The Proposal!
Behind the scenes look into the proposal!
When I was planning this I knew two things: 1) I wanted to make it special for Trista, which meant doing things different than what I might have liked and 2) I wanted it to be really good!! I know I made it special for her, you tell me if it was good!
Everything started on Thursday afternoon (well the planning started much sooner than that but that is when Trista was actually part of it!) when Trista walked into her room after her 3:30 class and found some roses, a gift card, and a letter from me! Upon reading the letter a couple of times and seeing the gift card to Jiva Spa and Salon for two manicures, she called me and was freaking out!! I remember her being very excited and ecstatic! The letter told her about how we hadn't been on many dates that semester and with Valentines Day coming up, I wanted for us to do something fun and special together! So I arranged for her to get a manicure with a friend at 4pm the following day, Friday, and then we would go to The Brown Bottle in Cedar Falls and enjoy a night together! She was really excited for the date night and so was I. It was great because she did not expect a thing. We had discussed a few weeks prior how few dates we had been on in that semester and that we both valued going on dates, so it really fell right into my lap!
Fast forward to Friday night at 6pm!
So Trista got her manicure with her friend Katie Nelson and then went back to her dorm room to get ready for our date! Little did she know all that I had planned that night!! So I pulled up to the dorm, but not in my tiny little Nissan Sentra that Trista was expecting, but in my friend's Audi that he let me borrow for the night! Trista came out of the building and I remember being stunned by how beautiful she looked (I remember thinking how lucky I was that I would be proposing to her in just a few short hours!!). I opened her door for her while explaining that my brother Josh needed our car at the last minute and Jonathan Bishop said I could borrow theirs! She was just tickled even more and still thought nothing of the very nice looking car! So we drove to the restaurant and on the way Trista was guessing where we were going to eat dinner that night. She finally guessed the Brown Bottle, it was actually her first choice :) We got there and took some pictures and they seated us at a nice table on their top floor! It was beautiful there and I remember being quite nervous lol. I remember us getting our food and we got some really good cheese bread as appetizers, yummy! When we got our entrees mine had the wrong sauce on it so we got it changed, and it was delicious! I was really nervous that I only ate a little more than half of my pasta. After everything happened that night, Trista said she thought that I had an upset stomach because I didn't eat much and had to go to the bathroom! Anyways, we finally finished eating and I pulled the car up for Trista.
As she got in the car I told her that I had one more surprise for her and that we weren't going to go back to campus quite yet! Well, Trista started guessing what this great surprise would be and I was nervous as crap! I started driving on the highway and Trista saw a sign for Waterloo. She instantly asked if we were going to Waterloo to play skii ball?! This was pretty funny because a few days ago she had come up with a great date idea to go to Waterloo and play ski ball (we love playing ski ball)! So that is what she guessed, and I told her maybe....and she thought we were definitely going! She asked if I knew how to get to Waterloo and I said, "psshhh, heck yea"! So Trista was soooo sure that we were going to play ski ball in Waterloo, meanwhile I get off of the highway and start driving down this heavily wooded area and she is getting nervous and a little scared! She turned to me like three times while grabbing my arm and said, "I don't think this is how we get to Waterloo babe" with a concerned look on her face! I told her that I knew how to get there with a little laugh in my response each time! It was hard to keep it in that we were obviously not going to Waterloo anymore to play ski ball but Trista was still hoping :)
So I pulled up to a trail that ran through the woods, it was pretty dark out and there were still a lot of trees around us! I stopped the car, turned it off, and gave her some boots and socks to wear from the back seat! Trista was a little confused and her hopes of ski ball were quickly diminishing. I told her that we would be walking down that path as I pointed to it and she was really confused. But she put them on and I had realized as I was getting out of the car that not only had I forgotten boots for myself but since a flashlight had also slipped my mind, we would have to rely upon my phone and the moon to guide us down the heavily snow packed nature trail to "the destination". I remember thinking "ohhhhh crap" as this was dawning on me. Well, I took Trista's arm and helped her over the snow bank onto the trail, if you would even call it that at this point there was so much snow on it! It was a little ways out there and I got a bunch of snow in my dress shoes on the journey. As we got closer and closer Trista was starting to really lose hope of ski ball, although she did tell me afterwards that she was still hanging onto it by a pinky! But as we got up to the dock area and she saw all of the luminaries, I think it finally clicked for her! And I will let her tell this part!!!...
