Engagement Pictures!!!

Engaged!! Finally!!!

Saturday, September 27th was our 6 month anniversary! A little before midnight the night before, (Friday night), Drew was going to walk me home from his apartment. He was decked out in sweats and a Syracuse hoodie and got me a little something to wear out in the chilly Rexburg weather: his massive coat! Complaining and joking about how ridiculous I looked in the coat that drowned me, we walked home and had fun talking about our plans for the next day... our anniversary!

Drew stopped me just before we got to the parking lot of my apartment complex and gave me a BIG hug and kiss! He checked the time and told me it was almost midnight; almost our SIX MONTH anniversary! Drew gave me another hug and kiss, then made a funny face. He thought I had been subtly patting his pocket to see if he had anything in there (I honestly wasn't!), and questioned me about it. When he got the truth out of me, he was satisfied. I joked and said "what I should be doing is feeling in THESE pockets!", speaking of the huge coat I was wearing. Then Drew said something that caught me off guard, "You know, there are inside pockets too," and smiled that smile that I love so much! I was a little shocked and ask him if I was going to find something in there. His response was, "I don't know... Maybe if you look. . . ." WHAT?! Of course I went to explore in an inside pocket after a comment like that! As I felt in the first inside pocket I found, my fingers found something: a ring. Drew says my face was priceless at that moment!! I recall my jaw dropping and my eyes bulging... it's all the same though, right? I started giggling (with a huge smile on my face) and pulled out a beautiful trillion diamond set atop a row of princess diamonds.

Drew took the ring from me, held my hands, and got down on one knee (in sweats), and said this: "Carissa, I love you. I want to be your husband. Will you marry me?" Clever me, I had something planned out for this moment. I wanted him to squirm a little, because, apparently, I'm a brat like that. But when it was my turn to say something, my plan faded, and all that came out was a giggle and a "YES!" So much for my plan!

I couldn't stop giggling for about ten minutes. It was insane. I just kept looking at him and thinking "I can't believe I get to marry him!" Drew is wonderful. Absolutely.

So that stinker, Drew, had been down-playing Saturday all week. I asked him what we were doing and he played it off like the day had only passed his thoughts minutely. That stinker!

Saturday morning, the 27th, I showed up at his apartment all decked out for our fun-filled day. The plan: we were going apartment shopping. What I didn't know was that apartment shopping was only a tiny part of our busy, COMPLETELY PLANNED OUT day!

While at his apartment, Drew handed me a letter he had written me. He opened the letter with "To the love of my life," being the romantic that he is. In the letter, he says how he can't believe how quickly 6 months have passed but how so much has happened! He goes on to tell me about our upcoming day: he had been thinking of all the things we'd done together since we'd been dating and thought about what we could do for our anniversary. Drew wanted to remember, and almost recreate, our past dates. He said, "I wanted today to be a day that we could look back at and enjoy our past together before we step into the future together." As I read that, I started to tear up. Drew is so sappy in a good way. I love it. The rest of the letter was lovey dovey; a perfect start to our perfect day together!

Our day:

We went to eat at a Chinese restaurant, named Fong's, for lunch. Delicious! I got the sweet and sour chicken, like always. He got something that he says is close to real Chinese.

Next on the list-apartment shopping! We eventually found a friend's car to use (since neither of us are privileged with one), and we drove around Rexburg looking at suggested married housing complexes. We got phone numbers and will be making appointments soon to take a look at some apartments.

After our short adventure, we went to the cheap theater for a matinee of Wall-E. I had already seen it, but I wanted Drew to see the movie that had made me want to hold his hand so badly!

We got out of the movie and I asked what was next on the list. Then I rethought my question and told him I didn't want to know; I just wanted him to show me.

He had really thought this through. We walked up to BYU-Idaho campus and went into the art building. He had done his homework and found out that there was a gallery open to walk through. Unfortunately, the gallery wasn't open, like it said it would be.

Then we went up to get some food at Tommassito's, the closest to NY pizza on this side of the country, for dinner. We sat and talked about our day and about past dates. I was soaking it all in.

After dinner on campus, we went for a walk. We ended up in The Gardens, a place designed by the Horticulture Department, and perfect for the kind of day we were having and the kind of walk we were on. It was beautiful! We sat down and took lots of silly pictures and had fun reminiscing about more past dates.

We walked up toward the Rexburg LDS Temple, just across the street from campus. Then we headed back down the hill and had dessert at Hogi Yogi.

Since it was a day of remembering and recreating, we went to sit and talk in the place where we had sat exactly 6 months before to discuss "us". It was sweet. : )

Our night finally winding down, we went to my apartment to pick up a movie, Remember the Titans. We went back to Drew's apartment complex, where he reserved the lounge for us to watch the movie by ourselves. So sweet. So amazing.

That was our anniversary. What I didn't mention was how sweet every moment of it was. Everything we did, excluding apartment shopping, was a memory of something we had done while we were dating. At every stop, he made sure to bring back those memories and would ask me what I was going through my mind while we were on that particular date. I had no idea that he was so thoughtful and considerate. I can't believe I'm so blessed to have him!

Drew did well. VERY well.

That's about it, I suppose. I gave you an eye-full... sorry I'm so descriptive. Haha! I suppose this will be good though... almost like a journal; a journal for everyone to read!

Until another wonderful day with Drew in Rexburg...

Quick Update!

Hey all!! First off, I really appreciate everyone who checks out my blog... I LOVE IT!
Anyway, on to the good stuff, huh?
Well, it's official. I chose my colors; well, color. Red is my main color and I will be having accents of gold and such to make it look beautiful! Hopefully this can work out, but I don't like the look of tuxedos, so I want all of the guys to be wearing black suits and red ties. Classic. My sisters (and sister-in-law) will probably be wearing black dresses and red heels or flats and red jewelry! I think that will be fun and cute! And for bigger news... I found my white dress!! It's beautiful! If you want more details, email me: carchick8202@hotmail.com. Oh! And I'll be wearing red shoes (probably flats). I don't want to spill much more on here than the fact that the dress is white and short sleeved. : ) I'm not sure if Drew even looks at my blog, but I'm just being safe.
Other news: Drew went home for the week before classes started. He's done with full-time DISH selling. THANK GOODNESS!! So he was home for a week, and got to spend time with his parents... and mine! He went to dinner with my dad and then went back to my house with him and spent time with my mom and brothers as well. When Drew left, my mom called me to tell me how well it went! She just loves Drew and kept saying how "adorable" he is. Haha! I must say, yes, he is quite adorable. : ) Anyway, while out with my dad (I got the whole scoop from Drew afterward) they talked about jobs, our school plans, and other... boy stuff. Another wonderful thing mentioned was my dad's approval of our so-to-be engagement! That's a comfort. Wow, I really love how much our parents love us being together! It's just another cherry on top!
So here I wait... waiting for Drew to propose... waiting until we have our own car to search for married housing... waiting until we can finally get married!!! AHH! It seems like forever.
I sure have been learning a lot about myself through this relationship. I have found a happy medium where I am comfortable with who I am, but am still striving to become better... always. Drew loves me for who I am and who I am becoming, I know that for a surety. I am a daughter of God, and, because of that, I deserve every little bit of what's in store for me. I'm happy... finally. It feels wonderful!!
Well, I must go out and do my duties. Laundry, cleaning, full-time job searching. Gosh, I feel like a wife already! Haha!
Love you ALL.

Until another day in sunny, windy, chilly Rexburg...