The proposal!

I was so excited when Chris proposed to me on Thursday that I wrote about it in my journal, but didn't think to blog about it, so I'll do that now!

Chris and I met almost 3 years ago at the Murray Arts Center, which is a dance club that specializes in ballroom dance styles. Chris asked me to dance almost every dance. I liked dancing with him, so I kept saying yes. Shortly thereafter, he used his cunning personality to get us in the same place again and get my phone number. We started dating,, but our relationship was short lived. After all, we barely knew each other.

We maintained our friendship through the years, even when he moved out of Utah. When he visited Utah, we always made time to see each other and hang out, but there was no romance at all, until last June. I actually happened to be on a date with another guy when Chris called and said "hey, I'm in town, having a game night...wanna join?" I asked my date if we could go, and he said yes. Poor guy. I walked in that night, got a hug from Chris, and for some reason, my feelings changed very suddenly. I was all of a sudden very smitten with Chris, and wanted to date him. I kept that a secret for about a day, but I really couldn't keep it very long. He was all for dating, even though I was hesitant to try a long distance relationship. But it seemed to work ok. We called each other or skyped daily, and saw each other for a few days each month. After a whil

e, I started to love him so much that I wanted to be with him even more, and because of our relative situations in life, together we decided it would be best for us to move back to Utah. I helped him find a place to live and finally the day arrived that our relationship was no longer long distance! That was this past November. I was so happy. He was, too.

After that, the decision of whether to marry each other occupied our minds and conversations more and more. He was certain a lot sooner than I was. But at the beginning of January, I finally felt a confirmation that marrying him would be right. Now all we needed to do was get engaged. Oh, a month feels like forever when you know you want to get married but aren't officially engaged!

Last Thursday, I had a dance performance with my ballroom team. He and my parents came to support me, and while my mom fussed over me in the hallway, he saw the opportunity to ask my dad for permission to marry me (yay for asking my dad!). My dad consented. I obviously didn't learn that part of the story till later.

After the performance, Chris really wanted to try the new dance club in Provo, which specializes in ballroom dance (just like the MAC, but way closer!). Plus, admission was only $1 that night. He thought I should dress up, but I adamantly refused. After all, I was just going to a dance club.Jeans should be fine, right? He was a little more dressed up than I was. He looked great. I still had dance makeup and a bun in my hair, so I looked... whatever. On the way over, he asked me a few questions about music. Here's the conversation that took place:

Chris: Do we have a song, that's ours?

Me: No.

Chris: What's your favorite Michael Buble song?

Me: "Everything."

Chris: what dance do you do to that one?

Me: American Rumba.

Chris: I don't know very much American Rumba.

Me: Yes you do! Anyway I still love the song.

Chris: What's your favorite two-step? (Nightclub two step is Chris' favorite dance)

Me: Um... I like this one (the one that was playing).

Chris: What's it called and who is it by?

Me: Uh... I think it's by Ben Harper. It's called "Forever."

Then we went in to dance!

So, once we got in, I saw Laura C. taking pictures of dancers. She came up to me and asked what we were doing there. "Um... we're ballroom dancers," I said, "but why are YOU here?" She explained that she'd just gotten some new lighting equipment for her camera (she's a professional photographer) and wanted to try it out, and she'd gotten permission from the club to take pictures of the dancers. I knew from facebook that she was super excited to try this lighting thing out, and the room was dim, so I bought the story without any questions. She told me her friend (a ballroom dancer) had suggested the place to her. I really didn't suspect anything until I saw Chris mozying back over to me from the DJ booth. He was like "oh! I found you!" and I thought that was a weird thing to say since I hadn't moved since he went to "get a drink." Also, I started to wonder what he'd been doing in the DJ booth... I was remembering our conversation in the car. He brushed it off with "you didn't tell me Toffer was the DJ! I just said hi to him." Normal, right? But I started to be suspicious. I thought that at some point, me might whip the ring box out of his Hagrid-esque coat (seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a ive turtle out of it). We danced some more, and the next two-step that came on, he danced with me in the center of the floor. We'd been dancing on the edge of the floor, so this seemed a bit odd. Laura kept flashing pictures of us (not very odd, though, considering I'm really good friends with her). It wasn't the song "Forever," but the lyrics were pretty romantic. It's called "But I Do Love You" and it's by Lee Ann Rimes. I was pretty certain he was going to propose at any moment, but I didn't see the ring box anywhere. And he didn't have his coat on. At the end of the song, he dipped me, and got down on one knee.

I'd been thinking the whole time that he was going to propose, but at this moment I panicked. All I could think was "what if he fake proposes in front of EVERYONE?!" ...after all, he's fake proposed twice before. Not in front of a lot of people though, just friends and family. But luckily, he pulled the ring out of his shirt pocket. No box, just the ring. HUGE relief for me! He said, "Heather Ambler, will you marry me?" All I was conscious of was him, and the fact that there was a lot of cheering and flashing lights. It didn't register to me that the music had stopped (planned!) or anything but that YES! I WANTED TO MARRY HIM! So I kissed him, there, in front of everyone... which is pretty uncharacteristic of me. I'm against PDA. He was like, "is that a yes?" and I nodded, grinning from ear to ear. Then he put the ring on my finger. Oh, how happy! After a few seconds, I became aware that other people existed again, and realized the attendees of the dance club had all backed off the dance floor and were surrounding us, staring at us, and still cheering. "Well this is awkward," I said, and walked off, holding his hand and still smiling tirelessly. But honestly, it was so amazing! What a cute, romantic way to propose. The only unfortunate thing is that the ring is too big, but we're going to get it sized tomorrow. Still, I refuse to take it off. I just wear it on my middle finger so I won't lose it!

Anyway, I'm officially engaged. We're getting married! We get to spend to rest of eternity together! I feel so happy and blessed.