Spring Refreshing

Ahhh now have come the days of spring! I've been through tougher winters, but for some reason this winter just seemed to DRAG. Maybe it's because I haven't been skiing as much.
I'm so happy/relieved/excited/filled with warm fuzzies that winter is OVER.
And poor Mark, has had an extension of winter working up in Alaska. While I was planting flowers, he was trudging through snow and mud. We found out yesterday that there was a buried bomb they were working over all week on the range that was undetonated. Oh gosh.

Garden supplies

I said goodbye to these dried dozen roses. these are the roses Mark had for me when he proposed. The story goes he went into Campus Floral and told the lady, "I need the best dozen roses you've ever made!"

Ahhh the memories....

For Posterity's Sake: The night we were engaged.

It was a Sunday night, we had just eaten dinner with the Robinsons. Mark was especially quiet that night, not that I thought anything of it though. We had talked a lot about marriage for the past few weeks (of the 4 weeks we dated). I was going to leave in a month to go on the USNS Mercy Navy ship. I honestly didn't know if we'd be engaged before or after my summer trip. But we had gone ring shopping and I had picked out a ring I really liked. 

That Sunday after dinner, we were at my condo and Mark was on his phone, texting constantly. He kept looking outside too, the sun had just started setting. 

Then all of a sudden he said, Whit! Let's go for a walk! I thought that'd be awesome, still not remotely thinking that he was going to propose. We walked up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to a spot that was sentimental for both of us, the only tree that stands on the trail for miles. We'd named it The Tree of Life. As we rounded the turn to the tree, I saw those dozen roses in a glass vase on a table covered with a black cloth. And on the table, a ring box. 

It's such a bizarre moment, to realize life is about to really make a change, for the better! We were both nervous but excited....well and really nervous, but mostly excited. 

He proposed. I said yes! 

And then we sat on a blanket overlooking the valley and called Mark's parents (mine were in Lake Powell!) 

It was the start of the journey of a lifetime. 

The entourage that planned and executed the operation, Andrew Church, Gary Whitaker, and Joe Ostebo. 

Meanwhile during spring cleaning, back to Alaska, Mark was still freezing.