Let's see, where was I?
Oh yes, I remember.
There was the part where I talked about what led up to us dating and then there was the tidbit of a warrant for Luke's arrest.
A warrant.
For his arrest.
Wow. So, obviously, things had gotten a little out of control. Of course Luke knew he needed to take care of things, so on Monday he made some phone calls and figured out the best thing for him to do was to turn himself in to the closest sheriff's office in SoDak, which is Deadwood. We do live in the county closest to SoDak, but it still takes over 2 hours to get there.
That day I happened to take a late lunch because our Director needed to use my computer to take a test for her online class and so I didn't leave until 1:00. I had to stop by another staff member's house and drop off some stuff and pick up some other stuff and didn't get out of there until close to 2:00. I had noticed on my way up to their trailer that Luke was still at home, but I didn't think much of that because I figured he was taking a late lunch too. On my way down the hill I saw that he was still there, so I thought I would be a nice girlfriend and stop by and say hi.
He was on the phone when I stopped and as I got out of my car, he ran over to where I was. He got put on hold, so while he was waiting he told me that he had been trying to get a hold of me because he wanted to know if I would accompany him to SoDak while he got arrested.
Being the loving girlfriend that I am, I of course said yes.
We got the details figured out (he didn't want to leave just then, he wanted to leave after work at 5:00 and instead of meeting me in town, he decided he would rather leave from camp and we were going to eat after he was done being arrested) and parted ways. I ran home quickly, threw some trail mix (I was going to get hungry!) and my homework in a bag, gassed up the car and went back to work.
That afternoon I ended up talking to Pat (our Director) for a couple of hours for what we lovingly call "Pat chats".
They are good for the soul!
We were able to talk about a lot of things about marriage and some of the things I was scared of. It seemed to me that a lot of people make it their job to warn me of the "reality" about about marriage and no one was concentrating on the good things. While I totally understand the fact that marriage is hard and marriage is real and marriage is a life long commitment, where are the people who are remembering the romance that marriage is? Where is the joy, the commitment, the fun, the companionship? I am not so naive that I don't realize the hard exists, but I would like to know the fun exists too so I don't run screaming the other way!
Ahem. Rant over.
Anyways, after talking with Pat for awhile and working through some issues, Luke came to pick me up at camp. He had showered and shaved and was wearing a really nice shirt, nice jeans and dress shoes (I had noticed earlier when I saw him that he was wearing something different from the morning meeting, but figured he had just changed because he needed to take care of the legal stuff but this was even nicer!). We joked about how he had dressed up for his mug shot and we took off on our merry way.
On the way down to SoDak, we talked about what I had talked to Pat about and about different things about marriage. We also started to joke about him getting arrested, a theme that carried over into the whole start of the process of him getting arrested.
After driving around Deadwood for awhile and cruising the casino strip (Deadwood is a gambling town) and stopping at a gas station for directions, we finally made it to the sheriff's office. We walked up, laughing and joking around and a deputy asked us if we needed help.
I do believe the officer was taken a bit aback by Luke telling him that there was a warrant out for his arrest, but he took it pretty well. He just told Luke not to resist and to follow him. He took us inside and passed us off to another deputy, who also told Luke not to resist.
After that they separated us and stuck me in this creepy hallways. At least I had magazines to read!
Partway through my wait, I received a text message from Luke. Apparently they threw him in the communication booth for awhile and so he sent me a picture of the phone we would get to use if he was in there long term. After he was returned to me, he told me the rest of the story:
Apparently, the Deadwood Sheriff's Office takes their work seriously, because they did the whole shebang with Luke. They threw him in a cell for awhile while they got his paperwork figured out, fingerprinted and mug shot him (which he smiled cheesily for*).
*Disclaimer: we realize that what he did was illegal (he shot a turkey without owning a tag for it. however, he did not technically poach it because there was a tag to be put on it, it just was in his friend's name instead of his, which is a common practice - but that doesn't make it right!). He would gladly pay a fine, but when he talked to the game warden in Aug we were under the impression that everything was taken care of. We just feel that they are going above and beyond for the situation by taking him and his friends to court.
