Oh, do give yours to me;
We'll lock them up together,
And throw away the key.
~Frederick Saunders
To round out our focus on LOVE this month. I ask Jessica Smith to share her engagement story with us. What a wonderful presence love is in all our lives. What a marvelously exciting time it is for these two young lovebirds to be planning their lifetime together. Hope you enjoy this little piece from my guest writer Jessica Smith.
Joshua Anders & Jessica Smith: An Engagement
How We Met:
We met in 2004 at the local coffee shop, Poet's, through mutual friends and general proximity. After 6 months of friendship, we realized that we both felt something more. August 7th was the first official time we acknowledged that what we had was something real, possibly even love.
Leading Up To A Proposal:
We knew right from the start that we wanted to spend forever together. We did not rush the action behind that decision however, as it took 5 years for him to finally pop the question. I am incredibly grateful for this, as we were able to both grow up and make sure our priorities were in order before taking this plunge.
The Ski Trip:
One pivotal event that solidified Joshua's place in my family was the ski trip we took in 2008. Until this family trip, Joshua had never spent a lot of time with my family, as he is really shy and they are sort of intimidating in their outgoingness. During this trip, however, he finally let them see what it is that I love so much about him. My father was incredibly impressed at his inability to give up when he was miserably failing at mastering snowboarding, and my mother saw how he took care of me after a nasty injury on the slopes. He was finally considered one of the family, and I knew then that my parents would support us in marriage.
The Proposal:
This past December, Josh came into town a few days before my birthday (December 30th) so we could exchange Christmas gifts and spend time together. I had been getting minor hints that he might propose during this visit so I made a joke about how he should hurry up and talk to my father (to ask permission to marry me of course).
He totally surprised me by (very seriously) saying that we had discussed this before and nothing was happening until summer. I was crushed. The next day, we hung around my parents house and apparently I was in a snippy mood because of my disappointment the night before (I don't recall being a jerk, but everyone says it happened...so it probably did). We decided to drive out to Josh's moms to let our dogs out before we went to a friend's house for games.
When we arrived there, Josh let the dogs out and I started to run upstairs to shower but he yelled for me to wait, and to watch the dogs with him. I went outside and he told me how much he loved me, and got down on one knee. The rest is a screaming, crying blur...but I definitely said yes.
After calling my parents and scream crying to tell them about my excitement, we went to their house to celebrate.
Expecting just to see my brothers and parents, I was surprised again to see that Josh and my mom had planned a surprise engagement party with our best friends and family.
Wedding Plans and Details:
Our vision for our wedding is simple. We want a celebration filled with love, dancing, and the most important people in our lives. We're going for a vintage fun feel.
I haven't searched for dresses yet, but I believe I want a knee length fun dress and hopefully amazing aqua heels.
Our food situation hasn't been resolved yet, as we are still debating between a plated dinner or a hors d'oeuvres, less formal, event. We are going for a cup-cake tier made by my future sister in law, Chung, and Josh wants his own cup-cakes decorated as Star Wars characters for his groom's cake.
After seeing how beautiful my friend Sarah Page's engagement and wedding pictures were, we enlisted the talents of the amazing photographer Daniel Sutton of Creative Push, and we couldn't be more excited.
We plan on marrying in my home church of First United Methodist Church in Livingston. Dr. Craig Green will marry us, as he has been such a big part in my spiritual growth. I plan on having my best friend in the universe, Betsy, as my maid of honor, and my two cousins, Emily and Claire, from Canada to be my bridesmaids.
Joshua plans on having his best friend Thomas as his best man, and my brother Colin and his friend Charlie as his groomsmen.
Most Important:
Beyond all the fun ideas we keep coming up with to make our celebration special, the most important is that our ceremony be centered around inviting God into our marriage and starting our life together.
