For the Future Posterity

On this day, two years ago, Marcus got down on one knee and proposed. Where has the time gone? I remember it like it was yesterday…

Marcus and I were planning to drive home to Tri-Cities in a few weeks, and because Marcus had dislocated his shoulder a week previously (which is another great story by the way!) I assumed that there was no way he would propose with his arm in a sling, right? I figured I had a good couple weeks until we went home, THEN he would probably do it. It was a Friday afternoon when he surprised me at my apartment and said to pack a bag, we were leavin. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and we headed to Southern Utah. I thought to myself, maybe he wants to elope in Vegas, if so… I’m cool with that. So I sat back enjoying the ride. Jen and Cory lived in St. George at the time, and I soon decided we were probably going down to see them. But then Marcus drove past their exit. What the? Yeah, he just kept on going as I sat their in my confuse-ment (is that a word?) He drove to the St. George temple and as we rounded the corner of a park, there was a gazebo all lit up. Yeah know the type, think Twilight only not quite as good. You see, there was no Edward around. But definitely no Victoria either glaring at us from above, good sign? I think so.

Where was I, oh yes, Marcus parked the car, and we walked out to a candlelit dinner of Pizza, sparkling cider, and a boombox (yes a boombox, don’t know what a boombox is? *sigh*) and it was playing “our” song, from our first date when we were 16. Everything in the evening was going perfect-we danced, we laughed, and right when I thought the proposal was coming, Marcus called Jen and Cory to come pick us up. I wanted to cry...What? I'll admit it. “No ring, no proposal, what was going on!?” That night, we went back to their house, played some games and that was it. I was a little heartbroken, to say the least.

The next day, Marcus and I watched “Father of the Bride” (which just happened to be on TBS that day, oh, it’s on every weekend you say? Oh yes, you’re probably right) and then went to the St. George temple. We walked the grounds, and then Marcus said he wanted to take me somewhere special. The man took me to a jewelry store! He told the clerk, we were looking for a engagement ring. I almost burst into tears (because I had already picked out my “dream ring” in Provo) and this pretty much confirmed my fears that he hadn’t bought it yet. When the lady asked me which one I wanted to try on, I said “None, I already know which one I want!” and we left as I pouted.

After this we went to Café Rio (where we had our first date after his mission) and after dinner he asked me if I wanted it now? “Want what?” I asked, “No way, your going to do it here!? At Cafe Rio!?” I was slightly embarrassed and confused all at the same time. He then removed a box from his sling (yes, he hid it in his sling!) and pulled it out. There it was, a rather large RingPop (yeah know, the big candy on a plastic ring.) Then he just started busting up laughing. I was mad, livid! How could he make a joke of this? So we went home. End of Story.

Okay, not really, but at this point I thought it was never going to come. Later that night we all drove down to the Vegas because Ashley, Marcus' sister, was flying in to try out for HSM2. The night before, Cory even prayed for Ashley to make it safely on her flight, and Marcus' mom kept calling to say how she had just dropped Ashley off and her flight was delayed because they had to de-ice the plane, etc. They TOTALLY had me going! This was all part of their evil ploy to torture me. When we got to Vegas we strolled the Bellagio gardens, watched the fountains, and then headed over to my favorite hotel, The Venetian. Jen and Cory had to buy tickets to the Blue Man group that was playing there. While they were buying their tickets, we strolled around, until a guy from the gondolas came up and said he had two tickets for us to take a ride....Hmmm, I thought to myself, interesting....So we rode on the romantic gondola ride. I had butterflies in my stomach, and Marcus was quiet, until he started stumbling out words and got down on one knee in the boat and asked, “Ashley, will you marry me?” Little did he know, I had bought a fancy-shmancy ring for him (which I had been carrying around with me for the last 3 weeks!) and I pulled it out and said, “Only if you'll marry me.”


What even makes this story more hilarious, was when he pulled out the ring to put it on my finger, he dropped it off the side of the gondola, into the water. Yes, you heard me right. He DROPPED my DREAM ring, into the WATER. *splish splash plop* Our gondolier got all panicky and said, “We can get it! Don't you worry! Even if we have to fish it out!” At that moment, I thought she might jump in herself to retrieve the ring, but then Marcus pulled out a second ring, and said, “Oh I was just kidding, here is the REAL one.” I couldn't believe him! We laughed, we hugged, we kissed, and got engaged. A real winning story for ya. Marcus, thank you so much for all you do. You're a romantic (most of the time), you make me laugh, cry, and even pull my hair out at times, but nevertheless, I love you.