After trudging through the deep, cold snow for almost ten minutes, we reached this beautiful illuminated dock. Jon was trying to make it seem like we just "stumbled" upon someone else's romantic rendezvous, and honestly a part of me believed him for a second. But at this point everything started going kind of fuzzy to me, so I must have known what was going to happen. Along one side of the dock were six staggered note cards with significant dates from our relationship written on the outside. Jon took my hand and walked me up to the the first note card that had the date January 3, 2010 on it. He opened it up and proceeded to read the handwritten note about this being the first day we ever met. After reading the note he asked me "Do you remember?" and I think I nervously replied "I remember." He continued holding my hand and walking up to the next five note cards, reading them out loud to me, and asking "Do you remember."
At the very end of the dock was a beautiful lighted Christmas tree with a pretty gift bag under it holding the last note card with that night's date on it. At this point I knew for sure I was about to get engaged to the love of my life! After reading the note card he got down on one knee and asked me if I would spend the rest of my life with him, and I said YES! I was so excited that I didn't even notice he was holding a ring! Then he gave me the best hug of my life! We took some pictures and tried to reenact the whole scene before we left. After making the long, but VERY happy, walk back to the car we looked at my ring a little more! I was so tickled and in shock! Our really good friends, Kyle and Katie Nelson, lived not too far away, so Jon asked me if we could go tell them! On our way there I was trying to get a hold of my parents, but they wouldn't answer their phones. I was getting so frustrated. Jon told me just to call them from in the house. When I opened the door, to my wonderful surprise all of our closest friends and family were waiting inside for us! Watch the video of us coming into the house! I remember lots of cameras flashing! We spent the rest of the night telling our wonderful story and celebrating with our loved ones! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful proposal, but more importantly, I couldn't have imagined being blessed with such a godly man to ask me to be his wife. I love you, Jon!
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the story, albeit kind of long! Now you know how the pictures at the top of the page fit into the story. Thanks for reading :)
Everything started on Thursday afternoon (well the planning started much sooner than that but that is when Trista was actually part of it!) when Trista walked into her room after her 3:30 class and found some roses, a gift card, and a letter from me! Upon reading the letter a couple of times and seeing the gift card to Jiva Spa and Salon for two manicures, she called me and was freaking out!! I remember her being very excited and ecstatic! The letter told her about how we hadn't been on many dates that semester and with Valentines Day coming up, I wanted for us to do something fun and special together! So I arranged for her to get a manicure with a friend at 4pm the following day, Friday, and then we would go to The Brown Bottle in Cedar Falls and enjoy a night together! She was really excited for the date night and so was I. It was great because she did not expect a thing. We had discussed a few weeks prior how few dates we had been on in that semester and that we both valued going on dates, so it really fell right into my lap!
Fast forward to Friday night at 6pm!
So Trista got her manicure with her friend Katie Nelson and then went back to her dorm room to get ready for our date! Little did she know all that I had planned that night!! So I pulled up to the dorm, but not in my tiny little Nissan Sentra that Trista was expecting, but in my friend's Audi that he let me borrow for the night! Trista came out of the building and I remember being stunned by how beautiful she looked (I remember thinking how lucky I was that I would be proposing to her in just a few short hours!!). I opened her door for her while explaining that my brother Josh needed our car at the last minute and Jonathan Bishop said I could borrow theirs! She was just tickled even more and still thought nothing of the very nice looking car! So we drove to the restaurant and on the way Trista was guessing where we were going to eat dinner that night. She finally guessed the Brown Bottle, it was actually her first choice :) We got there and took some pictures and they seated us at a nice table on their top floor! It was beautiful there and I remember being quite nervous lol. I remember us getting our food and we got some really good cheese bread as appetizers, yummy! When we got our entrees mine had the wrong sauce on it so we got it changed, and it was delicious! I was really nervous that I only ate a little more than half of my pasta. After everything happened that night, Trista said she thought that I had an upset stomach because I didn't eat much and had to go to the bathroom! Anyways, we finally finished eating and I pulled the car up for Trista.
