- One box of Peppermint Tea (that's a little inside joke by itself)
- Two Fuzzy Gloves
- Three Fountain Pens
- Four Boxes of Nerds
- Five Candy Rings
- Six Candles for Lighting
- Seven Divers Swimming
- Eight Coins for Spending
- Nine Truffles for Enjoying
- Ten Packs for Chewing
- Eleven Christmas Canes for Hanging
- Twelve Crayons for Drawing
On each of the notes there were letters underlined, which spelled out little phrases. During this time I returned home for Christmas break. There was a package mailed from Rexburg to my house. And then the packages continued being left on my doorstep at my mom's house. At this point I was pretty sure it was Zariph, but it kind of threw my off a bit too, and I started worrying that I had some psycho stalker.
Then the last note told me to look at the back of all the papers. There was a letter on the back and it spelled out where to meet on Christmas Eve. The letters spelled out "The Roof". Which is The Roof Restaurant on top of the Jospeh Smith Memorial Building. Zariph and I spent a lot of time together, but for some reason I never brought up these packages that were coming for me. Zariph said he was worried that I wasn't getting them. And he kept asking me if we could get together Christmas Eve. My mom told me to tell him I had to pick up my cousin from the airport. So, he put some doubts in my mind that it was really him. Anyway, I bought a new dress and got all fancied up. I drove down to Salt Lake, nervous as could be! I kept thinking, I really hope it's Zariph, the night would be very awkward if it was some other random guy. So, I checked in with the hostess and told her I was meeting someone. She took me to a table, which had another brown paper sack on it. I opened it and inside was a paper that said, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I Love You! So don't take my sunshine away!"
Then I sat there, for what seemed like EVER! It was probably only 5 minutes, but I was so nervous! Then Zariph came to the table (finally). I felt relief that it was him, but still so nervous because I knew it was a big night for us. We talked for a few minutes, then he leaned over to me and said, "Just so you know, I'm not proposing to you tonight." He said that so I wouldn't be so nervous all through dinner. But, my nervous feeling turned into "What the heck?" So, anyway, he had a lovely dinner and dessert overlooking the Salt Lake Temple. But inside I kept thinking, "Why is he not going to propose? What could be more perfect than tonight?" I started to feel a little angry about it, but I kept it pretty well hidden.
So, we finished up dinner and went down to the second floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. There were two chairs perfectly situated by the window and a Christmas tree, in the corner away from people. So we decided to sit down and talk. Then Zariph kept looking down in between the chairs (acting kind of weird, like he wanted me to look down). So, I looked down and there was another paper sack. Then I was thinking, "What?!? He left the ring down here while we were eating?" So, I opened up the paper sack and there was this cone shaped present wrapped up, so I unwrapped that and inside was a ring box. I opened the box and inside that there was a lifesaver. (I had joked months earlier, that I didn't care if he had a ring for me, he could propse with a lifesaver, I just wanted to get married.) So then Zariph asked, "Do you think it will fit?" And I just played along, "Maybe." Then he took the lifesaver out and tried to fit it on my finger. In his hand he switched it for the real ring and started placing it on my finger. Then he knelt down, as we both got a little teary eyed, and asked me to marry him. To which, I shook my head yes, and said, "Of course." Then we hugged. It was the perfect moment.
We don't have any pictures of that night, but here some from Christmas day (Ya, I'm showing off my ring in all the pictures!):
Thanks for TEN great years, Zariph. I love you!
Remember the oven from last Christmas? I still love it!
Only a slight gash out of the counter. Obviously, I don't love the brown crappy countertops, but they'll have to do until we can afford granite. I'm so excited about this faucet. It has the detachable head that can come out and spray wherever. It's awesome. And when deciding whether to put the handle on the right or left side, I thought it should be on the right since we're both right handed. After I started using it, I realized I'm used to turning the water on with my left hand. Weird, hopefully I can get used to it.
And, yeah! A disposal IN the kitchen sink (my old one was on the side of the sink, it was weird). And best of all it's all installed AND the mess is all cleaned up! So, now I can just enjoy this Christmas week and not worry about the installation.
