Engagementness!!

J: So its official, we're engaged. I think its kinda funny that the last post was Kayla talking about how she was okay with me taking my time with the proposal and everything. Little did she know that I had had everything underway and was planning it all right under her nose.

K: I figured it was, I just wasn't going to push it.

J: sure she says that now but she was pretty surprised all the same.

K: Ok seriously? How long does it take to make a phone call? On Thursday, he stepped out to "go to the bathroom" in the Hart building since he can't use my bathroom. After Reading an entire chapter on Hinduism and taking about a half-hour nap, he finally comes back. I figured he was talking to Dad, i'd just convinced myself that he was going to do it closer to my birthday.

J: alright so maybe i wasn't the most subtle but i did the best with what i had. How exactly do you keep secrets from someone you spend all of your time outside of class and within curfew with. It's pretty tough, let me tell ya.

K: that and your roommates bugging you about when your "package" is going to arrive.

J: not to mention moms calling and asking if its arrived while a certain someone is sitting right next to you eavesdropping.

K: HEY, i couldn't help it.

J: I had it tough but i still managed to pull a trick or two out of my sleeves. So this is how it went down (we'll both tell our different side of things so you get the whole picture kay) The day i got the package with the ring in it was indeed Thursday. I had decided to call her Dad as soon as I got it. Therefore I had a dilemma how in the world to sneak away to call him. So yes i claimed i had to go to the bathroom. I figured it wouldn't take too long... I was wrong. So i went to a place on campus and went running around all over trying to find a private place to talk. Unfortunately it happened to be game night in that particular building (basketball, battleship and various other sports) so after searching fruitlessly for an empty room i had to run to Another building to try to find some privacy. The problem this time was all the classroom doors in this building were locked. So finally I just found a secluded bench to sit on and call. Needless to say i was a little nervous (I'd never exactly asked someone for their daughter's hand in marriage before) despite the fact that Kayla's Dad is one of the coolest people ever. All in all we had a great conversation and I had nothing to be nervous about. And of course he gave his permission.

So after that all i had to do was set my plans in motion. I decided to get my roommates and hers involved somehow. She had also mentioned before that she had always wanted to get roses (I think thats something every girl secretly wants) so i made sure to include that in my plans. I decided to set up a treasure hunt marking out some of the most special places we've been to. At first i thought of making her run all over rexburg picking up clues and getting way tired (I thought that might be a little cruel) but i decided to have her visit the 3 places we went on our first date. The 3 places we went to were a gelato place called Dolce Vita, a park, and a building on campus.

K: Yeah, i know that sounds like a lame first date, but it was the best one i've ever been on!!

J: Ouch! I thought that was a really good first date, we talked, we laughed, and...

K: Froze our butts off!!

J: HAHA, yes that too. Anyway so I decided to set up the treasure hunt so that she would meet someone at each location with a rose and a small wooden box with a clue inside. So on Saturday I set my plan into action. Normally Kayla and I go to the temple on Saturdays but had we done that things would not have gone according to plan, so the roomies and I decided to go to the temple early for two reasons. A) to go to the temple and B) to kick my plan into action. So after our session we drove by her complex and i snuck up to her doorstep and dropped off two roses and the first wooden box. I dropped it off at about 11:30.

K: I was exhausted from the night before, so I slept in pretty well. Around 11, my roommate Elizabeth's alarm went off a few times before we finally decided to get up. I got up first and walked out to the living room to check my Facebook. I had a message from my best friend Kiersten telling me to call her, so I did. As I was doing this, My roommate Sarah was leaving and she opened the door and said, "Kayla, come over here." So I get up (with Kiersten still on the phone) and I start screaming into the phone. Kiersten's all, "what?" and I'm like, "There's roses and a little wooden box on my doorstep!!" So she starts freaking out too and is like, "You know what this means, don't you?" Then of course, being the over-analyzing people we are, we're just like, well, what if he's trying to throw me off and it's just a really creative date? Anyway, here is what the note said...

Kayla,

Now you have the wonderful opportunity to go on a tresure hunt, At each location, you'll find someone with a clue which will lead you to another location. THere's only one rule: have fun and enjoy the trip. Oh and don't forget to dress warm.

Here's your first clue:

At 4:30 take a stroll to this place

Don't worry you don't have to race

Here we enjoyed 8 flavors of a delicious treat

On our first date we enjoyed this treat that just can't be beat

Now get going and make sure to have fun

This is just the beginning you're far from done

So basically, I couldn't concentrate for the WHOLE DAY!!!

J: which stunk for me too by the way, I was pacing all day!

K: I got one homework assignment done, a journal entry. I finished at about 3:15 and then went to get myself prettifyed... I curled my hair. Then at 4:30 I walked out the door headed to Dolce Vita

When I got there, it was closed and no one was waiting for me. I sat on a bench for a little while, then after about 10 minutes, I broke down and called Josh (who of course didn't pick up). I basically told him my clue wasn't here and what was I supposed to do?

