On Engagements

I did love Matthew quite a bit before we were engaged. And the act of proposing and accepting, in and of itself, is no remarkable physical action. But since I've said 'yes' and have worn this ring, everything feels different. I feel more attached to Matt, not like in an obsessive way at all, but in a we're linked together by the official intent to marry sort of way. I can only imagine what sort of sealing feeling there is to being married. I had to take the ring off today to do a lot of really gross dishes at work and I instantly felt weird. My hand felt odd and I kept rubbing my ring finger where I should feel (even if dissipated by sensory adaptation) that little circlet of gold. It's only been on for 3 days. Pathetic. :p

He's hiking mountains in New Mexico and I wont be able to talk to him for at least 10 days. I'll certainly get a lot of reading and wedding planning done, though.

Engaged!

Last night, July 26th Matthew asked me to marry him.

He is leaving for Philmont for 2 weeks and I wont be able to talk to him or see him, or even text him the entire time. He kept telling me he wanted to have one more real date before he left. Yesterday was the day he planned. He kept every detail of the date secret, he likes to do that, but it started to rain and he had to say, if it rains my plans will be ruined. Without further clues I guessed that we were going to go on the lake in paddle boats and have a picnic. He was really disappointed that I guessed it (with frustrating accuracy he says), and he seemed a bit put off. We went to the lake anyway but after waiting a very long time dealing with Alpine Rentals we discovered that the paddle boats were all broken! Someone had some in and trashed them. Poor Matt! All his plans gone awry! 

We sat by the lake and had our picnic anyway. We talked about how lovely the overcast sky was and how it would be nice to live near a body of water. We threw bread to/at the ducks. I told him that I was really sorry that I had ruined his plans by guessing them. He said, "You didn't guess all my plans." I asked him what other plans he had and everything went still and he said, "Lana, will you marry me?" Without even responding, I took the ring from his hand and sobbed on his neck. I managed to choke out 'yes' but mostly I was crying.

 

This ring is perfect. It's rose gold with wheat scrolling on the sides and it's from Provo from around 1900. The diamond is the diamond that Matt's dad used to propose to Matt's mom. It's an antique, it's an heirloom, it fits perfectly, and I love it.

I feel just awful though because earlier that day I had a 'serious' talk with Matt about not taking positive steps forward toward getting engaged. I think I would have made him feel bad if he hadn't had all this in cache. I feel so badly about it now. He loves it because he thinks it's funny, and because it proves that he's sneaky and that I really can't guess all his plans.

I'm in love. It's super weird being engaged. I've wanted this for a long time, but it's very strange being there suddenly. I know we'll be wonderful together. The date is December 21. We'll have a reception in Redding, and a reception in Flower Mound. 

Mt Timpanogos

Saturday morning at 5.30a Matt, our boss' son Jackson, and I climbed a mountain. 12000 ft of mountain. The first half hour was in the dark, and then the sun slowly peaked over the horizon.

Jackson and I in the lovely flowers. Unfortunately for Matt and Jackson, I had to stop every few minutes. It was a really arduous hike. It was so beautiful, but the air was so thin, and I guess I was too weak.

We passed tons of water falls. I appreciated the glacial runoff because my fingers were swollen the entire hike from the thin air and high elevation and it felt really good to stick my fingers in the icy (literally there were ice chunks) water.

The whole mountain was in bloom. The air was so fragrant. There were red, yellow, blue, pink and white flowers EVERYWHERE! I saw tons of wild roses and could smell chamomile.

Boys, standing on an ice flow in Emerald Lake.

We saw herds of mountain goats scrambling over the hardscrabble ground. Jackson found some mountain goat wool. It is surprisingly soft. Almost as soft as cat hair.

As hard going as it was, there's no denying how lovely the whole place was.

Resting our feet and refueling our bodies at Emerald Lake.

.

Baby Mountain Goat. :)

View from The Saddle.

The Summit. Striking resemblance to Mount Doom.

