I’ve been knocked out 4 times

the proposal

AS TOLD BY THE GROOM

WE WERE BROWSING/SHOPPING around some stores for rings. I asked her what kind of rings she liked, and she said that she wanted a simple ring but none of the stores had anything that really caught her eye. We then went to a custom ring shop where she found her perfect ring. I told her that it was too pricey for me and that we should look elsewhere. BUT!! Secretly I bought it right then and there to be designed and made. So next I had to figure out how I was going to ask. I called up my best friend, Kylee, to help me brainstorm and plan the perfect proposal. Kylee and I worked on the proposal plan and decided to set it up at Causey reservoir. We decided that Causey was a good place to do a surprise proposal because it was secluded and I would have been able to surprise Melanie. Kylee was going to invite her to go snowshoeing and then I would already be up there to surprise her. That didn't end up working out because Melanie had guitar lessons- one thing about a surprise engagement is that she didn’t know what she just rainchecked. Haha. So, Kylee and I planned once more and decided to change the surprise proposal to be at Snowbasin instead because that was our go-to spot. It was winter time and Snowbasin was busy, so we came up with the plan to have Kylee and Melanie go snowshoeing down one of

the hiking trails north-west of the lifts. Kylee was put in charge of getting Melanie to agree to snowshoeing for the next week. Kylee sent Melanie a message asking if she would like to go sometime soon and Melanie's response was of course and that would be tons of fun. The plan had then been set again!

I went to the store and printed all of the photos we took over the past 2 years, got some string lights, and then my sister came up to Snowbasin with me and helped clipped the photos to the lights and we hung them on the tree branches. I hung some balloons that said “Marry Me” and scattered rose petals on the snow covered trail in the shape of a heart. I then messaged Mel and told her that I was headed to work and to have a good day! She responded that she was going snowshoeing with Kylee. Then I proceeded to wait for Kylee's phone call telling me they were here.

I ended up waiting a long time because I learned that Melanie was making macaroni and cheese haha. I felt like my toes were about to fall off because they were so cold from standing in the snow. Once they arrived and started to walk down the trail, I just stood there in a heart made of rose petals waiting for them to come around the corner. Melanie had just gotten an iphone 11 and wanted to see how the camera did and was taking photos of our dog, Chewy. I could see her through the trees but she wasn't even paying attention to what was in front of her just around the corner of the trail.

Finally, when she came around the corner and noticed me, she blurted out, “Oh my gosh! Really?!?!?!” She ran as fast as her snow-shoed legs could, which felt like for-freaking ever to get to me. (; When she made it, I invited her into my rose petal shaped heart, got down on my knee and asked her to marry me! :)