First, I just wanted to thank all of you for your excitement and love for me and Ian. I seriously wish I had the time to personally thank each of you and tell you all of the details. Since that is just not possible I decided I would write about how Ian and I met since I know you're all dying to know. Here's the story... (And if you just want to skip to the proposal, I won't be offended.)
Most of you know that last October I felt prompted to move back to Rexburg. I said I didn't know why, but I actually knew exactly why-to meet my eternal companion. I honestly thought it was crazy, and I was worried that I wasn't ready or that I would overlook him or somehow I'd mess it up. I also didn't want to be that girl that meets someone and is engaged within weeks of meeting them. Despite all of my worries, I knew that Heavenly Father had a plan for me, and I simply needed to trust in Him and everything would be fine.
I arrived in Rexburg on Saturday, January 4. I didn't waste any time when I got here. I contacted lots of old friends to visit them and catch up. It's been fun seeing so many people I love so much and catching up with them! I still run into people I haven't seen, and I just love that I know so many people in Rexburg still. I tried to find out who was still here that I went on the 2011 MesoAmerica tour with, and there weren't very many of us left. Most have gotten married, moved away, or gone on missions.
One of my friends from that trip, Mya, is still here, married, and expecting her first. She and I were trying to find a time to get together. She invited me to her friend's place to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics on Friday, February 7. The night of the opening ceremonies, right before I was supposed to meet up with Mya and her husband, Richard, I thought about not going. This has happened more than once where I just didn't feel like going somewhere or doing something. I usually went anyway, and luckily, I went that night.
I got to her friend's apartment, and Mya and Richard weren't even there. Just Ian. It was his apartment, and since they weren't there yet, he and I were forced to get to know each other. (Just FYI, this was not a set up at all.) And honestly, I didn't think anything of Ian when I first met him. (Which isn't a bad thing. I usually know pretty quickly if I'm interested or not. I hadn't ruled him out yet.) Mya and Richard did show up a little late, which I was relieved. Mya and I chatted and got caught up on each others' lives. Ian was right there in the middle of our conversation the whole time. I thought it was pretty funny, and I was surprised. Eventually we all went and sat down to watch the Olympics, and Ian was the last one to sit. The only seat available was next to me, and he was hesitant. I'm pretty sure I said something like, I don't bite. He came and sat right next to me. We were pretty flirty most of the night, and I think we spend just as much time talking as we did watching the Olympics.
The night came to an end and everybody left except me. I stayed back because I knew Ian was interested and I wanted to give him a change to ask for my number. I could tell he was way nervous, but he asked if he could have my number and I said, of course. Then I left. I walked to my car hoping I wouldn't have to wait long before a call or a text. When I got to my car, I noticed Mya and Richard were having trouble starting their car, and they asked if I had jumper cables, but I didn't. So they called Ian, and luckily he had some, so he came down, and we jumped their car. Then Ian and I said bye, again, and he told me he'd text me later that night.
It wasn't long before Ian texted me. I don't remember what he said, but I do remember that I was trying to write in my journal about him. He was debating going to bed if I wasn't going to be up. We ended up texting for four hours that night, and we had originally planned that our first date would be Tuesday and we'd go see The Saratov Approach. (Neither of us like the idea of a movie for a first date, ironically enough.) But before we went to bed, we wanted to see each other the next day.
Our first date was the next day, Saturday, February 8. I worked until 9pm in Idaho Falls. When I got back to Rexburg, Ian picked me up, and we went bowling. It was so fun! Then we went to Kiwi Loco and got hot chocolate and sat and watched the Olympics. We were sitting right next to each other, and I noticed his hand was right by my leg, and I thought maybe he wants to hold my hand but is waiting for me. So I grabbed his hand. (He will tell you that he held my hand first.) Before we knew it, we realized we were the only ones in Kiwi Loco. He took me home, walked me to the door, and I could tell he wanted to kiss me, but I figured he thought it was too soon. Then we said good night.
We hadn't planned on seeing each other the next day, but we didn't want to wait to see each other, so on Sunday, February 9, we met up on campus in the Romney building (This is where my old student ward meets, and I had been going there before my own ward because I missed it so much.) before Ian had ward council. I kinda waited for him to define the relationship (DTR), but I couldn't wait anymore. So I asked, what am I going to tell people when they ask who you are? He asked, what do you want to tell people? I said, I want to tell them that you are my boyfriend. He said, then tell them that I'm your boyfriend. Our first kiss was shortly after that. We've talked every day since then, and seen each other almost every day since then.
That Tuesday, February 11, we took a road trip to Logan. It was completely random, but we both have friends that live there, and neither of us had been inside the Logan temple, so we decided to go. We did a session, and then we visited friends. It was such a fun day!
In my journal on Wednesday, February 12, I wrote that I was pretty sure Ian and I were going to get married.
