Hard to believe I’ve drawn out this saga over 9 posts!! Hey, I’m pretty good at keeping people in suspense after all. 🙂
Eventually I was done with work at camp. It was all packed and shipped off to it’s various locations, and everyone moved away leaving a sad lonely place where there was once so much. It was a hard time for me and the others involved, but by the end I was ready to “move on” for sure. Stuart had a hand in helping me move on. I was certainly ready to move on with him!! 😀 And now that I was “home” we were free to talk every day which we did as much as his busy school schedule would allow.
Well one thing happened while I was still at camp. The camp director had gone to BJU for recruitment that Fall, and I had neglected to tell him that we weren’t really “telling” people about Stu and me. So he accidentally blabbed to one of Stuart’s good friends and that created a little “drama” ha ha ha ha!! I have to tell you I was more amused than anything and Stuart was too. The only down side was now he had to be subjected to some of his friends “warning” him about me. 😉 As if he didn’t already know I was dangerous! Ha!! No it was more the kind of foolishness that people in Bible school will come up with like, “You’re going to have trouble over what version of the Bible to use in your home!” and “What WILL you teach your children about the Bible.” and other nonsensical and nonessential things like that. Oh and since I was such a ‘free spirit’ they just knew that it did not bode well for Stuart because I simply couldn’t be a “submissive” wife. 😉 I’ll go on record as saying that even though I know WHO you all are and HOW you plotted against my happiness, I have forgiven you. 😀 God’s ways are so much more awesome than YOURS anyway!! Ah ha ha ha!!
I told you that the topic of marriage did naturally come up in one of our conversations. Because I “knew” and had known since our “car talk” that we WOULD BE MARRIED, I honestly don’t remember the specific time that it came up the first time. However, we had multiple talks about it and I do distinctly remember one conversation that totally cracks me up now! We were making lists, I think Stu was even typing them on his computer while we talked, of the “pros and cons” of getting married!!! Ha ha ha ha!! Makes me laugh now to think of it. And maybe it was the pros and cons of getting married the NEXT summer or something, but either way the cons list was so short there was really no point, and how could we expect anything else? So we were pretty determined already that were going to get married. Now to convince our families…. 🙂
Stuart DID convince his parents to have him fly into ABQ at Christmas Break, and then they would be coming down to pick him up. Good plan! When I picked him up from the airport I guess we had our “first date” cause we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Stu spent a couple/few days with our family before his family came to get him. My mom was so nervous and freaked out about the whole thing it still cracks me up to think about it. Stuart took Dad “out to lunch” one day and I can still remember just how much “floor pacing” my Mom did during that time, as if she were afraid that Dad would chew him up and spit him out or something if he brought up the topic of marriage!! 🙂 Although I suppose I can’t really blame her because a point she brought out the other day was that this was only the SECOND time they had ever met Start. He made a good second impression, let me tell ya! It was during this short visit before he went home that he told me he loved me for the first time!! I knew it already, but was happy that he had waited to tell me in person even though he’d been wanting to say it over the phone for some time. I was pretty prompt in my reply that I loved him too! 🙂
The meeting of the parents went well. We went to a very loud restaurant where you could hardly have any decent conversation anyway, so it was great! 😉 All of our parents were nervous, well the moms at least, but we were cool as cucumbers the whole time. When you finally ‘know’ and are confident in that, other parts of the process, like having your parents meet or meeting parents, doesn’t seem so scary. Stu went back to CO with his parents, and I was sad to see him go, but glad to be having Christmas with my family. By this time we all pretty much knew that it would be our last “family Christmas” and we had a good time even though my heart was already in Colorado with Stuart.
Soon after Christmas, in fact I think it was the next day, I was going to drive up to spend time with Stuart and his family. Everyone knew that “sometime” during that visit we would get engaged, but NOONE but Stuart knew exactly when or where…..
We did some of our favorite thing, hiking, while we were together over the break. This was a hike through some canyon in the Manzano mountains while Stu was at our house.
This was the Botanical Gardens in Albuquerque where they have a cool “lights” walk. It started snowing while we were out there. PERFECT!! Snow is always so romantical! I know it’s blurry, but you get the idea.
At the frozen Treasure Falls near Pagosa
Still at Treasure, but we’re looking at the Falls (are they still called falls if it’s frozen and not falling??)
