We're Engaged!!!!!

Matt and I have been dating for 16 months and we're ready to seal the deal May 16th, 2009 in the Los Angeles Temple. We have been talking about marriage for awhile now and I can't believe it is coming up so fast!

Matt proposed Friday night after a full day of treating me like a princess. It started out like this: Matt and I meet up for lunch after class in the Wilk. I thought it was odd that I was the only one eating and that Matt didn't have his backpack with him. Well, while I was eating Matt handed me a crossword puzzle to solve. The crossword had boxes that were outlined in red that he specifically wanted me to get. (Matt had already solved clues that he knew would be too hard for me to get :) ) I started out trying to solve the puzzle from the top, but I was taking too long so he helped me solve the clues where only the outlined letters were. When all the letters were decoded it read "Behind the frame I gave you." (Matt had given me a beautiful wood frame with a picture of us at Havasupai for my 21st birthday last year while I was in Jerusalem for a study abroad.) Not thinking much of the phrase from the crossword, Matt said he had to go because he was parked in 30 minute parking and I asked him, as he was leaving, if we were still going to take a tour of the Draper Temple. He said "yea" and left, as I was getting ready to leave I got a text for him saying "hurry home." When I got home there was a paper folded and tucked behind the frame that said:

LORAL, I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD. YOU'VE BEEN REALLY STRESSED LATELY, SO... I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR YOUR MASSAGE.

YOU CAN'T SAY NO!!! IT'S ALREADY BOOKED AND PAID FOR, SO TRY AND ENJOY IT. YOUR APPOINTMENT IS FROM 1:00-4:00, SO YOU HAVE LESS THAN AN HOUR TO GET OVER THERE. HAPPY 16 MONTHS!!!!!

---BRING A BATHING SUIT
---CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU GET OUT.
---IF YOU HAVEN'T GUESSED BY NOW, WE'RE NOT GOING TO THE TEMPLE TODAY. I ALREADY BOOKED MORE TICKETS.
---IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING ON, LIKE A MANICURE OR A FACIAL, JUST TELL THEM TO DO IT AND I'LL COME PAY FOR IT.

So excited, I got ready and went to Mainspring Day Spa in Orem. When I got there I was told I would sit in a sauna for 30 mins, jacuzzi for 30 mins, have a hour long massage and a seaweed wrap! It was heaven. I called Matt afterwards and he said to meet him at Nordstrom. I got to the mall where he said he wanted to buy me something nice for dinner that night. I love dresses and found a cute purple dress at Banana Republic. We left the mall and Matt went home to get ready for dinner and I went back to my apartment. When I got to my room, my door was shut and when I opened it my room was covered in white and red roses, with white and red rose petals on the floor and reeses (my favorite candy) scattered on my bed and dresser. Another arrangement of white flowers were on my dresser. He had cleaned my room, taken out my trash and made my bed for me. :) Matt picked me up for dinner dressed up so handsome and took me to the Tree Room restaurant at Sundance. We had the most incredible meal. Everything was SO GOOD. When we left Matt asked me what I else I wanted to do since that was all he had planned. The whole day he said he wasn't going to propose, because I would be expecting it. I believed him and thought he would propose randomly another day. Since I only got a few hours of sleep the night before I said he could take me home. It was only 10pm so he suggested driving around the canyon near Sundance, turned out it was closed so we drove up the road by Vivian Park. As we were driving down, I was closing my eyes off and on. As my eyes were off the road Matt swerved and slammed on his brakes as if he had hit something. Matt quickly jumped out and was "frantically" checking the front of his car. Because I didn't see anything I had no idea what was going on and didn't want to get out of the car in the cold to see what he had hit. I kept asking him what was wrong and ignored his urges to look at what had happened. Finally, I got out of the car fearing that something bad had really happened and cautiously walked up to the front of the car. I told him that I didn't want to see what he had hit and Matt was looking at me to see if I had figured out what was really going on. It then hit me that he was down on one knee and was going to propose! It was a mixture of excitement and confusion because it happened so fast and was unexpected. He did a great job surprising me and the whole day was special and very thoughtful. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!!
Posing in the dress Matt bought me for dinner in my rose and candy decorated room.

Right after getting engaged, taking pictures at my apartment since we couldn't really take them on the road.

After dinner, taking a picture by the tree in the Tree Room restaurant at Sundance.

Matt looking through the library while we waited to be seated. Doesn't he look so smart holding that HUGE book?