I'M ENGAGED! Best Birthday Ever!

After a whole lot of planning and some really intense anticipation...I asked Stefanie Elyse Tanner to marry me, and she said YES!!!

I am so excited! She is amazing, and I am totally in love with her!

Our Story

I met Stefanie last summer while she was staying with her aunt in Corona. I didn't know her very well, but she totally fell for me! The problem was I spent most of my summer up in Provo so we didn't reconnect until our first date right before the start of Fall classes. We dated for most the semester and had some fantastic adventures, including Thanksgiving in Mexico with my parents. But our paths diverged for the Winter -- Stef did a study abroad in Jerusalem, and I moved home to SoCal. During April, I couldn't get her off my mind. I took her out on a date her first day back in the US, and we've been going strong since then. Our lives have been a great adventure -- we've been rafting in Colorado, done Pike's Place Market in Seattle, traveled through Canada with her parents, and million other little great times.

The Engagement

My plans began the Friday before my birthday. I went to the store and paid the deposit for the ring, and swore all the workers to telling her that someone else bought it, if she came into the store.

To make sure she would be surprised, I told her that I had custom ordered the ring and that it would be ready in 14 days. Stef was ready to get engaged and was not very happy about this news. But it turns out she wasn’t totally convinced of deception and kept asking me if it was really going to take so long. (Imagine these in the most intensely desperate voice) “Are you serious?” “Do you really have it?” “14 Days?”

Noelle, Stef’s sister, told me that my fiancé-to-be wasn’t convinced so I had to step it up on my story. After she asked me about the ring again, I mustered all my seriousness and said, “Stef, I am really sorry I didn’t just buy the ring. If I could go back I would, but we can’t keep talking about this. It is making me really upset!” SHE WAS SOLD.

Stefanie and I love the outdoors so I decided a quiet little aspen grove up Provo canyon would be the perfect place. I spent lots of hours scouting out an ideal location. On the day of, Korine and Angie helped me clear brush and string up about 200 battery powered tea lights with fishing string so it looked like they were floating in the trees around us, very romantic.

But while planning, the challenge was apparent -- I needed to get Stefanie all the way up the canyon without having her suspect anything. That’s when it came to me; I would use my birthday as a cover and have her throw me a surprise party. J

Christina, my sister, called Stefanie and they put all their plans together for the ‘secret surprise.’ Stefanie ate it all up and loved every minute of it. Haha, I just think it is so funny. Ha ha. Isn’t she great?

So on Monday, September 21, I spent the morning preparing the site. That evening my friends, Stefanie, and I met at Bombay House for an excellent Indian dinner. During dinner, my sister Christina made a work excuse and left to go turn all the lights. All my friends were in on the gag, so when I got up to use the restroom Stefanie made sure they all knew how to get to the surprise party.

After dinner, Stefanie took me to a park and gave me a great picture book she had made for me. Then the festivities began, she blindfolded me and lead me back to the car. I didn’t want to get nervous so I just kept talking the whole time. I was like, “Stef are you taking me to Squaw Peak for my birthday?” But after a lot of windy roads we finally arrived at our destination.

Stef lead me through the brush and ran me into a couple trees and bushes. She thought all my friends were hiding in the shrubs, and prepped them for the surprise. “Ok, I’m going to take off your blind fold on the count of three. ONE….TWO….THREE!” And no one jumped out. I played along and was like, “WOOOWOWOW!”

After a minute or so, I told her that I actually had a surprise for her and got down on one knee. SHE WAS SO SURPRISED! And it turns out she is a screamer, not a crier.

I told her how much I loved her and then proposed. It was magic. J

Christina was hiding in the bushes a ways off taking pictures. After we had our moment, she came out and took more pictures of us, which Stefanie loved.

Then we texted our friends who were waiting at the bottom of the hill, and they came up for an engagement party. We busted out the Martinelli’s and had a toast to our future.

We’ve shared our great news with so many friends and family since that night. Thank you so much for all your love and support. We are getting married on January 2^nd in the Seattle temple and can’t wait for that great day to come!

Check our her side of the story at http://stefanieelise.blogspot.com/.