Engagement

Five years ago Nels popped the big question. Here's my side of the story.

After school on Friday, Nels picked me up and we went to Salt Lake. It was probably about 6:30 or 7 p.m. when we got there. We were just window shopping and taking our time, but Nels was acting really weird. He wasn't talking very much and he seemed on edge. Nels had made reservations at the Melting Pot for 8 p.m. So after walking around a bit, we went to the restaurant. The waitress took us back to our booth table. On the table are three red roses in a vase. I looked at the other tables and they didn't have any roses. "Oh, thank you Nels for the flowers!" He just kind of smiles...he's still acting pretty weird. I try to start a conversation with him, and then suddenly he is down on one knee next to my seat. I don't remember everything he said, but I do remember this part, "Rebecca Daisy will you marry me..." he was about to say something else but I jumped in with "Yes!" Then he finished with something like "and be with me forever." Then I said yes again. Then he put the ring on my finger. The waitress came by and took our picture. After that Nels was normal and talked and talked. The dinner was amazing and truly a night to remember!

Here's the photo that we had taken. Don't we look so young and innocent?

Here's Nels' version of the evening:

I picked up the ring that afternoon. It came in a wooden box. I was really nervous and excited because I knew what I was going to do! We had gone ring shopping earlier in our relationship, so Becky knew that sooner or later I might propose. We had narrowed the ring choice down to three, but I knew the one I got was her favorite. She did not know about the diamond choice. I had to learn about diamonds, so that I could pick just the right one. I determined that she would have a really good 'cut' and 'clarity', so I got one that was cut to show 'hearts and arrows'. (I still think that the precision engineering shown on her diamond is amazing.)

Anyway, I had learned about the Melting Pot from Clark, who would soon be my best man. It was pretty late in the week to get an earlier time, so I figured we'd walk around Salt Lake City for a bit. However, I had that huge box in the pocket of my khaki pants; I wasn't wearing a jacket, so I just knew that Becky would notice it! When she'd walk on one side of me, I'd switch the box to the opposite pocket; luckily, she never caught me in the act! I just didn't want to hand her the ring all by itself when I asked her. (Hey, it's a cool looking box!)

I planned all day as to how to phrase what I was going to ask. I had it all worked out in my head, so I couldn't talk too much because I was sure I'd forget what I was going to say. It ends up that I could've phrased it, "Will you marry me?"; THAT would've been a LOT easier to remember....

I asked her, "Rebecca Daisy, will you marry me and be my best friend and lover accompanying me through life and eternity?" So, yeah, in hindsight, it's no wonder she'd forget my exact words because once a girl hears 'marry', she gets excited in either a really good or a really bad way. Well, I'm still thrilled that Becky said, "YES, YES, YES!" to me because she will always be my sweetheart.

Spring break was great! It was very, very nice to do something besides work! We went to Chicago and visted Nels' family in Valparaiso.

We drove up to Valpo on Saturday. We went with Nels' family to the Bass Pro Shop. I'm not really into the whole camping, fishing thing, but this store was pretty fun. Anna-Lisa (Nels' youngest sister) and I practiced our fancy shooting skills at the stores shooting gallery. It was a lot of fun and Anna-Lisa beat my score every time! We went to Red Robin afterwards. Although they are known for their burgers none of us ordered a burger like we usually do. I ordered a hawaiian chicken sandwich and Nels got Fish! But we did enjoy the bottomless fries.

Monday and Tuesday we went to Chicago and instead of driving we took the train back and forth. It was a lot less stressful than driving. On the train Nels and I read Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I love reading books with Nels and it helped the train ride to go by faster.

Our first stop in Chicago was the Field Museum. It was our lucky day too, because every second Monday, Target sponsors free admission to the museum. So we got in for FREE. Of course we saw Sue the world's largest, most complete and most famous T. rex. It's hard to miss since it's the first thing you see when you walk in. Other exhibits we went to were Ancient Egypt and Ancient Americas. An odd exhibit was all about soil. Throughout the whole exhibit I kept making a face and saying "ewwww!" Here's a couple of pictures:

Sue the dinosaur--the head alone weighed 600 lbs.! The whole thing weighed 5 tons!

We had fun walking, reading, and learning together. Inside the Field museum was a Corner Bakery. I love this place! They took our order and then about ten minutes later they came to our table with a chocolate cake and sugar cookie. They said that they were sorry, but our order was going to take about 5 minutes longer so they gave us these desserts for free. Who care's if it spoils the healthy lunch we paid for, we gobbled up the chocolate cake and it was GOOD.

