I get to marry my best friend!

As of Tuesday, I am officially engaged to the most amazing Joel Marshall.  I love him so much and I can't wait to marry him in August!

We both live in Stadium Terrace (an apartment complex) and we're in the same ward (church congregation).  We met in the end of August/beginning of September at the end of the first FHE activity in our ward.  I thought he was nice and thought, "Oh! He's a mechanical engineer like my brother-in-law" and that was about it.  It was not love at first, or second, or third, or fourth, or even fifth sight.  It just gradually developed from there.

Over the next 2 months, we gradually became better acquaintances (for example, I eventually remembered his name!).  My roommate's boyfriend invited him over to a game night at our apartment, I saw him at more ward activities, and other stuff like that.

At the end of October, our ward had a Halloween activity.  At the end of this activity, there was a dance.       My roommates and I were dancing and I noticed Joel and his roommates were just standing at the side.  I didn't think too much of it, I definitely have been there.  But then, it was just Joel by himself at the side of the room.  I've also been there, and it is no fun.  So, I went over and invited him to come and join me and my roommates.  He was super uncomfortable and told me he really did not like dancing and that he and his roommates were about to leave (which they were).  Partway through this conversation, his roommates came over and also started pressuring him to join me and my roommates.  I could tell he was getting more and more uncomfortable, so I just dropped it, said don't worry about it, and wished him a good night.  I honestly would have forgotten about it--it wasn't a big deal to me.  But, what made so memorable was what happened the next day.

The next day, I got a facebook message from Joel, apologizing and saying he had felt terrible ever since. I was taken aback and super impressed.  I really hadn't been offended in any way.  I've been in similar situations before and no one's ever done anything like that afterwards.  It was very kind and considerate of him and it made my entire day.

Well, after that, things started building more quickly.  We went on two dates that semester (Although, I felt awful because I had to say no the first time he asked me.  I already had plans that night-I wasn't trying to avoid him.  Luckily, he asked again).  Between that, more dates, adventures with baking, accordions, donating hair, Tangled with hot chocolate, flute recitals, Smores granola bars, Chinese acrobats, ice cream, schoolwork, Star Wars parties, facebook messages, the Amazing Race, board games (especially Chess, Boggle, and Ticket to Ride), geology, dinosaurs, engineering buildings, photography, malfunctioning vacuums,  devotionals, a snowman named Sasha, lots of puns, YouTube videos, church activities, and other such stuff, we grew to be best friends, start officially dating somewhere in around the beginning of February, and fell in love with each other.

Last Tuesday night, we went on a date and I figured he'd probably propose that night (we'd been talking and planning for quite a while now).  We had dinner, then went to a band concert, and then we took a walk.  But, everything was pretty normal, so I figured he would just propose a different day.  We came back to my apartment, even visited my brother for a little while, and were just talking.  By this point, I wasn't expecting anything.  Then, he said, "Hey, Emily I have something for you."  Out of one pocket, he pulled out a Smores granola bar (a running joke between the two of us; you see, I happen to really dislike them when the rest of the world loves them).  So, I started laughing because I thought he was just teasing me.  Then, he said, "Oh wait, wrong pocket" and pulled the ring box out of his other pocket and proposed.  By this point I was super surprised and I very happily said yes!

So, I cannot wait to marry my best friend on August 16th in the Oakland temple.  Together, I know we'll have hard times, great times, and everything in between.  I know that marriage is a lot of work and so is raising a family.  But, I know that as we work together and through faith and trust in God, it will be the most important and worthwhile part of our lives.