I know that she loves the outdoors and she also likes to read, but I wasn't exactly sure how to combine those in a natural way. I decided to make her a book with a cute, short, little story. So, using my love of art, an old book and a few other crafty ideas that I found online (I'm not going to admit where I found them)
I made a six page "pull down" book about a tree. The story told of how the tree was sad and cold during the winter but loved the spring and summer as many people and animals came to enjoy it's branches and shade! However, there was one day that stood out above the rest! ... I'll talk about more later on. Now it was finally time for the big day and I was excited! I picked her up for dinner and we went to a fine establishment in North Minneapolis, called Victory 44 (if you haven't been there, you should go asap!). The wait was a little longer than the hostess had told us it would be but it was ok because we got to spend the time together, talking and laughing. (although I secretly just wanted dinner to get over with so I could ask her to marry me and not have to worry about the ring in my pocket.) We had a wonderful dinner and started our drive home to the southern suburbs. As we were driving down Hiawatha Ave I brought up a conversation we had had the night before about Minnehaha Falls and whether or not there would be much ice, water, or anything for that matter, flowing over them. (I had wanted to tie the Falls into this whole thing somehow since we both love Minneapolis, the outdoors, the parks, and also visited a few times over the past months and I also thought it would be memorable because she also attended Minnehaha Academy, so having Minnehaha Falls tied to us forever seemed nice!)
Anyways... We decided to go to the Falls and see for ourselves, ya know, since we just happened to be nearby. I told her how I only wished that the park's path lights would be on since it was getting close to 10:00 when the park closes, but as we got there, we saw the lights were on and we both excited to see the Falls, flowing or not, surrounded by the dusting of snow we'd had the day before. We parked the car and I just had to grab something out of my trunk and tried to be all sneaky as I shoved a wrapped package under my jacket and tried to hold onto it with my left hand as we walked hand in hand through the park towards the Falls. We got to the top of the Falls and the flood lights were shining bright over the area where water should have been pouring down, but instead we just saw the rocks beneath and heard a slight drip, drip, drip. (wa, waaaa)
As we stood there in the cold, December night I told her that I had something for her. I handed her the package and she started to open it, not really knowing what it was. (She told me afterwards that she thought it might have been a ring, but then it was too heavy and she had no idea.) She finished opening it and I told her how I'd made it for her and proceeded to read it together. Now, you already know what was on the last page, but then she pulled down the "broken branches" and the story tells how the girl then made a young man's dreams come true!
She then started shaking,she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or if the idea of my proposing had hit her. As she finished the story, I closed the book, set it aside and got down on my knee and asked the question I'd been waiting to ask her since the very first time I met her (honestly! When I got home from our first date, I wrote on my calendar, "I'd say that tonight just could have been my last first date."). Through blurry eyes, I finally got the words, "Katie, will you marry me?" to come shaking off of my lips as I found the proper finger to slide the ring onto. She said, "YES!"
She just kind of screamed, giggled, and jumped up and down for a while, and although I wanted her to stop screaming, ya know, since we were in a fairly dark park after 10:00, I just stood there laughing and giggling along with her! It was everything I could have imagined, and more! I CAN'T WAIT to spend the rest of my life with the girl who is truly the "Girl of My Dreams!" and I thank God every day that he brought her into my life!
