Hi Everyone! I'm changing my name this year!
(I'll post more pictures of the engagement later... have to grab them from my friend)
I wanted to share some pretty amazing news with everyone here on the blogosphere, and I'm going to tell the whole story from beginning to end. So get comfy!
Let me preface by saying that Trevor purchased my ring back in July. I fell in love with it one time when we were just "window shopping" for rings, and it was too good of a deal to turn down, so he purchased it right then and there. I've been eagerly waiting for him to pop the question, and sort of knew that it would be any day now, but was not expecting him to do it in Las Vegas. . . (yep!)
About two weeks ago, mine & Trevors friends, Kaila & David, invited us to visit the great city of Las Vegas with them. David is from Australia, and wanted to get a true American experience since this was his first time visiting the US. After a little thought, we decided to go!
Now, this is a bit unusual for Trevor and I. We do not travel, as we are saving up money, and usually are just flat out pooped (read: lazy) by the time the weekend comes. Neither of us had ever been to Vegas. I wanted to go, and Trevor seemed pretty excited about going, so we went! Little did I know that as they invited us, Trev was making his own plans for the trip.
Here are a few glimpses of me getting suspicious, and then Trevor smoothly covering. I'm much to trusting.
We left on Saturday, January 12th, and Trevor had brought his camera. He NEVER uses his camera. In fact, all the pictures on it are from when he served his LDS Mission in Canada. (He returned just over 2 years ago... so really, that camera never gets used). He had it in his jacket pocket, and I gave the string a little tug and asked why he brought it. He told me he was simply excited to visit Las Vegas because he's never been, and that satisfied me. We've never traveled like this together before, so I accepted this as a travel quirk of his, and my suspicion left.
(side note: it actually turns out that he had his camera in that pocket because my RING box was behind it... he didn't want me to bump into it and get curious... he wanted his camera there as an excuse for a lumpy jacket. Sneaky sneaky!)
We checked into our hotel. Dave had purchased a room at Caesar's Palace, and it was amazing. This was the first actual hotel that Trevor had ever stayed at, so it was a way fun experience. We enjoyed walking through the casinos, seeing all the strange people, and just being in the city.
We had talked earlier about wanting to go to the aquarium at Mandalay Bay, because I really love aquariums. I've always wanted to walk through a shark tunnel as well, where you are just surrounded by water and crazy looking fish. So, that was our plan and the one thing Trev and I really wanted to do.
As a group, we decided to go shopping at Caesars Palace, to explore the strip, and to grab some dinner. I was really excited to see the aquarium, so I figured we'd get all the stuff out of the way that our friends wanted to do so we could spend a good amount of time at Mandalay Bay.
I could tell as we were making stops before the aquarium, Trev was getting a little anxious. He was getting frustrated with the stops we were making and I figured it was just because it was freezing, crowded, and maybe his body was aching like mine was. He kept saying things like "Man, we're never gonna get to the aquarium at this rate!" or "Agh! Why are we stopping again?". I seriously thought he was just being a killjoy, but I now know that he was dropping hints to our friends that he was ready to do this thing!
When we got to the aquarium, I ended up having to use my inhaler as I was getting lightheaded and nauseous. We took a sit for a minute and I finally was feeling better. The cigarette smoke everywhere took a toll on my lungs. Ha ha! Trevor was being very sweet and patient at this time, and I could tell he was just really excited to be at the aquarium. His nerdy side was coming out, and I loved it. We walked into the actual aquarium section, and he gave me a huge hug and a kiss and let me know he loved me. I was again a little suspicious and asked him why he was so excited to be in the aquarium, and he responded by letting me know I should know better than anyone what a nerd he was. Well, that's just the plain truth. So my suspicion was gone again.
We ended up winding our way through the aquarium, saw some crazy huge barracudas and creepy looking sharks, then finally made it to the tunnel. We had seen this part on their website, and were way excited to go stand in it. We stood there for a moment enjoying the grandeur of the sharks & fish swimming over us, then Trev asked me to come sit with him. He told me he had a secret for me, and let me know that he had talked to my parents the previous week. I was completely shocked, because he had told me that he kept forgetting to talk to them... in fact, I had been a little perturbed about it. But, he really wanted to surprise me, and had gone just a week earlier. That sneaky boy! Anyway, he got on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. Of course, I said YES. The ring was gorgeous in the aquarium lights, and he looked more handsome than ever. It's finally official!
I loved the way he proposed. It was so simple, and we were at one of the most perfect places I could have imagined.
More photos to come!