, the only person in the entire house who was not expecting Josh to be there. Thank goodness for her obliviousness; she makes the secret all worth it.

So then we went to Carrabba's for dinner, which was absolutely delicious even though lobster is sick and lemon bread pudding tastes weird. The entrees were magical and I loved the ice cream that came with dessert. And the ice cubes were soft, so I could chew them without hurting my teeth. Incidentally, does it bother you, Josh, when I chew ice? It's not really appropriate in public restaurants like that, and the waitress did kept giving me a look... But it was my engagement night! I should be able to chew ice if I want to.

Anyhoo, Josh let me drive his new car to the restaurant, which was suh-weet! I really like the control of being the driver, and so letting me drive put me in a ridiculously good mood. I think Josh planned that so that I'd have to say yes. As we were pulling out of the restaurant, Josh said it was up to me to decide where we went next. Yeah, right. Like I'm going to be in charge of the date? I didn't think so.

I couldn't think of anything, so I asked him if just going home was all right. He readily agreed, which was disappointing, because how was he supposed to propose if we just went home? I couldn't be proposed to in front of my family -- that'd be just awful! So I quickly rethought, and asked if we could go see the fountain show at the Bellagio first. He agreed. If you ask him now, he'll tell you that he was just about to suggest it when I brought it up. Uh-huh. Okay, Josh.

So we drove to the Bellagio and walked through the garden area first. They had changed the decorations for the Chinese New Year, and although I'd forgotten my camera, I did have my cell phone, so I took a couple of pictures. And they are SO pretty! Then we went outside to look at the fountain, where Josh cleverly suggested we view it from behind, where far fewer people stand and where we'd be offered more privacy. The show started almost right after we got there. I had forgotten to check the time to see when it would start, but apparently Josh had been thinking about it since we got there. He's good at details like that, you see, which is one of the reasons why marrying him is a smart move -- he can be my personal rememberer!

I just think Italian anything is romantic, right? So when he let me choose the restaurant, I chose Italian. And when the music started for the show, it was a tenor singing this beautiful and obviously Italian aria. Instead of the water shooting jets of water as high as they could go and crashing down with powerful thundering sound, the water flowed gracefully in gentle arcs until the song was over. That was just beautiful. Of course, the entire time I was watching it, Josh was craning his neck right and left and behind us, looking for a good spot to propose. I just kept my head directed at the water and let him do his thing. This was his night, after all. I just had to stand there and say the right words when the time came.

After the show, which ended surprisingly quickly, we waited where we were for a little while so the ten or so people could finish taking their stupid pictures. I was hoping the entire time that Josh wouldn't suggest we leave, because the area was surrounded by dark, enclosed foliage, and it was really very beautiful and private. It was the perfect spot to propose, and I couldn't think of any other place that would serve better. So while I couldn't "suggest" anything to Josh because he was in charge of proposing when and where he wanted to, I was holding my breath that he would just have patience to wait out the tourists so we could have our moment.

A few of the tourists must have decided to live there, because they would not leave for anything. So Josh finally suggested we move on. I was a little disappointed so my legs moved kind of sluggishly, as if they were just as unwilling to give up the perfect proposal spot as the rest of me. That only meant that we moved really slowly away from our vantage point of the fountains. There were two or three people walking past us, when Josh slowed down next the railing that separated us from the water, and where the garden surrounded us on the entire other side.

This is the moment, I thought. Especially because Josh said something like, "Now that I think of it..." and got down on one knee. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket, where he'd been keeping it all night. He was even afraid to take off his jacket at the restaurant in case the ring box fell out. The only problem was, now that he was on one knee, it was apparent what he was going to do and he couldn't slow down or turn back. The next step would be to open up that ring box and propose, but the ring box was actually inside of another box, and that larger box was a little tricky to open. Now that Josh was kneeling, and now that I was standing there waiting, it was like we had to hurry up and do this thing before people came by and noticed us. Thinking back, I don't know why I was so concerned with getting it over with before people came along, but it mattered to me in the moment, so I was grateful that Josh was able to tear that first box off and open up the second to reveal the truly gorgeous ring that I picked out a month ago.

He said, "Camilla, will you marry me?"

I smiled and said, "Yes."

That's it. Then he stood up, I asked him to put the ring on me, and we hugged and kissed. But only one kiss, cause it's supposed to be romantic, and not gross, to get engaged. Then we walked back to the car in the absolute most blissful state.

What the Freak?

I think my phone is haunted.

The battery was about to die, so I turned it off to save the last bit of battery before going to find my charger. Except that the phone refused to turn off! It started beeping at me a few minutes later to let me know that it was dying! I get it, phone! That's why I shut you off!

So I turned the phone off again. I even watched the screen turn white and the word "goodbye" scroll across before it went black. Good, I thought. That ought to do it.

Wrong! The darn thing beeped at me again a couple of minutes later, flashing the "low battery" sign on it's very-much-alive screen. How did THAT happen?! I turned it off again. I stared at it's blank black face for a moment. I set it down.

It beeped at me.

Agh! Quit it, phone!

You know what? Never mind - I'll just go get the stupid charger.

The Best

I just love surprises, don't you? My dad's birthday is coming up and boy is that gonna be surprise for a lot of people. Some people won't be so surprised. But they will learn to hide it well. Because they love surprises. Surprises, surprises, surprises.

Surprises are the best, aren't they?