Anniversary Countdown: The Conclusion

Jumping the Gun?

You may not know this about me, but when I know what I want (which isn't often, so it's a big deal when that happens) I go for it. And there's really no way to stop me. That may make it sound like I've been spoiled in my life, but really, I've just had to work my butt off and then can't be denied my request. For instance, I wanted Josh. And I had to do everything in my power to make him realize that he was going to marry me. First, I made him hold my hand. Then, I made him kiss me. Then, I made him hang out with me until he was convinced he should marry me. Now I sound manipulative. But that's not true either. And if you don't believe that, I won't be your friend anymore.

The first time Josh mentioned going to pick out a ring, I was down for it. I pretty much led him to the jewelry store as soon as he parked the car at the mall. We found the perfect setting--classical, but dramatic. And Josh is so amazing. He actually learned about diamonds from a diamond broker in South Africa. He said he wanted to make sure he knew how to buy a diamond for his wife because he wanted to give her the best of everything. I was amazed at how well he knew his stuff (I let him do that part).

I'm also a bit of a practical person. Despite all my drama, I do actually present practical reasoning. Even though he hadn't asked me yet, I knew we were going to be getting married. So, I began shopping. We had already talked about using all of our siblings as our wedding party. I recruited our mothers (to keep everyone happily involved) and we spent several Saturdays out together. I had told Josh that I wasn't going to be engaged for more than two months and he happily went along with me. But that meant that we had a lot to do to prepare and we needed to get moving.

Josh tried really hard to keep the proposal itself a secret from me. I wasn't making it very easy on him. He told me he didn't want to ask me to marry him until he had been legally adopted by his dad. He'd gone by Johnson for most of his life, but he wanted to be adopted and make it all official. When that happened, he had to think of a new way to stall until he was ready to propose. Supposedly, my ring was taking a lot longer to resize than we expected. He told me it should be ready the week after his adoption. So, I continued to shop. Josh had come with me and our moms to look for items we needed when we came across a bridal shop. He sat outside for a few hours while I found my wedding gown. (Now I always take him shopping with me because he has better taste than I do, so it's kind of funny that he couldn't be with me during this big decision.) Anyway, it was a Saturday night and we closed down the store, but I had a wedding gown, although I didn't have a fiance at that point.

The following morning after all the church meetings, I went to find Josh and walked into the gym to find both of our families there and Josh waiting for me. He was decked out in armor and held a wrapped gift in his hands. He stood in front of me and handed me the gift which I opened. It was a Precious Moment called "Onward Christian Soldier". It was a soldier with a shield and over the tip of the shield hung my ring. He took the ring and then went to my dad to ask his permission to then come get on one knee and ask me to marry him. I happily agreed. He was my knight. Plus, I'd just spent several hundreds of dollars on a dress and I was excited I'd actually get to wear it. Okay, mostly I was happy to marry my best friend.

We rushed and planned the rest of our wedding. We had so many things against us: Mother's Day was May 9 so florists were scared of us, we had a little less than two months to get everything ready so every other aspect of wedding planning was scared of us, and some parents had more difficulties with the whole process than others. In fact, our bishop told us there was no shame in eloping. I think his exact words were, "There's a temple in Las Vegas." (We got married in the Denver LDS temple.) Sometimes I do wish we would've just taken the money and run, but you live and learn, right? We even bought our first house together just days before the wedding. Josh moved in first and I moved in after the wedding. Like I said, it may have been a bit rushed and a bit rough at times, but we knew what we wanted and we set out and got it.

I love Josh. He's truly the greatest man I've ever known. He works hard for our family and wants so many good things for us. He's strong mentally, physically, and spiritually. He's a freaking genius. And he's hot. I've loved these last ten years and I'm looking forward to the eternity we have to spend together. Happy Anniversary, Baby!