One year ago today . . . .

William and I were getting engaged. Yes, on January 20, 2007, William asked me to marry him, and obviously, I said yes. Let's take a little reminiscing trip down memory lane . . . . So, I somewhat "knew" that it was coming- as he had taken me to look at rings and had asked my father's permission before we left Utah to come back to Boston. And I especially got suspicious when he during the middle of the week, said "Hey, let's go to the Symphony on Saturday night." Ok, for anyone else, this might not have been out of the ordinary, but generally I am always the one wanted to go to the symphony and the ballet and William very willingly accompanies me. So for him to bring it up, I was a little suspicious. I was even more suspicious when he wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner. I had the car and so I was driving and thus, I needed to know where to go and look for a parking space so he said "Its in the area by Prudential." Well, that's a pretty big area and so he said that it was inside the building and that parking inside the garage was a good idea. As he led me into the lobby to take me up to Top of the Hub, a restaurant on the 50th floor of the Prudential Center which has gorgeous views of Boston. We got a table in the prime spot and so we were able to see the city in the daylight and then change to night. We got the chef's special 5 course meal and it was so good- it was the best scallop I've ever had (normally, I don't like them)- except for one course, which was a beet. Yes, I tried to choke down two bites but it was really gross and making me gag so William chivalrously ate it for me. I actually told the waiter at the end that I loved everything and that it was super good, except the beet, and William still laughs at me for that because its kind of insulting to the chef. But they needed to know that it was gross- even William didn't think it was very good. Anyways, the whole dinner was so romantic- it truly was just such an amazing atmosphere. Here are a few photos of us from that evening

At sunset
At night
At our table

In the lobby

And I have to say that William was wearing my favorite outfit of his and that I was wearing the purple shirt he gave me for Christmas- aren't we the epitome of a couple going to get engaged :-)
However, he didn't ask me to marry him at dinner. I thought, maybe he'll do it at the symphony. We had front row seats which was a really neat experience to be so up close to the performers. At intermission, we were walking around and saw our stake president, who also happened to be William's current professor at HBS! We chatted with him for a moment and it was only slightly awkward. The performance was great, but again, nothing happened. Then, I started to get a bit worried and thought that this was only a really nice out. We decided to walk back to the Prudential Center which is just "next door" after a long walk through the Christian Science Plaza. That was seriously the coldest I have ever been in my whole life. I do not remember a colder nor windier day in Boston- it was so horribly painful to walk the deceivingly short distance. We should have sucked it up and paid for the $1.25 T ride- it definitely would have been well worth the pain.

We went back to the car and I started to drive towards home and yet, nothing had happened. And then, William says, "Let's drive around downtown a bit before going back" and I got so excited because I knew it was coming. I drove in the direction of the Boston Commons and he said "Let's park here and walk around the Public Gardens." And of course, I did. You know that it was freezing but I didn't care because this is my favorite place in Boston- I have repeatedly told some of my good friends that I would want to get engaged here, but I had never told William this. This place is very special to us because it is where we went on our second date and spent several hours talking by this tree with a branch you could sit down on, and it was there that we really began to become serious about one another. I was so glad that it meant so much to him too. And he proposed and got down on one knee right there in front of that tree and my eyes teared up and I said YES!!!! It truly didn't feel as cold as earlier because I was so happy. I do have to say that it was such a blessing that it was that cold because there was NO ONE in the garden. This never happens here and so it was nice to have that special moment together. It was funny because as we were leaving, we saw a security guard and he looked at us like we were totally crazy for being out here. Check out these cold, happy faces after returning to the warmth of the car!

Of course, afterwards, I called my parents and my best friend to tell them the good news and then my roommates. But, this is the funny thing. All William did was he took a picture of my hand with the ring on it, and EMAILED it to his family. That was it- no text, no phone call, no nothing- just that image. There's a guy for you :-)

Oh- and let me just tell you that this is the PERFECT ring- I gave him examples of what I wanted but he did the choosing- and an INCREDIBLE job- I absolutely love it.

It was a PERFECT evening and PERFECT proposal with the PERFECT GUY- truly better than anything in my dreams. And I have to say that this year has been better than my dreams as well.