a special day

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I get very excited about my birthday. But growing up in a family with 7 siblings meant that birthday parties and big celebrations were rare. (Cake and a few presents with the family was standard.)
The chance of a party seemed to diminish even more the older we got. This meant, if I wanted something special done, I had to do it myself.
Most years were disappointing. I'm not the best planner, and things just never really worked out. But, as my 19th approached, I decided I wanted to do something big. An over-night camping trip in Moab with a group of friends was, in my mind, the perfect way to celebrate the first day of my last year as a teenager. My plans were big and my hopes were high.
The problem was, having never been to Moab, I didn't know where we could camp, or what the cost would be. My darling boyfriend, Mr. Boss, suggested he and I take a day trip to scout for potential camp grounds.
We decided to go on the Saturday that fell exactly 2 weeks before my birthday. We packed a few snacks, but decided we'd find lunch on the road. We left around 6 or 7 am on March 25th. We had already informed our families of our adventure and we had our phones with us, fully charged, in case of an emergency.
The drive down south was fun. We were both in light and playful moods and just enjoyed each other's company, as well as the scenery along the way. I always thought I knew how beautiful Utah was, but this trip really opened my eyes to gorgeous sites and scenes I had never seen before.
Not in any rush, and not really knowing the best way to go, we ended up taking the long way. We finally made our way into the quaint town of Moab around lunchtime. By that point we were nice and hungry, and we quickly found a good looking diner to take our midday meal.
After lunch we set out in search of camp grounds. We were looking for anything free/very inexpensive, since we didn't want our friends to have to drive through most of the state only to pay an arm and a leg for their one night stay. Unfortunately, the only places we found (having done no research before hand) were just too much.
We eventually found ourselves at Dead Horse Point, and it was there that I began to realize my Great, Moab Birthday Campout was likely not going to happen.
With this realization our focus shifted and our moods changed from playful to serious. Inspired by the beauty before us, we began to talk God and religion. Our beliefs, though they stem from the same source, are somewhat different from each other. Along with that I was at a time in my life in which I was confused about whether or not I fully believed the things I was taught as a child. At the same time I found myself clinging to those beliefs, as they were the only thing I'd ever known.
I wasn't so much that I was questioning my church, (which is how it came across,) as I was questioning how a loving God could allow bad things to happen to good people.
We discussed things that I had learned from the church my childhood and youth and things he had learned from and about his family while he was growing up. He told me things that he had been taught that didn't match what I had been taught, and I had a hard time agreeing with him. Through our deep discussion we never really reached a point where we were seeing eye to eye, but something else happened.
Our conversation had moved from the Dead Horse Point visitors center, to his car in the parking lot (for more privacy,) to the grounds around the lot. As we walked and discussed a very different thought entered my mind. It was a passage from a book I'd read recently, and I had the very clear thought that I was to use that passage in that moment.
The thought completely side-tracked me from our conversation, so I interrupted it to ask Mr. Boss if he would please pick out a shrub. He was puzzled by my request, but complied after I asked him again.
The shrub he picked was a small, yellow thing that was just a few feet from us. I led him over to it, and then I leaned in toward the shrub to say "Hello, little shrub. We have just gotten engaged and you're the first one we've told!"
The strange thing about my comment was that we were, in fact, not engaged. Moreover, we had already discussed at one point that, if we were to become engaged, it wouldn't be until we had been dating for at least a year. At this point the length of our courtship was just shy of 3 months. Still, that thought I'd had was so clear and, strange as it seemed, I had to act upon it.
To my utter surprise, the moment I finished my comment to the shrub, Mr. Boss was grabbing me by the shoulders, turning me to face him. He looked at me for a moment with a dumb-founded, confused and yet agreeing look on his face. We stood there for a short moment, his hands never leaving my arms, his eyes locked onto mine, and then he spoke.
"Criss...will you marry me?"
My comment to the shrub aside, I was a bit taken aback by his proposal. The air was thick with questions and an approaching storm. I stared at him for what felt like hours before I managed to mumble out my response.
"Yes."
Our conversation from before was then resumed, but everything had changed dramatically. We were no longer discussing how our beliefs differed, rather we were talking about the similarities. As we talked we both felt a presence. We both brought up our grandfathers who are no longer with us, and we felt an air of approval as we discussed who they were and how much we miss them.
Our time at Dead Horse Point is one of my most cherished memories, it is one of the most incredible, albeit unexpected, moments of my life.

We chose to keep the events of our trip to ourselves for a time. We eventually shared the news on May 14th (Mother's day that year,) after Mr. Boss had the chance to officially ask my dad for permission to marry me.