Part 4:

So apparently, living overseas gives me an abundance of free time which allows me to catch up on the blog. You're welcome. 

Now, back to the love story ...

That following Friday, Brad came back to Utah. This weekend, we both knew I would be getting engaged and we knew we would be meeting family. He wouldn't tell me when he was going to propose and I was going crazy with curiosity. But, at least I knew it would be before he went home again on Monday. 

Friday night we went to dinner with my dad and brother. We ate at a Mexican place in Orem. They all seemed to get along good and I am pretty sure my dad and Brad talked trash about me in Spanish...haha. jk. After dinner Brad and I ran to the mall to pick up my bling and then we went to my grandparents house in American Fork to visit with them. From that point on, I realized, he could propose at ANY time. He had the ring!! I was kinda antsy all weekend because of that. 

Saturday morning we woke up to take engagement pictures (before officially being engaged. we're kinda unconventional like that ...) but, it was pouring rain that morning. Well, we didn't have a choice about taking pictures that day since it was our last time together before he left for Germany. So ... we went out to find a partially covered area for pictures! My little brother was a trooper in taking our pictures. We ended up at the Lehi Roller Mills and spent probably 15 minutes tops getting pictures taken. By the end we looked like wet dogs. It was great fun!

After that we drove up to Salt Lake to pick up my mom (from the airport) and take some family pictures before we were heading to Idaho. It again ... poured during pictures. We have awesome luck. We ended up at the State Capitol and there was a time of about 30 minutes where I had no idea where my dad or Brad were. Then, it dawned on me -- he was asking permission to marry me! (He's a good seed I tell ya!) My dad walked down the stairs and gave me the thumbs up. Ha!

Well, we decided to go to Temple Square before we all parted ways. Little did I know there was huge bridal show going on while we were there (surprise!) and while we were there ... it started snowing like crazy! We ended up just staying inside drinking hot chocolate and talking. I was getting frustrated though because I knew he now had the okay to propose but, he wasn't doing anything about it! I was hoping he would do it before we got to Idaho but, I wasn't so sure anymore. We ended up saying good bye to my parents (and brother) and headed towards the car. 

He still hadn't proposed. 

But ... I knew he had the dang ring!

We went to where the car was parked, loaded up Kason and then, I put my hands in his pocket to pull him in for a hug. This is really how it went down:

Brad: "You can't feel it!?"

Jami: "Feel WHAT?"

Brad: "Your ring! It's in my pocket! It's been there all day!"

Jami: "WHAT?!" (as I dig my hands further into his pocket to find the ring ... and sure enough, there it was!) 

Brad: "*insert something cute here & Jami, will you marry me?*"

Jami: "YES!!!!"

Brad: "You can put the ring on ..."

Jami: "No! That's your job!" 

Oh geez ... we are such nerds. It may not seem like much of a proposal to anybody else but, it's totally us and totally signifies our relationship (and now marriage) ... that's just how we are. And I wouldn't of had it any other way. 

After putting the ring on we kissed and hugged and I may or may not have cried a little ... happy tears of course! Then, we decided we should probably get on the road to Idaho. The rest of the weekend was filled with family - meeting his parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins. It was intense. But, I love them and they are all so great. 

Sunday night we headed back to Utah because he had a flight home Monday morning. Monday we were both DREADING saying good-bye. We got him to the airport and I headed into work. Well, not 2 minutes after I get to work, I get a text from Brad:

"Hey ... I missed my flight. I was supposed to leave at 11:00, not 1:00."

D'oh!

So, I headed BACK to the airport to pick up Brad who had a flight for the following morning. It was hilarious and in all honesty, we were both grateful to have an extra night together. I took him into work and introduced him to everyone and then finished out my day. That night we got take out and rented a movie and just spent time as a family. It was a perfect night and I cherished it for a long time after he left. 

Tuesday morning unfortunately ... he really did leave. Lots of tears (on my end) were shed. I hate saying bye to him. It's probably on my list of 'top 5 hated things in life'. Really. 

So, he was gone. And I don't think either of us had any idea how hard the next 5 months would be as he was 5300 miles away.