So the story goes like this:
Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy dates girl, breaks up then goes on a mission. 2 years later he comes home and starts hanging out with this girl again.
I saw Bronson pretty much every day I was home for Brads wedding events. We would talk and hang out and just enjoy each other’s company. There was one night that he stayed over at my house till 4 in the morning and we just talked about nothing and everything and it was then that I knew I was hooked. Hooked on this handsome boy that I wanted nothing more than to see how things could go between us. We would text almost every day when I was back in Flagstaff and would hang out and talk on the weekends when I came home. At first, the reasons for my coming home so often was purely because of Brad’s pending nuptials to Whitney but then the visits started becoming more directed to seeing this boy I was so enraptured with.
It was the Friday of Spring Break when Bronson asked me to join him in indulging in his finer cooking and I couldn’t refuse! What girl doesn’t want to have a guy cook for her right?? So when he picked me up we started to drive towards Riverview Park and I asked where we were going. He told me we were going on a picnic and I got really excited to see what he came up with! We got to the park and he pulled out…drum roll please…peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and milk :D It was the cutest thing ever! We sat and enjoyed these fine delicacies and just talked. Talked about school, about life, about our interests, just trying to get to know one another better. We went to the duck pond and fed the ducks all the while taking in the views of the people around us.
After that, things progressed nicely as the week commenced. On Sunday, he put his arms around me and held my hand after playing games at a friend’s house; Monday, he asked permission to kiss me and it was all uphill from there :D
My happiest day was the day that he asked me to be his girl. It was April 26th 2011 and we were sitting on my couch. He told me that he had something he wished to talk to me about and so I sat and listened as he told me that he wanted to be official with me and to see how things could progress further between us. I whole heartedly agreed! How could I refuse the boy that I had started to fall for months before even though I knew he didn’t feel quite as strongly as I did.
Now…fast forward to the moment you all have been waiting for!! The proposal :D
It was the morning of Saturday June 11th, 2011. For the past few weeks, Bronson and I have been talking about getting married and looking forward to spending a lifetime together because we had both received our answers knowing it was what we were supposed to do. These answers came the weekend he came up to Flagstaff and spent the entire time with me just hanging out and seeing what life was like for me in Flag. Since then we’ve been outlining things but not making any solid plans because I was waiting for the actual day to come that he would make it official and put a ring on my finger. Bronson told me that the next Tuesday was going to be the day that we celebrated my moving home to do my internship with the ASU wrestling team. He hinted that I needed to look nice and every time he talked about it he couldn’t stop grinning so I knew something was up! But little did I know the proposal would happen earlier than Tuesday! He had asked me if I wanted to go on the hike that we had gone on when he got home to explore a cave we found and I consented. I was interested to see where the cave led and it gave me a reason to hang out with my amazing boyfriend for an entire morning! I couldn’t refuse.
So he picked me up at 6AM to go on our little adventure. The hike up was beautiful! It was quiet and peaceful, there was a slight breeze that helped to wake us up and stimulated the senses and we quietly enjoyed each other’s company. It was funny because I had made a comment pointing out the fact that the last time we had been there we were just friends, nothing more, and then look where we were now! Bronson giggled to himself because little did I know, in less than an hour, we would become more than just dating but engaged to be married!! When we got to the saddle of Peralta trail, we set up another picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and just sat and talked. Nothing seemed out of the usual, Bronson was cool and collected (or so I thought :P ) and we were enjoying the beautiful weather there at the top of the canyon in sight of Weaver’s Needle. We giggled at some ladies at their random conversations and their dog’s water bottle and once they left, Bronson wrapped his arms around me and kissed me…until some gentlemen walked up and interfered with the moment. So while they were there, we sat and talked about PDA and our views on it but once they left, he kissed me again a little longer this time. While we were in the moment, I noticed him fidgeting with his backpack with his left hand and I giggled to myself because I was getting suspicious of what he was doing!! He asked me why I was smiling and I just said nothing, not wanting him to think I had caught on to what was going on. When he finally got the ring in hand, he told me, “So, I haven’t been completely honest with you.” To which I responded, “oh really?? And how is that?!” He told me that he had actually talked to my father on Tuesday to ask his permission while I was at a mother-daughter night with his mother (which was a distraction to get me out of the house! Although I thoroughly enjoyed my time with his sisters). He then said, “Now I have a question for you.” And he stood up, got on one knee in front of me, brought out the ring and said, “Will you do me the honor and privilege of being my eternal companion?” to which I immediately said “OF COURSE!!!” and grabbed his face to kiss him. He said that I hadn’t given him an answer and I told him that I had said yes of course to his request! We tried to put the ring on but sadly it was 1 ½ sizes too small and wouldn’t go comfortably over my knuckle :P haha (that’s what I get for not going shopping with him huh? Haha I wanted to be surprised!!) We then talked about his conversation with my father and how everything had gone down in the events leading up to today. We walked back to our car and on the way I asked if he still wanted to check out the cave and he said nope! It was just a ruse to get you out here :P hahaha I love this man! We got the ring resized that day and I went to go see Bronson at work that night because all of the waiters there knew that he was going to propose and knew our story, they just hadn’t met the lucky girl that was a part of it.
I am so looking forward to the rest of eternity with this man! He makes me happy and makes me feel beautiful every day. I look down at this beautiful ring on my finger and think, what did I do to deserve such a great guy?? He’s a hard worker who will always take care of me and do whatever possible to make me happy and to make sure that our relationship lasts for an eternity, not just the here and now.
This is the beginning of my handsome new adventure :D I love you Bronson Allen Shipp!! My fiancé!!!