Then it was Valentine's Day. I had never had a valentine on Valentine's Day, so I was pretty excited that Ian would be my valentine. Because Ian doesn't like Valentine's Day we celebrated on Thursday, February 13. He came and picked me up, and when I got in his car there was a teddy bear, a red rose, and a letter. It was so sweet! We went to Olive Garden for dinner, which is one of my favorite restaurants. After dinner, we got ice cream from Reed's Dairy, which neither of us had been to. (SO good!) Then we ended up watching Pride and Prejudice, the newer one. (He's a keeper, huh?) It was a perfect night!
On Valentine's Day, Friday, February 14, I gave him a letter and a tub of his favorite ice cream, cookies and cream. Later that night, Ian took me to the Rexburg temple. He told me he had something to tell me, and then he said, I love you. I paused, but I said it back. And that weekend, we both knew we would be getting married.
It's seriously been quite a whirlwind since then! I feel like I've known him for way longer, which is the weirdest thing. I seriously feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Every day I am more and more amazed by Ian, and I am more and more in love with him! I know that Heavenly Father has guided each and every step of our paths to this point where they would finally cross and we would finally meet. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for how perfectly He leads us! I know that Ian and I meeting was no coincidence, and I am forever grateful for that!
THE PROPOSAL...
Ian had found out, I'm assuming from my best friend, that I wanted to be proposed to at the beach. After I had found out about him learning that, I told him that it didn't matter where or what as long as he made it special (I know, a proposal alone is special) and didn't just get down on a knee and propose. I also told him to make sure somebody is there to take pictures. I seriously had no perfect scenario, and it didn't have to be elaborate. But Ian worried that it wouldn't be good enough for me.
We went ring shopping on Tuesday, February 25. We literally were in and out in 15 minutes. I was shocked. I had picked out EXACTLY what I wanted when I was 18, but I found out that it was 4K and decided nobody would be spending that much on a ring and/or going into debt over it. I had been looking at rings, and a good friend of Ian's stalked me on Pinterest, found the ring I wanted, and kept sending us pictures of similar rings. When we went into the jeweler's, they showed me a few rings that were similar, but I didn't love any of them. Then I showed Brother Merrill, Ian's former bishop who works there, the picture of what I wanted, and he told us he had that exact ring and could get it in our budget. Then we looked at rings for Ian. He looked at two different rings and made a decision right away. Super easy! They told us that it would probably be in on Monday, March 10. I figured Ian would propose pretty soon after getting my ring because I didn't think he'd be able to wait.
March 10 came, and Ian told me that they made a mistake, and my ring wouldn't be in until the end of the week. I was a little bummed, but it was really fine. I had been waiting for this for 25 years, so what was a few more days.
I had to close March 10-12, which meant I wouldn't get to see Ian because he was usually in bed by the time I got back to Rexburg. But Wednesday, March 12 I got off a little earlier than I thought I would, and I asked if I could come see him. And of course, he said yes. I got there, and we just relaxed and watched a movie. Somehow we started talking about money and wedding plans, and Ian mentioned exactly how much my ring cost. (I knew about how much it would be, but didn't know the actual amount.) Then I thought, I bet he has my ring. So I asked him if he had my ring, and he said, ....maybe. I knew he did. He told me he could just propose right now. In my head I thought, your apartment?! That's not very romantic or memorable. I asked he had a plan for proposing to me, and he said kinda. He said I just wanted my ring and couldn't wait, and I said I could wait. He just had this look of worry. I could tell that he was still unsure how to propose, and it would worry him until it happened. He offered the idea that he could take me to the Rexburg temple and propose. (That was FAR better than his apartment.) I told him to decide, but again, he just looked worried. So after much debate, I finally said, just go get the ring, and let's go to the temple. And that is exactly what we did.
We got to the temple, and we walked towards the baptistry entrance, which was the same place he told me he loved me for the first time. Then he sat down on a bench, which confused me because I was waiting for him to get on one knee. He told me he loved me, and then said, I guess I should get down on one knee. So he got down on one knee, and I stood up. He said, Christina Marie, will you marry me? (The box wasn't open and that confused me too.) I said, yes, I will. He asked, will you be my queen? I said, yes, I will. Then he opened the box, which as soon as he did, I hunched down to look at the ring. (They didn't have it at the jeweler's when we went ring shopping, so I hadn't seen the real thing yet.) It didn't look like what I wanted. Then I stood up, and Ian placed the ring on my left ring finger. I looked at it again and realized it was exactly what I wanted. He made some joke about all I wanted was the ring. Haha! I love him! He was ready to go, but I, of course, told him we had to take some pictures to document what had happened. None of them turned out that great though, so when we got back to his apartment, I had his roommate take a few pictures.
It was seriously perfect! It's kinda hilarious! It definitely shows my impatience, though I really could have waited. Ian and I will ALWAYS look back and laugh about this. We have joked that we're going to make up some AWESOME engagement story to tell our kids, and then once they're married break the news to them.
Thanks again for all of the comments, love, and support! We love you all, and we're so excited to be getting married in the Salt Lake City Temple on Saturday, August 9. We are also planning on doing an open house in San Diego. Details to come!
