Flashback Friday- Our engagment

I have totally forgotten about flashback friday for the last couple of weeks.  But today I remembered it's Friday!  :)  So, here's the story of our engagement... you got the scoop a few weeks ago about how we met, so this the rest of the story.  In may of 2002, after dating for a couple of years (with one small break because Jason didn't know what he was doing... ha!), Jason invited me on a trip to Washington (like the state... not the city).  We had a wonderful trip, drinking coffee, riding ferries, seeing flowers and such.  We took a day trip to Oregon where we went hiking.  I had wondered throughout the trip if this was going to be when he proposed.  We had, like any other serious couple, talked about marriage and I knew that was coming, so I kept thinking this was it!!  On our hike, we saw a boat-load of waterfalls.  They were just lined right up one after another in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was beautiful, but  I wasn't really enjoying it, because I was trying to make everything perfect in my head for the big moment.
Well, we got to a waterfall called "Bridal Veils."  This is it!!!  I just knew it!  I straightened out my hair... I sucked in my tummy and pushed my shoulders back.  Surely there was a camera or something somewhere, right??  We stood there for a few minutes, admiring God's handiwork (Jason, not me, I was reading my left hand to be weighed down by a new rock).  And then Jason said, "alright, you ready to go?"  I was SO mad.  I mean, really?  It's not going to happen.  He's not proposing on this trip... this would have been the place.  I'm done.

So, if you know me at all, once I'm mad it's all over.  There's not much reasoning with me... I'm totally irrational.  And this is exactly what I was feeling then.  We came to the next waterfall.  It was called  

Multnomah Falls and it's the tallest waterfall in the United States.  Well, Jason decided we were hiking to the top.  Can I just mention it was cold and rainy and I was ill as a hornet because I hadn't gotten my way?  I didn't want to climb with my arthritic self to the top of this mountain.  At all.  Well, he insisted. I acted like a complete brat all the way up.  I didn't want to go and you can't make me enjoy it.  Well, after what seemed like 124 miles of hiking and a lot of twists and turns where some fellow hikers said they gave up and started back down, we finally arrived at the top.  I was still fuming.  And tired.  And my joints ached.  And I was still not engaged.... which was the worst part.  I stood there, looking at the view that I couldn't even admit was the most gorgeous view I had ever seen.... because I was still being a brat.  And Jason, standing behind me, says, "This is the farthest we've ever been together."  I, angrily say, "uh huh."  Jason, ever the patient one, said, "You know what I want to know now?"  Me, still bratty, "How the heck we're going to get down from here!?"  I turn around, just about ready to slug him... and he's holding a tiny box with a beautiful ring in it.  "How far will you go with me now?"  

I was in a puddle.  Put that ring on my finger before you drop it through the slats in a rickety deck on the tallest waterfall in the country!  We hugged and a couple, Jason, do you remember their names?  I know her name was Susie and I want to say his was Bob, came on the scene and took pictures of us.  They also annoyingly followed us around the rest of the day.... but that's another story.  It's funny, the hike down the waterfall didn't seem nearly as bad as the hike up.  So, that was May 6, 2002 and it was truly beautiful!  I hope one day we can take our children there and stand on the little deck and talk about how far we've gone as a couple... he's my favorite person in the whole world, and I have no doubt that God hand picked him for me.  I'm glad I said yes!!!!!

Our 10th anniversary will be in January and I asked Jason if we could make the trip back to Washington, so we may be standing at the very top of this beauty in several months.  Brrr....