I look happy, but I felt like dying. Matt literally had to push me up the mountain several times. This was taken just after we climbed up a steep snowy rocky "path" to The Saddle.

Emerald Lake and the Glacier from the Summit. You can't see the glacier very well because it's further to my right. Instead of climbing back down the summit, we slid down the glacier on our butts to the lake. It was fast and rocky and painful on our hands, but very fun. I love hiking.

We were still relatively happy at this point. It was the three hour descent that put everyone in a horrible mood. I got sunburned, Jackson fell asleep on the trail, and Matt slipped and nearly fell twice in 3 minutes. Our knees felt like they were going to blow and I had to go to the bathroom so badly I thought I would mess my trousers. Luckily that did NOT happen. When we finally got down we were exhausted. It was a 9.5 hour hike. I had a really hard time walking the rest of the day, and on Sunday I woke up feeling sick and I was SO sunburned on my neck and shoulders. Luckily it was never too hot, just a lot of direct sun.

The Priesthood

Gotta love them Priesthood boys. I do. But it seems highly unfair that they should control the thermostat of church. That's my one beef with the whole thing. Because no matter how cozy you boys are in your full suits, when it is 97 degrees outside, it should NOT be 55 degrees inside the church building! Summer is the worst in church because it is too cold. I'm dreading tomorrow. I may wear a coat (A WINTER COAT) to church in THE END OF JULY because last week I had goosebumps and was shivering the entire three hours. Other than that though, I love having the Priesthood in my life. What a blessing to be a member of the church.

I did go running. I ran 6.32 miles. After mile 5 I got a second wind and couldn't seem to stop. I didn't stop until a slow song came on my iPod. Then I came home and it took nearly all my strength to not crash down the stairs. My knee is killing me, but I ran 6.32 miles. And I had made some homemade minestrone and bread this morning which served as a wonderful post-run meal.

I should go running. Right now. I should run at least 5.5 if not 6 - 7 miles today. But I can't seem to get myself to leave my house...

Paul McCartney

 

Yesterday at work someone casually mentioned that Paul McCartney was in Utah and was going to do a show. This was the first I had heard of it and, naturally, I freaked out. I instantly got online and searched for tickets. After two unsuccessful securing of tickets (people told me they were mine and then called back to say they weren't) I got some. I had to drive an hour to West Valley to get them and they were $75. But they were also $85 seats.

Matt, me and 25,000 other lucky persons were tightly packed into the Rio Tinto Stadium barely able to contain our excitement.

 

And there he was. Barely 300 yards from us, Sir Paul McCartney. My heart about stopped. I LOVE Paul McCartney. He's absolutely my favorite Beatle. Plus, I grew up hearing his songs from my brother's late father. Being there was amazing, and I'm sure if Darrell were alive he would have been indescribably jealous.

 

Paul was so great with the audience. He read some of the signs and laughed about them. He read one aloud that said, "Welcome to Utah Paul. Marry us!" He responded, "What? All of you?"

 

He told us that the greatest compliment he ever received as a musician was from Jimi Hendrix when he was doing a show and chose to play The Long and Winding Road. He told us that Hendrix used a lot of slides and back in those days that it would mess up the tuning really badly. During the middle of the show the guitar was way off and Hendrix turned to the audience and asked if Eric Clapton was there and if he would tune the guitar. Clapton was there, and he did tune the guitar for Hendrix. 

:) 

He also dedicated a song to John and everything left unsaid, and a song to Linda for all the lovers in the audience.

 

About halfway through, Paul picked up a ukulele and sang Something as a tribute to George Harrison. Apparently George was a fantastic ukulele player.

 

He commented on the span of generations in the audience (there were certainly a lot of blue hairs) and said to a little girl on her father's shoulders, "Welcome to our grownup concert." But he said it in this silly stuffy Britishy way and it was adorable!

