I'M ENGAGED!

May 20, 2011 Dylan proposed to me at the Las Vegas temple!! I can't believe it! Definitely the biggest surprise and shock of my life.

Just 6 weeks earlier we broke up and it was devastating for the both of us. We didn't talk or communicate the whole time so you can imagine my surprise when I saw him standing there at the temple with beautiful flowers in hand with a ring! I was in complete shock! I didn't even know what to say or do. I don't even know if I was breathing the whole time. But it was perfect. I can't really remember what all he said but he wrote it down for me thankfully.

Here is the story from my perspective....Friday afternoon I got a call from my dad asking if I could go to the temple that afternoon to do some baptisms to help out a family in the ward, and I of course said yes I could go. So when I got home from school I was getting ready to leave and kept asking my mom, 'why do they need me if there's a family doing them?' I kind of knew something was going on, but never in my wildest dreams did I think Dylan would be there. So my mom just tried to brush it off and say she didn't know any details and she just told me to put on a cute outfit! (haha umm...I woke up at 6am that morning, was in the lab all day in my scrubs practicing trach care, foley insertions, and central line dressing changes, and didn't even think about fixing my makeup since I was going to do baptisms so....yeah. Had I known what was going to happen I would have looked a lot cuter then I did!) My mom, dad and me get in the car and start driving up to the temple and I was studying in the backseat so I was in my own little world. So we pull into the parking lot and right when we are getting out of the car my dad says under his breath, 'well, this should be interesting'. I remember thinking why would this be interesting? It's just baptisms...

We are walking up to the door and then my dad said he wanted to show us something in front of the temple so we walk around and I'm just looking around and out of the corner of my eye I could see my mom keep looking at me and finally my parents stop walking and I look forward and there was Dylan standing there in his suit with flowers. I turned to my parents and mumbled something (I have no idea what) and started to tear up a bit and immediately my hands and knees starting shaking. We both started walking towards each other and he gave me a kiss and a hug and walked me over to where he was standing. This is where I think I might have stopped breathing cause everything after this point is a little fuzzy to me. I don't think there's a word to describe how I was feeling at that point. It was just perfect. He talked for a minute or two and then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and I said YES!!

So a big question in my mind was...what the heck did he say to my parents for this to happen?? Well, turns out Thursday night he was trying to get a hold of my dad as he was driving down to Vegas from Provo and in order for me to not be around when he was trying to call my dad, he had our friend Jake call and talk to me so I would be occupied. He got a hold of my dad and asked if they could grab lunch the next day. My mom and dad went to lunch and Dylan just was very sincere and just told them everything that had happened and that he wanted to marry me. Now, my family has always loved Dylan but didn't love the back and forth, on and off relationship that we've had so it was hard for everyone when we broke up just cause they all liked him. But whatever he said to my parents worked!

I can't even explain how I feel right now. This was such a surprise and I've never been this happy. This is just the best feeling ever!! He has been my best friend for years now and I can't imagine marrying anyone else. It took him a little longer to get to this point but it was all worth it. I don't think I would change anything about our relationship roller coaster cause it's just what needed to happen in order for us to get to this point. It's all happening so fast but it's just so much fun! My family has been so amazing and supportive and I just feel so grateful for all the love that people are showing us. I'm marrying into such a wonderful family and I can't wait to be a Patterson!

We have pictures of when he was proposing and some other fun ones I'll have to post soon. I'm just still trying to catch my breath and not fail out of nursing school. Of course this would happen during the hardest semester of nursing school and at the busiest time...3 weeks before finals but I love it! It just makes it that more exciting. And I'm so glad it's a short engagement! I have 3 weeks off the end of June and won't really have any long breaks till the end of the year so everything is working out perfectly!!

I'm so in love with Dylan and I just can't believe that I'm the lucky girl that gets to be with him forever! I can't wait to marry him!