I'm engaged!

Yes, this has been way too long coming. So very much has happened since my last post! Most importantly, I am engaged to the greatest woman ever, Janessa Erekson. She is literally the greatest blessing of my entire life. She's my best friend, my confidante, my greatest support, my greatest motivation, my reason and purpose. I love her already more than words can articulate.

Our Story

The Beginning
The first spark caught in each other's eyes almost 3 years ago was very impressionable. We were at BYU together. We both had crushes on each other, but because of several complications, we never got the courage to date each other the first year of friendship.  I remember telling my mom that I could easily marry Janessa, after just knowing her for weeks! I couldn't help but notice that she is a light bulb! Everything was brighter when she was around. She was literally a one-of-a-kind woman. I was blown away by her ability to lighten things for others, her amazing balance of being responsible and crazy at the same time, her spiritual stature, her phenomenal public speaking ability, her contagious giggle that brightens any room, her poise in trial, her breathtaking beauty, her drive in athletics and school, and her beautiful voice. I'll never forget how she voluntarily came to my aid to be a listening ear and friend in a trying time in my life during that year. That act of inspiration and kindness has stuck with me, has never left. From then until fully dating we were just good friends and our paths crossed in countless ways. The second year of our friendship, we stayed in touch  while I was in Virginia and she was in UT. I never took my eye off her though!


First Date - An Uncanny Foreshadowing
The summer after grad school, I came back to UT. I took her out to a mutual friend's wedding reception. I remember being amazed at how easy and natural it was to talk to her. I don't think either of us stopped smiling the entire time we were together. This friend's courtship story ironically would foreshadow our own. Neither of us knew at this point that this would be the case. Being in completely different states, they decided to do the distance thing. Through Skype and frequent-flyer miles, they fell in love and tied the knot. I remember looking at Janessa when I dropped her off and I had to look away because I was smitten by her, it took me off guard, and I was so scared of starting something that would end up in a distance relationship. Little did I know what was coming!


A Flirting Fall
I had no idea that Miss Dolly Levy's words would be so fortuitous in our relationship when she said, "You'll go your way, and I'll go mine," and she points in the same direction. In the Fall, I started to work in the Bay area with Ernst & Young, beginning to dig the trench of my career. Janessa was still in UT. Finally, after over 2 years of being friends I admitted my long interest in her, having no hope that she would even reciprocate, having no idea what it would even mean if she did reciprocate. Well, she expressed the same thing back! We began emailing and calling here and there, not knowing what would come of it as she was moving to Virginia, right where I was a year earlier. How convenient! TIMING! We would be 3,000 miles apart for at least 18 months, as her nursing school was that long. Or so we thought we'd be apart that long. ;-) You'll see how it just took 3 years to finally get that timing piece in place! I was so drawn to her, had been for years, and I knew this was my last chance! I flew out to UT before she left, awkwardly expressed my wishes that we could be together but had no real answers and then I headed back to CA, both of us a little scared and confused as to what would come of us. We began Skyping, calling, and writing emails much more regularly. We were falling in love!

February - When Love Happens
One day in February, I finally woke up and decided to risk it all and fully commit to the distance and bring on the uncertainty and the endless lists of unknowns. I realized that I was in love with her and that nothing else mattered. I needed her in my life, for good! She was better than the best girl I could even ever dream of! I called Janessa and told her all of my intentions. I flew out to VA twice in the next month to see her and was on Cloud 118. I decided to "talk" to her dad on the second visit. That night, we purchased rings! Two weeks later was her birthday, and with that I decided to propose with elephantine proportions. ;-)

The Proposal
One thing you have to know about Janessa is one word: elephant! Also chocolate, but elephants are up there too. It has been Janessa's dream to ride an elephant. Even before we were officially dating, I had promised her that I would make sure she would ride an elephant (implicitly if she married me. ya, I knew what I was doing!). Well, I was flying out there to propose and I had no idea of what I was going to do to fulfill the heavy expectations of her first birthday with me in her life AND propose! There was a lot at stake here! There was no way I could actually get her an elephant in the US, least of all places in VA. Or so I thought!

A week before I was coming out I set off a trend of sending her little gifts via email and mail that individually pointed to a letter, which in total sporadically spelled E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T. Just days before I was to fly out there to try to surprise her, I had no firm plan of what I was going to do! I was committed to do something with an elephant now, with these gifts already steadily spelling out the surprise. The only requirements for the proposal were that it had to (1) be creative (from her dad) and (2) make her laugh (from Janessa). I thought of sending her on a goose chase that led her to a park where I was dressed in an elephant costume. I know, ridiculous, and totally unromantic and I cringed when I thought of her telling others such a story! haha Or even worse, our kids! "Daddy, you're strange!" I couldn't take that. So I also thought of just getting a nice stuffed elephant to help with the question. All OK ideas, but just not nearly enough. Go big or go home! I had to show her what she meant to me. Then it occurred to me that I just HAD to get an elephant. I seriously had no idea how, but it was my endless pursuit during the days before I headed to Virginia to find one. I tried circuses...nope. I tried the zoos both in CA and in Virginia... nope. I tried looking for a random elephant taming group that could travel to VA...nope. It was just days away, what was I to do! Then, I don't remember what I typed in my search but I found this painfully-small zoo with one elephant in southern VA. I called them and found out that they gave rides! BUT they only do rides until 3 p.m. I was flying in on a red-eye flight that Friday, going straight to the jewelry store to pick up the ring, then straight to my best friends wedding, and I couldn't be at the small zoo until 5 p.m. I was leaving the following morning. In town for less than 24 hours! What was I to do? I called the zoo back to see if they could make an exception! A miracle happened and Mark, the elephant trainer, and his wife, Karen, had sympathy for me all of a sudden and became the most accommodating people in the world. During the last few days up to the weekend, we all three concocted a plan of all plans!

Please refer to my or Janessa's Facebook page for the picture story of the engagement, titled "The Proposal"!

I never thought I could love this much or be this happy! It truly is worth every pain and trial to wait for the right person to marry! I'm not counting down or anything but...