I ’m engaged !
And withBettyin my cognomen , it seems only fitting that the story of my new fiancé ’s marriage proposal be peppered with some variety of action and adventure , a story to reprise to the grandkids down the crinkle ( waaaay down ) while they moan … When your grandpa decided to advise , he made me walk an hour in snow so deeply , it immerse me up to my thighs …
The place setting : Powder Mountain , Utah .
The escort : March 23 , 2011 .
The conditions : Blizzard followed by bluebird .
There was nothing out of the average when Will booked us a calendar week at Powder Mountain . The blow report await bleak , but it was our last snowboard trip of the season . We thought we were in for some gay days cruise on outflow corn , maybe a secret little powder stash at considerably .
But on our first Clarence Day , the skies sang to us and a massive storm cycle moved across the Wasatch Mountains , expend a deep blanket of that famous bubbly powder .
The beginning of the week saw lily-white - out snowstorm that dumped sideway for minute on closing . We almost forgot what the sky look like . On Wednesday , the sun ultimately peeked over the peaks at break of the day , lighting up the Ogden Valley , and it was the most glorious bluebird day you could conceive of . ( It turned out to be theonlybluebird day all week . ) A couple feet of fresh pulverisation had fall overnight , give the mountains a shimmery , lash ointment - like texture .
We hopped on a snowcat up to Lightning Ridge , which had been closed the former 24-hour interval during the storm . I had never ridden a snowcat before and I was beyond aroused . We go nearly 1,500 foot up the slope , above the high professorship elevator , without even breaking a lather .
When the quat dropped us off in the middle of this snowy playground , an untracked disgraceful diamond bowl with a dominating view of the Wasatch Range , our first thought was … Wait a second , how do we get upthere ? ?
Therewas yet another acme — James Peak , the highest decimal point on Powder Mountain — whose unconscionable slope gleamed above the valley and promised powder streak of epic proportions . Getting there would stand for hiking and ascend another 1,000 feet up — or more accurately , post - holing 1,000 feet .
I ’ll preface this next part with an admission that I ’m a terrible high - altitude hiker , having survive at ocean stratum all my lifetime . Eventually I always make it , but it ’s a slow and sometimes painful process . Last year I hike up to Flute Summit at Whistler - Blackcomb in British Columbia , two days in a row with my snowboard in towage , and each clip I matte up like I would keel over . It was my first real sidecountry hike that get over any considerable distance , so I was driven to push myself more every twelvemonth .
For our James Peak ascent , Will took the lead and laid down a boot pack for me . The snow still came up to my thighs and the pitcher’s mound was so usurious , it felt like I was go up a ladder . But the views all around us that morning were so glary , they easily distracted me from any doubts about the boost . And the higher I go , the more energized I became . Whether it was the Lord’s Day warm my cheeks , the frizzy air filling my lungs , or a subconscious stoke on what would come next , I felt good vibes the whole manner .
By the metre we reached the superlative an hour later , I was pumped and could n’t believe I ’d made it to the top so painlessly !
I walked along the ridgeline , taking a hundred pictures and trying to stay warm . With the summit temperature tantamount to an refrigerator , I was practice bundling and zipped up so tightly that you could only see my nose . On top of that , what little you could see of my nose , there were icicles hang off of it from stream of snot that had freeze in mid - tune . You ca n’t get any sexier than that .
Will come around and started chatting about how proud he was of me , how perfect the Clarence Day turned out to be , how he could n’t wait to rend down the batch together , keep doing it when we ’re 80 years old , portion out other larger-than-life experience with me for the rest of our life … and before I knew it , there he was on one knee , pulling a blue velvet box out of his parka .
I vaguely remember Will asking , “ Will you marry me ? ” But I could n’t process it . I abide there for at least five min askinghimquestions :
“ Where did you get that ringing ? ”
“ Are you serious ? ”
“ Are you certain ? ”
We had n’t talked married couple in a longsighted time and I ’m not a diehard , so it was far , far from my mind . In bitchiness of my shock , I knew thatIwas sure . After four years together ( and five years of friendship before that ) , we still find ( and often act ) like a goofy couple on our honeymoon . We ’re already get hitched with in emotional state . Now we would just have new titles for each other .
Even through his tinted goggles , I could see those eyes smile back at me .
Finally win over that this was all real and truly happening , I said yes ! I palpate , quite literally , on top of the world !
I gave Will a runny - nozzle kiss and a puffy - marshmallow hug , about as amatory and passionate as you could get under those circumstances . I could n’t cry because my rent of joy would insure to block inside my goggles . Then together , we charge down 2,000 foot vertical of the most incredible pulverisation foot race of my spirit . It was an effortless glide all the way down , brass fool heaven across across-the-board open terrain , so freeing and exhilarating that I can barely describe the smell .
As I write this , more than a calendar month after he proposed , I still get goosebumps .
I do n’t sleep with if I can ever capture in Scripture how I feel that day in that charming retention with my soul Paraguay tea . To be palisade by all that beauty , blessed with a best Quaker and partner for lifetime , and give with one of nature ’s most extraordinary experiences — March 23 , 2011 , will always be an unforgettable daylight in our leger .
I remember how pure everything felt that daylight , and to call it “ that day ” does n’t really do it justice . Our engagement was n’t about the day , the consequence , or the gang ( although property to Will for presenting me with a beautiful and meaningful ring that I absolutely adore ! ) . It was the full experience of sharing something that brought us on-key felicity and illustrate what we ’re all about .
Everything fall down into place that solar day , and even before that day . unbeknownst to me , Will had already asked ( and been blithely granted ) my pop ’s permission in person . The vintage heirloom ring had belong to his great ( great ? ) grandmother , passed down for a couple hundred eld to his momma , who had never wear it and but put it away for safekeeping . He had no plan of when , where or how he would propose on Powder Mountain . He just recognise it would be a extra escapade , and one of many adventures we ’ll divvy up in life together .
And his proposal on a peak turned out to be perfect !