After they were all finished with him and released him on his own recognizance, we headed out to find something to eat. On the way down, Luke had told me that he wanted to go somewhere nice for supper. I was totally game for that! However, even though Deadwood is a casino town and the strip is all brightly lit and the machines were going, we had a really hard time finding somewhere to eat. After driving around and around and striking out a couple of places we settled on Mustang Sallys, a sports bar and grill. It was after 9:00 and we were starved! So, we didn't get the nice meal Luke was hoping for, but it was food.
We finally started back home around 10 or 10:30. I normally sleep when we drive that late, but for some reason Luke didn't want me to sleep that much. He kept telling me that we were going to have a dance party when we got back. Now, if you know my honey at all, dance and party are not two words I am used to coming out of his mouth, so I started to get even more suspicious.
(oh, I was already suspicious. he had been acting squirrelly all day.)
We pulled up to my house around 12:30 and right away Luke noticed that my outer door (the storm door) was propped open (the overhang over my front step is low enough that it will get stuck open if pushed far enough). He turned to me with big eyes and asked if I had left it like that. Of course I hadn't and so he told me that I should stay in the car so he could go and check for boogey men.
*cue the bells & whistles in my head!*
I lovingly indulged him and slooooooowly gathered up my stuff while he went in to check to make sure there were no bad men waiting inside. He came back out after a couple of minutes and got me from the car. On our way up the sidewalk, he gave me a hug and told me that he loved me.
*cue louder bells & whistles!*
Even though I had been suspicious, nothing prepared me for what I would walk in on.
Well, see* for yourself:
*these were taken with my flash on, so the ambiance isn't there, so you'll just have to imagine!
two of the bouquets (12 red roses and 6 pink roses) and some of the candles he got me
the balloons he wrote the reasons he loves me on
Not only had he gotten me flowers and balloons, he had also strung up Christmas lights across my ceiling.
When did he do this you ask? Well, as soon as our meeting was done that morning, he had gone into our Camp Director's office and asked for the day off (I saw him in there, but didn't think too much of it. I just thought he was talking about his legal problems). After that, he went to the closest biggish town (there is a town of 1000 about 36 miles away) and got the flowers and balloons and candles, which explains the reason he had run to meet me when I stopped by at lunch - all of this stuff was in his Explorer and he didn't want me to see!
Then, he came over to my house that afternoon and set up the flowers in the perfect spot (he also got me a bouquet of yellow flowers), put the candles out and strung up the Christmas lights (because he knew I loved Christmas lights), which explains why he wanted to leave from camp and not from my house!
Not only that, but he had worked together with his roommate to put together a CD of love songs. So, as soon as I walked in and my mouth dropped, he hit play and asked me to dance.
Now, as I said before, my honey is not much for dancing. But, he had always told me that he would make an exception for me!
The first song was from Enchanted (and the reason for the yellow bouquet) : How Does She Know? I really love that movie and particularly that song from the movie, and he indulges me (he doesn't mind it too much either) In fact, this fall I came home one day to find yellow flowers he had picked on my coffee table (yes, I am marrying a true romantic!).
When that song was over, he reached over to the stereo to turn it up because he wanted to sing it to me.
I pretty much swooned right there!
The song was by Monk & Neagle and called Wonderful Angel.
(if you scroll down, its the second to last song - you can listen to it for free by telling them you just want to try it out without having to sign up for anything)
Go. I'll wait.
I had never heard of the band or the song, but strangely enough its now my favorite!
As he sang these words to me, my heart just melted. By the end I was definitely crying! The look in his eyes told me that he believed every word that he said. I am blessed to be loved by a wonderful man.
The song finished and as it transitioned to the next one, he dropped down on one knee, pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him.
I said yes :-)
See?
I rather like him!
We had a wonderful time dancing, talking and cuddling the night away. It got to be a bit late ...errr ... early but so worth the sleep deprivation we felt the next day!
*Well, that's the beginning of our little story. I hope you enjoyed it!
Its been 6 months 25 years in the making, but I had no idea it would take me this long to tell it!
(and I summarized a bunch too)
Wow.
Well, suffice it to say, I am one happy, lucky and blessed girl! God has been so good to me by bringing me this man. Not perfect, but perfect for me. He meets my needs with such willingness that I never could have imagined. He seeks after God and I know no matter the ups and downs we're going to be a team working together for God. That is what matters!
I will leave you with some of our engagement pictures. Enjoy!
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