Our Colors

For those of you who are wondering, here are our wedding colors:

Cream


Light Lavender

Blush

Raspberry

Plum

Midnight Blue

An Example

Here's a link to a wedding that used the same color palette we like. It's only missing the navy:

http://behindtheewrapper.blogspot.com/2012/11/peach-and-plum-wedding-inspiration.html

The Proposal

As a precursor to our engagement story, I had told Ben that he probably shouldn't propose until February.

We had just got back to Ben's after a rockin' party for my friend Shellie around 11 pm. Ben asked if I'd like to accompany him on an evening walk. Mind you, this is not an uncommon thing we like to do together. Before I opened his door to walk inside, I asked if he'd like to go at that moment, he replied, "no, how about in an hour." Inside we went. A little guitar playing, jellybean munching, and a few giggles later Ben stood up and led us out his back door to the canyon area.

Obviously he was taking us on a walk to stargaze. Why else would we go out in the freezing cold up a hill towards the mountain, right? He kept checking his phone as if he were searching for something, so I asked him if he was downloading the official stargazing app. He replied that he had the one Google made and we left it at that. Next thing I know, we're walking back towards his house and into some thicket of trees that keeps trying to take the hood off my head.

And then poof, he vanished into thin air. Seconds pass, and then brilliant light surrounds us! Yowza, was that setting something to behold. It reminded me of Temple Square at Christmas time, but so, SO much better. We danced. He knelt. Maybe we smooched...and happiness forever ensued. He proposed just after midnight on February 1st.

Walking back into the house, I thought to myself how lucky Ben was to have the Google stargazing app, and how lucky I was to have Ben.

Moments after it all went down.

In "the spot" the next day

The ring.

From the side.

The Happy Couple.

The Journey

After the football game, Britney and I talked for a while about our upcoming plans. I mentioned I was going to Nevada for Thanksgiving. Imagine my surprise when she asked if I could give her a ride to Carson City so her family could pick her up and take her the rest of the way home. I did my best to keep my cool as I calmly replied "I could probably do that". The next few days were filled with dinners and walks and getting to know each other. Our eight-hour drive to Nevada was really fun and went by too quickly. We parted ways for a few days but got together again for the drive back to Utah and haven't been apart since.

Our relationship progressed quickly. So much so that it didn't seem too unusual for Britney to ask me to come home with her for Christmas--two weeks after our first date.

Christmas break in Sutter Creek was awesome. The Shiflet family was very warm and welcoming. On our one-month anniversary, we took a trip into San Francisco and stopped by the Oakland temple to see the grounds and Christmas lights.

Nobody is quite sure how it came up, but the idea of getting married emerged somehow. Even though it was just an exploratory discussion, I couldn't help but feel that I had found the girl I was going to spend the rest of forever with.

I won't get into too much detail about the following few weeks, and I'll let Britney describe the proposal, but I did want to share a message that my 92-year old Grandma left for me that perfectly describes how I feel about Britney:

I couldn't have said it better myself.

It begins...

It was a rainy autumn morning on November 16. Just another busy Saturday as usual; but never too busy to answer the call of tithing settlement. Off I went in my olive brimmed hat, but never could I have anticipated what lay ahead. I walked into the church building, and saw a strapping young lad, but turned my head, not wanting to gawk to awfully. "You must be Britney Shiflet", he said in a friendly manner. Startled, I said, "yes, I am, are you in our ward?" Silly me. Another foot in the mouth later and I was beginning the most wonderful conversation with the handsome fellow I couldn't take my eyes off. Moments later my name was called and off I went, ending the most pleasant convo that kicked off the start of something, well, just fine and dandy you could say. :)

Sunday, we saw each other again at munch and mingle, and I stared again (at this point it is becoming a problem) telling my friend Brook to look at the guy standing across the room. Arms folded - looking dapper as ever. After sitting at the same table and exchanging a few words, we met again at ward prayer and it was there he finally asked for my email address to get recommendations for a job opening at his place of work. Alas, the love begins!

Emailing back and forth that week lead to one thing, me getting more and more intrigued by this mystery fellow. Finally, the tantalizing ended on Thursday when I went for the gold and asked him to go on a walk. We ended up rain checking it for another night.

Then came the Turkey Bowl, the long awaited game that I figured I could show off my tackling skills, but then in walks Mr. Wonderful and any smack talk I had stored up went out the door. I sort of just watched him. After the game, we spoke a bit and I realized that I really, REALLY liked this guy. Didn't I papa Shif? ;)

We matched! We're both wearing blue.