May 6, 2009

6 year ago today Louis asked me marry him.  

Here's the story.  

A few weeks before we got engaged Louis told me he had seen in the paper that there was going to be a formal dance on the 6th.  I kept asking for more information about it (like where it was), but he was just super vague saying he'd have to look at the paper again.  The night of the 6th came and I got all dressed up and ready for the night.  My parent's knew what was going to happen that night and they hid it well.  I didn't know what was going on.  When I was finished getting ready Louis came to pick me up for the "dance"

Look at the excited smile on that boys face!

We were going to go to dinner before the dance, but instead we started heading back towards Louis' house.  I asked what we were doing and he said "We're poor college kids so we're going to eat at my house instead"  Alright, made sense!  I still didn't think anything was going on.  When we got to Louis' house and walked in the door I knew something was up.  There were white sheets covering the doors out to the deck, romantic music, a nicely set table on the deck, and lights strung all along the railings.
We went out to the deck and sat down and Louis' little sister came and brought us food and let us know she'd be our waitress that night.  She also took some pictures.  (I have never seen these pictures that were taken and would LOVE to see them if any of you Brandley's know where they are!)  We ate chicken Parmesan and spaghetti.  At some point during our dinner I was getting cold so Louis gave me his jacket.  Then he hugged me from behind and I felt him reach in the pocket of the coat to get the ring out because it was left in there!  Louis still denies that happened to this day.

I found this picture in a photo book at the Brandley's

It was while we were having our dinner

After we ate our dinner and were just talking Louis asked if I wanted to dance. Very romantic.  We danced for a while then turned to look at the full moon that had come up over the mountain.  Louis was behind me and got down on one knee and waited for me to turn around.  Confession:  I knew he was on one knee and was about to propose, but I was nervous and didn't turn around for a little bit!  I needed to breath and get myself ready!  Finally he gave a little pull on his jacket (that I was wearing) and I turned around.  Even though I already knew he was on one knee my heart jumped when I saw Louis!  Also there were 5 or 6 heads looking out at us through the glass door and a camera flashing away.  (Again, where are these pictures?)
I don't remember much about the actual proposal because I was crying and thinking, oh my goodness he's proposing to me!  A few years later I found the poem that he wrote for the proposal so now I know what he said to me that night.  After I of course said yes we danced some more and talked about when we wanted to get married.  Louis had already looked it up and thought August 18th would be a good day, it would be in between semesters and right after the temple opened back up from being cleaned.
It was sweet night, I love that Louis had everything so perfectly planned out.  I am forever grateful that I have Louis as my eternal companion.

Bonus:  I asked Louis what he remembered most about the day we got engaged and this was his answer.  Earlier in the day while Louis was getting things set up his mom walked in and asked what he was doing all this for.  Louis just simply said, "I'm proposing to Becca tonight."  He hadn't even told anyone!