J: In the meantime i was heading off towards my part of this whole thing to get everything ready. Then I got a call from Matthew (the man with the first clue, my roommate) and he couldn't find the place. It was about 4:40 at that point and i felt very sorry for Kayla. I drove very fast back the direction i had come. While i was driving i got a call from Kayla which i wanted to answer....really really badly, but i couldn't, half of the whole operation was building suspense. So i picked up Matthew and dropped him off inconspicuously and then raced off before Kayla saw me. So things were underway with only a slight hiccup.

K: I was panicking in my head, thinking what if he like dropped the note off in the store and they closed before they could give it to me? Then Matthew comes around the corner and it's like all the worrying went away. He handed me a rose and a little wooden box, then waited to watch me open it. Inside was the next clue:

Now head to a place we would visit whether light or dark

A special place known as a park

Here we shared our first kiss

A memory that we won't ever miss

Here my love for you exponentially grew

Kayla Marie Hyatt I love you

Once I knew where I was going, I let Matthew go home and I walked to Porter Park. I came from the opposite side of where my clue was waiting, so it seemed interminable to get to where I spotted a red-head sitting on a swing. It was John, Josh's roommate and he also had a rose and a small wooden box for me. Here is what my clue said this time:

Now head to campus where we did something silly

We ran around all willy-nilly

Here we switched the D and the E

You couldn't help but laugh at me

Here we had lots of fun

Now keep on looking you're almost done

So i walked back to the Hart Building where, on our first date, we went to continue talking and get warm. The D and E part? The sections in the Hart Auditorium are labeled by letter and we noticed that someone had switched the D and the E around and they weren't in the right places, so we switched them back. Well, I got there and Elizabeth was sitting up in the bleachers between the D and E and my rose was stuck underneath the D. The box was right beside it and inside was:

Honey just trust me

You won't be able to see

Don't worry, you aren't going to the moon

You'll be at my side real soon

Princess you're as pretty as a dove

You I will forever love

I had NO idea what that meant, so I asked Elizabeth and all she said was, "Come with me." She walked me out to her car and then said, "Oh by the way, I have to blindfold you." Then she drove me over to Nature Park, where Josh was waiting for me.

J: Yep thats right i had her kidnapped but it was only temporary. As i mentioned before this was tough for me too. Kayla was going around talking to people and doing stuff, and generally having a good time. I on the other hand was waiting at nature park, freezing and being generally impatient and antsy. However as soon as i saw Elizabeth drive up with a blindfolded Kayla in the passenger seat i had two reactions. 1) I had the urge to fall over laughing, seeing Kayla sitting there blindfolded was pretty hilarious and 2) immense relief. Then I opened Kayla's door...

K: As soon as Elizabeth turned off the car, my door opened. I was using every sense i had to figure out what was going on. As soon as i felt the cold air i asked "why did my door open so fast?"

J: At this point i leaned over and kissed her, which of course surprised her a lot. Then she said "Hi" and i said "Hi." Looking back on this moment i couldn't help but think of spiderman. Anyway so i took her out of the car and Elizabeth drove off. Then i led her blindfolded over to the beginning of the path. I then unblinded her and we took a moment to watch the sunset on the horizon.

K: It was really pretty. It had been overcast all day and there was a break in the clouds precisely where the sun was setting. The clouds were bright orange and pink just for this occasion. Couldn't have been better if Josh arranged it himself.

J: So from that comment alone i think you can all understand why i love this woman so very much. Anyway so i led her down the path for a little ways then asked her to stop at a certain spot and asked her to cover her eyes again. Then I pushed her the rest of the way. Then i lined her up exactly where i wanted her and stepped back.

K: Everything about this was perfect. He told me I could open my eyes on the count of three. So I did, and out on the frozen pond were written the words "Will you marry me?" He gave me just enough time to absorb what was going on before he softly called my name. I turned around and he was on one knee with my ring in his hand. What happened next was fairly obvious: he asked and I said yes.

J: So yes earlier that day i had gone out on the frozen lake (which was slightly less frozen than it had been when we visited it the sunday before) and stomped out "Will you marry me?" I just want to say that when she turned around she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world. I very nearly couldn't get the words out to ask her i was so stunned. But i asked her and she said yes and the rest is history. I managed to get the ring on her finger (a much more difficult task than one might think) and then we were engaged (not just practically engaged). We both left the park with ridiculously big grins on our faces.

After that we drove down to Idaho Falls to Texas Roadhouse. We had to wait a little while (which was just fine since we had quite a few calls to make) and had a delicious dinner (I ate way too much, haha).

K: Everything was perfect.