Tuesday we spent the afternoon walking up and down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. This is where all of the shops are like Nordstrom, Levi's, GAP and hundreds more. It's fun to just window shop like at Tiffany & Co and Saks Fifth Avenue. Ha! We didn't even try to go into those places. Maybe someday and maybe not. For now we were content looking in the Apple Store and my other favorite stores below. Ghirardelli's and the Hershey Store are wonderful. Ghirardelli's always gives free samples and Hershey's was giving samples too. I just like looking at all that candy! We did end up buying these awesome ice cream bowls. Nels got the Reese's and mine is the Hershey's. We tried them out yesterday with a lot of ice cream and they worked great! I can finally say that I have eaten the Chicago Deep Dish pizza from the renowned Gino's East. We ordered a small supreme which was 4 slices and about 3 inches deep and we ate it all! So good! We forgot to bring white out or some other marker so that we could write on the walls. All we had was a pen. But we managed to find a very small white space to write our initials. Aw!So last but not least, we went and saw the musical Wicked! Wow! We both thoroughly enjoyed the music, the story, everything. They wouldn't let us take pictures before, during or after the play so the only one I got was the sign outside. The link above takes you to some photos. But we would highly recommend seeing it.

We are slowly returning to normal life and are greatly anticipating the spring with warmer weather!

Chapstick

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet the President of Purdue University. Faculty, staff and students were invited to attend a reception for President France Cordova (she recently became the President). I attended, mainly for the food. :) I happened to be at the right place at the right time. She came in and started meeting and greeting people. I was the fourth person she saw and so she extended her hand. After a brief introduction she moved on and Dean Cosier (he's Dean of the Business school) occupied her time. I was only a few feet away and overheard and saw this exchange. President Cordova was quickly looking through her purse. The Dean leans over and asks, "Is everything all right, are you looking for something?" The President says, "My chapstick. I know it's in here." Another minute goes by without any luck. (I'm thinking in my head, "I have chapstick, but it's used. I don't think it's appropriate to offer my used chapstick to the pres.) So finally, Pres. Cordova says, "Oh well, I'll just use my lipstick." Well, the Dean quietly calls over one of his assistants and asks them to go buy a chapstick for her. A few minutes later right before Pres. Cordova goes up to speak she is handed a brand new chapstick. A look of relief and gratitude sweeps across her face as she quickly puts it on and then steps up to the podium. Now after reflecting on this, I thought to myself, "Wow, I wish I were that important, that when I say, 'I can't find my chapstick!' a few minutes later a new one is magically given to me. " I'm sure the Dean scored a few brownie points with his exceptional customer service. Quick fact: President Cordova's salary is $425,000 a year. So, maybe when I'm making that much I'll receive chapstick privileges. :)

Charity Ball

--Friday Night--

Nels and I dressed up and went to a Charity Ball that the MBA program hosted. The highlight of the evening was a live auction. Dances were auctioned off. A girl or boy would stand up and then people would bid for a dance with them. The lowest was for $40 and the highest was $110. Funny thing: One of the girls was being auctioned off and the bid was up to $50. The auctioneer stuck his foot in his mouth and said, "$50 that's a good price for her." The audience gasped and then he realized what he said and quickly tried to dig himself out by saying, "Oh, I bid $55, going once, going twice, sold to me!" Everyone was laughing so hard. Another time a girl was up there and her boyfriend was in the audience. The bid was getting up to about $75 and the auctioneer looks over at the boyfriend and says, "Are you going to step in any time soon?" The boyfriend finally did and ended the bidding with $100.

I remember watching date auctions on TV Sitcom's and thought they were hilarious so I really enjoyed watching this live auction.

There was also dinner and dancing. The food wasn't all that great, unfortunately. Also, the music was the kind you couldn't dance to very well. We mainly just talked with people and ate the one good food--delicious cheesecake. Here's a couple pictures:

I liked the color of the tickets.

Me, my boss Mary, and Rho a graduate assistant

This is not one of my favorite pictures, but I do like how we match. Nels was glad he had a tie that matched my dress, which is one of the reasons I wore it.

--Saturday Night--
Thank you for choosing the right airline and flying with LDS airlines. So funny! We went to a "How to Host a Murder" dinner/play. We went last year and loved it. We loved it again this year. The theme was an Airline and a theft that took place (instead of a murder). When we arrived at the church, they had the lines set up similar to the airlines. They checked our tickets with photo ID. Then we had to go through security. We had to take our shoes off, metal stuff and put them in a bin. Then we were taken to the waiting room and they had snacks for us. The "characters" of the play included the following:
Rockstar-He had a little guitar and some wild hair
Elder Delbert-just returning home from his mission
Loren Buffett-Warren Buffet's cousin
Grandma
Susan DeBop-Southern Bride (she was wearing a wedding dress)
Shana Fontanah
I can't even describe all of the funny things that were said and done. It was just great and perfectly played out. Oh, but I will say this... the Bride was the one that robbed the bank of $250,000 and was trying to get away because she wanted the fairy tale lifestyle. Only one picture which is of the snack bar in the waiting room.