 

You can't tell from this photo, and I couldn't get a better one, but during this song (can't remember which) Obama's face kept appearing in the background of the stage. I thought it was so funny. Not subtle at all :)

 

As you can see I'm in love with Paul. I documented the entire show and reveled in his silly dancing between songs and bouncing while playing. 

During Live and Let Die these spectacular fireworks and flames shot out of the stage. It was awesome. Before he left he ran around the stage with the British and Utah Flags. He did three encores. On the last he said, "I get the feeling that you want to keep on Rocking!" which was met with uproarious assent. Before the last song, (Sgt Peppers) he said "There comes a time when we all have to go home." Met with booing. "And the time when you go home correlates to the time when we go home. You've been great. This is the last song."

It was awesome. I loved every minute of the 3 hours with Paul. What an amazing concert and awesome opportunity. To think, I woke up yesterday with no idea that I would, in several short hours, see my favorite musician live.

I hate being tickled

 

Recently (yesterday) I was tickled. The perpetrator, who will not be named, was relentless. As a consequence my favorite glass that I've had for 3 years was knocked off the coffee table and smashed to the floor. I am not amused.

I Love Summer Saturdays

I especially love them when I don't have to be at work all day and I can go to the Farmer's Market with a dear old friend and buy produce.

Yummy Lunch here I come. Plus a little homemade cherry pie for dessert? Yes.

Utilities

I am NOT OK with how much utilities cost me this month for many reasons.

1. They did not cost this much during the winter when the heat was on.
2. I'm NEVER EVEN HOME!
3. There are only 4 of us in this house. Why is the electricity bill so high? WHY?!

4th of July (or Banana Bread French Toast with Pure Kenyan Sugar)

 Here in Provo Independence Day seemed to last the entire weekend because the 4th was on a Sunday. Saturday Matt and I went up to Squaw Peak to watch the fireworks. Luckily we got there several hours early, or we would never have been able to get a spot.

 

While we were up there, I kept hearing someone speak in a British accent. Finally, I mustered up the courage to ask him which part of England he's from. He said, "Reading." I asked if he knew the Perry's then. Looking stunned he said, "I am a Perry." I was so excited. I told him how I knew his little brother David Perry, and his wife said, "Oh you're Lana. Yeah, I remember hearing about you." I was so excited. It's amazing to meet someone half way across the world on top of a mountain who knows someone (let alone is related to someone) I knew well in London!

  Sunday, which was the 4th was fairly uneventful. We all went to church and before we watched our Sunday Documentary, I got to visit with Becky, and then Matt blew up some fireworks. We put bottle rockets down the tube of a broom, and placing the bristles on our shoulders like guns, shot them into the sky. Then we blew up a disgusting tissue box holder sent from Korea. Sorry Sophie, Lauren made me do it. (Though I honestly didn't protest.)

 

Monday was a long day. The parade was going on in the morning. We didn't go see it. But Matt and I tried to navigate threw it to get to a bakery that ended up being closed. So I made Banana Bread French Toast with Pure Kenyan Sugar. It was delicious. It was especially delicious because I didn't have milk, so I had to water down sweetened condensed milk into which I whisked the eggs. 

After Breakfast, we all (which always means Me, Matt, and Lauren) worked on my garden. It now looks beautiful! And then headed to Lauren's grandparents house for a barbecue (which we learned is not actually spelled with a "qu", who knew?). We had hoards of children attacking us. And it was wonderful.

After the Barbecue, we all met up with some other friends to float down the Provo River. I was advised strongly to not take my camera on the river, though, having completed it unscathed, I wish I had.

 

The river was SO COLD! We had a really hard time getting used to it. We had a really great time all in all, even though Lauren claims she hated it. We know we had fun. All of us had fun, except one. She was hurt pretty badly. I felt really awful for her. But she's alright now. 

  

After the river, Matt was craving bucketed chicken. So we had to go to KFC. I can't remember the last time I actually ate there. At the time it tasted really good, but I'm kind of regretting it now. I picked some green beans from my garden, and we made some fries and had a picnic in my living room and watched The Edge.

It was a really good weekend.