Billy's proposal

I realized today that I never blogged about how Billy and I met each other or how he proposed.

THE MEETING:
I moved to Orem, Utah, in August 2005, with my friend and roommate, Jemma. Since we were living on our own for the very first time, we decided to get involved with as many activities as we possibly could handle. It was for that reason that I joined the Special Events Committee at Utah Valley State University. In October of that same year, all the clubs left on a Student Government Retreat in Wyoming for the weekend. It was there that I met Billy. We had a dance that night, and he asked me to dance. I thought he was super cute and said yes... only to realize that we were about to "swing." I didn't want to make a fool out of myself, so I told him this wasn't really my type of dancing. He just smiled and said it wasn't his type either. So we just went along with it, goofed around, and had a blast. And that's when I started falling for him... The next day we were already heading back to Utah. The bus ride was going to be 4 hours long and I had made plans to sit by my friend, Darci. When Billy asked me to sit by him on the bus, I had to say No, even though I really wanted to get to know him better. But when Darci fell asleep after only 10 minutes, I decided to go sit by Billy. Fortunately, the seat next to him was empty. In his version of the story, he says that I had told him to keep the seat empty because I would sit by him if Darci fell asleep, but I really don't remember saying anything like that. Whatever. We talked for 4 hours and soon realized that we had a really strong connection. In fact, as a "test," Billy placed his hand on my lap, and in response I placed my hand over his. I passed (A+). When we got back to school, he gave me his phone number because he didn't have his phone with him to get my number. I totally thought that he was blowing me off. I thought that maybe he hadn't felt that same connection on the ride back. I mean, seriously, he wanted me to call him?

FIRST DATE:
On the bus ride back from the retreat, I found out that Billy was planning on going to the BYU Football game that night. A guy friend of mine, who totally had a crush on me, had asked me to go with him, but I had said No. That night, I called him to say that I would go with him. I was hoping that I could meet up with Billy and that we could all hang out. It hadn't occurred to me that Chewy would think this was going to be a date. So when Chewy and I got to the game, I called Billy. I told him exactly where we were sitting and within a few minutes, he was sitting by me. Billy and I talked throughout the whole game, and as time went by we were sitting closer and closer to each other. We tried to include Chewy in our conversation because we didn't want to be complete jerks, but he didn't seem to be in a really good mood. The poor guy must have felt like a third wheel - Billy totally mowed Chewy's lawn! When Chewy took me home, we talked about the evening, and I told him that I really liked Billy. I think he appreciated my honesty.

FIRST KISS:
The day after the BYU game, Billy and I went on a walk in a park and had a picnic. We were the only ones there, and it was fun to spend some time alone, getting to know each other. After a couple of hours, he took me home so that I could have my Sunday dinner with my roommates. That night, he called me to go on another date. He picked me up, we went to another park, we layed some blankets in the grass, and we watched IRobot on his computer. We didn't really watch the movie, though, because we still wanted to get to know each other better. When the movie was over, we turned the computer off and admired the Provo Valley view. Then after we talked some more, we decided that we like each other enough... and Billy kissed me. WOO HOO!

THE COMMITMENT:
Some common friends of Billy and I were having a concert in their basement, and we decided to make it a date. Billy and I had a blast listening to them and dancing together. After the concert was over, my roommate, Jemma, asked me if I could walk over with her to talk to these really cute guys because she didn't want to do it by herself. I accepted, for moral support, and we talked to them for a little while. Then I noticed that Billy was no where to be seen. I called him, and he told me that he had left because he had an early class the next day. I could hear in his voice that he was not happy, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it over the phone, so we left it to that.The next day, I met him in school, like every other day. We sat on a love sack, and I asked him why he had been so upset the night before. It turned out that he had not liked the fact that I had left him to go "flirt" with other guys in front of his face. I explained to him that I had not "flirted" but only "talked" to those guys, and that I had only done it for moral support. Then I told him that it didn't matter who I talked to because we were not exclusive. And that's when he told me he wanted to be exclusive. Haha. Before he went to his next class, he had to call off a date and tell the girl that he now had a girlfriend. Haha.

(This picture was taken while Billy was visiting me in Maryland - we took a trip to NYC for New Year 2006)

THE PROPOSAL:
Over Christmas break, Billy flew to Maryland to spend a few days with me and my family. While he was there, he asked my dad for his permission to marry me. They ended up talking for like 4 hours, but my dad did say Yes.February 9, 2006, was a beautiful day in Provo, so Billy and I decided to go sledding in the mountains. We had two sleds, but used one most of the time beccause it was a lot more fun to fall together. At one point, we walk to the top of the hill, and Billy offered that I go down first, separately from him. I didn't think much of it and went down the hill. When he went down the hill after me, something fell out of his pocket. I mentioned that he had dropped something, and he walked over to pick it up. Then he walked back toward me, got on his knee, and said, "Nathalie, will you marry me?" I was in shock! I totally thought he was going to wait until Valentine's Day to propose, but he surprised me earlier. It was the best surprise of my life! Two days later, Billy and his family left on a vacation to Cancun. Of course, I was not invited. At the time Billy's parents made reservations, we were just dating. Plus, we weren't married so we obviously couldn't share a room. When Billy came back, he said the vacation had been miserable because he had missed me so much. It made me feel a little better about missing out of this fantastic family vacation. I cannot believe it's been 4 years! Since then we have moved to another state and have had 2 children! I have also graduated from college and he has started med school. It's crazy how much things can change in only 4 years. I feel so blessed to have found my Prince Charming. And I feel so blessed that he loves me, cares for me, and appreciates me for who I am. He is everything I have always wanted and always dreamed of. I love him so much!