As she got in the car I told her that I had one more surprise for her and that we weren't going to go back to campus quite yet! Well, Trista started guessing what this great surprise would be and I was nervous as crap! I started driving on the highway and Trista saw a sign for Waterloo. She instantly asked if we were going to Waterloo to play skii ball?! This was pretty funny because a few days ago she had come up with a great date idea to go to Waterloo and play ski ball (we love playing ski ball)! So that is what she guessed, and I told her maybe....and she thought we were definitely going! She asked if I knew how to get to Waterloo and I said, "psshhh, heck yea"! So Trista was soooo sure that we were going to play ski ball in Waterloo, meanwhile I get off of the highway and start driving down this heavily wooded area and she is getting nervous and a little scared! She turned to me like three times while grabbing my arm and said, "I don't think this is how we get to Waterloo babe" with a concerned look on her face! I told her that I knew how to get there with a little laugh in my response each time! It was hard to keep it in that we were obviously not going to Waterloo anymore to play ski ball but Trista was still hoping :)
So I pulled up to a trail that ran through the woods, it was pretty dark out and there were still a lot of trees around us! I stopped the car, turned it off, and gave her some boots and socks to wear from the back seat! Trista was a little confused and her hopes of ski ball were quickly diminishing. I told her that we would be walking down that path as I pointed to it and she was really confused. But she put them on and I had realized as I was getting out of the car that not only had I forgotten boots for myself but since a flashlight had also slipped my mind, we would have to rely upon my phone and the moon to guide us down the heavily snow packed nature trail to "the destination". I remember thinking "ohhhhh crap" as this was dawning on me. Well, I took Trista's arm and helped her over the snow bank onto the trail, if you would even call it that at this point there was so much snow on it! It was a little ways out there and I got a bunch of snow in my dress shoes on the journey. As we got closer and closer Trista was starting to really lose hope of ski ball, although she did tell me afterwards that she was still hanging onto it by a pinky! But as we got up to the dock area and she saw all of the luminaries, I think it finally clicked for her! And I will let her tell this part!!!...
After trudging through the deep, cold snow for almost ten minutes, we reached this beautiful illuminated dock. Jon was trying to make it seem like we just "stumbled" upon someone else's romantic rendezvous, and honestly a part of me believed him for a second. But at this point everything started going kind of fuzzy to me, so I must have known what was going to happen. Along one side of the dock were six staggered note cards with significant dates from our relationship written on the outside. Jon took my hand and walked me up to the the first note card that had the date January 3, 2010 on it. He opened it up and proceeded to read the handwritten note about this being the first day we ever met. After reading the note he asked me "Do you remember?" and I think I nervously replied "I remember." He continued holding my hand and walking up to the next five note cards, reading them out loud to me, and asking "Do you remember."
At the very end of the dock was a beautiful lighted Christmas tree with a pretty gift bag under it holding the last note card with that night's date on it. At this point I knew for sure I was about to get engaged to the love of my life! After reading the note card he got down on one knee and asked me if I would spend the rest of my life with him, and I said YES! I was so excited that I didn't even notice he was holding a ring! Then he gave me the best hug of my life! We took some pictures and tried to reenact the whole scene before we left. After making the long, but VERY happy, walk back to the car we looked at my ring a little more! I was so tickled and in shock! Our really good friends, Kyle and Katie Nelson, lived not too far away, so Jon asked me if we could go tell them! On our way there I was trying to get a hold of my parents, but they wouldn't answer their phones. I was getting so frustrated. Jon told me just to call them from in the house. When I opened the door, to my wonderful surprise all of our closest friends and family were waiting inside for us! Watch the video of us coming into the house! I remember lots of cameras flashing! We spent the rest of the night telling our wonderful story and celebrating with our loved ones! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful proposal, but more importantly, I couldn't have imagined being blessed with such a godly man to ask me to be his wife. I love you, Jon!
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the story, albeit kind of long! Now you know how the pictures at the top of the page fit into the story. Thanks for reading :)