Our Engagement

Our Engagement - Story as told by Jeremy

I got the girl, I got the ring, I got permission, only one thing left to do. I wanted to do something special of course, like every guy does, so I figured I would treat Katie to a weekend in Sun Valley, staying in the Sun Valley Inn the day after her birthday, yes, it was Saturday, July 28, 2007, Katie had just turned 26.

I picked Sun Valley because I wanted to purpose some place that had special meaning to both of us, and Katie said that she loved me for the first time when we were up in Sun Valley when we met there for a weekend while Katie was doing an internship in Hamilton, MT.

So we packed up our bikes and luggage and drove the 2.5 hours on Saturday. So my initial plan was to take the lift to the top of Baldy Mountain, go for a little hike, and propose to her at the top while overlooking the city. However, as we were driving up, the rain clouds rolled in, and I knew I had to be prepared for changing my plan. We went to the lodge and found that the lift had been shut down because of lightning. So I had to scramble. This was my day to propose, I would let nothing get in my way.

I thought about instead taking our bikes on a ride out north of town, then finding a nice place to stop, and do it there, but I didn't really feel like getting all muddy from a bike ride in the rain would be a Katie's idea of a good time. So instead, I decided to stall, and hopefully wait for the ground to dry out, and maybe the lifts would open up again. But that took us toward the end of the day, and they never were able to open the lifts back up. So I made an executive decision that we were going to go hiking on the lower part of Baldy. Katie couldn't understand why I was being so stubborn and we couldn't just go on a bike ride with the new bike I had just given her for her birthday the day before. But oh well, we started hiking, and really didn't even know where we were going, because we couldn't exactly find the Ketchum Lookout spot I had seen on the map. Eventually we found it, I waited for the other people around the lookout to leave, then I did one of these, "Hey, look over there, something really cool is over there, wow, those are snow makers up on the hill", as I pulled the ring in box out of my pocket, the place it had been all day since leaving Boise. Yeah, I was nervous, I didn't even know what to say, but I was ready. Katie was shaking like a puppy dog left out in the rain, and once she got calmed down, she was able to put the ring on.

We stayed at the lookout for a while, then made our way back down and started to call people. I think the day ended up going good, even though it wasn't EXACTLY as I had planned.

Our Engagement - Story as told by Katie

The weekend of my birthday was full of surprises. Jeremy had created a scavenger hunt for me to go find my birthday gifts...at midnight. The first gift was a head lamp, which proved to be very handy for the rest of the search. He then sent me to find a set of keys that would unlock the bike lock to the new bike that was waiting in the park in his neighborhood. And then it was back home where he had a book for me. The scavenger hunt was a lot of fun, and I figured that was all Jeremy had up his sleeve for the weekend. He had me fooled.

Jeremy had also planned a weekend trip for us to Sun Valley for my birthday. I was excited to have the chance to ride around the Sun Valley area on my new bike. Jeremy had other plans. As we got into town, the weather proved to be the greatest challenge to Jeremy's plans. It was raining off and on and there were a few nasty looking clouds in the area. He asked if we should keep driving and head to Stanley, but I was ready to get out of the truck...and I just wanted to ride my new bike. I didn't want to keep driving if it was going to be raining there, too. We drove to the base of Bald Mountain to see if we could take the lifts up to the top, but they had been closed due to the weather. I figured we should just ride our bikes around and enjoy the scenery.

The weather had started to clear up and Jeremy was insistent that we go for a hike, so after confirming the lifts were really closed, we hiked a trail to Ketchum Lookout. We missed the original turn that would lead us to the lookout point, but saw it from another trail. Jeremy was determined to get over to the lookout, but I was a bit tired of hiking and ready to ride my bike. I was also concerned that he wanted to do so much hiking since he was only a week out from his knee surgery. But he convinced me to keep hiking, so I followed along. I had no clue he was planning to propose, but was slightly suspicious of his pocket. It was sticking out more than it usually does, but I figured it was just the way his phone and cards were sitting, so I didn't ask.

When we made our way to the lookout, we sat on the bench and just talked for a few minutes. I later found out, Jeremy was waiting for all the other people at the lookout to leave. He pointed at the snowmaking machines on the mountain and I started to get the feeling he was trying very hard to distract me. When I turned to look back at him, I could hear his heart pounding in his chest, and then he asked, "Will you marry me?" He was holding a box in his hand with a ring. I was in shock! I started shaking...said yes...and continued shaking. It was such an incredible moment! It was so incredibly sweet he chose to propose in Ketchum, since that was where we were when we first said "I love you" to each other. He's so romantic!

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