Engaged

Leon asked me to marry him today. And I said yes. And now, I am engaged.

CHRIST ON A MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!!

Shock. That is the only word that I can use to describe this feeling. Joy, too. Joy and shock. We are both floating in a bit of a surreal bubble.

He called me this afternoon and told me to meet him at Wakamow. Wakamow is this beautiful park in a river valley here in Moose Jaw. It was one of the first places I ever took him when we arrived here. So, in my ugly Sunday-lay-around-the-house-pants, I popped on my big, huge parka and pulled on a toque. How was I supposed to know??? I drove down to the park and my mom was waiting for me at the side of the parking lot. She had a rose in her hand.

Follow me, she said, this is for you. So I followed her and she brought me to a snowy path littered with rose petals. Follow it, she urged me, he's waiting for you. Then I knew. I knew that on this random Sunday winter afternoon, Leon Benjamin was going to propose. My stomach fell to my feet and I followed the path. Roses stuck up out of the snow to mark the way and petals popped against the stark white ground. It was beautiful. Around the corner and into the woods I found him standing under a woodland gazebo holding more flowers. He had stuck roses in amidst the brambles and vines of the gazebo and he looked so nervous that he appeared to be about nine years old. IT WAS SOOOOOOO SCARY. I can not tell you. For a girl that has never wanted to get married, this moment was like a different plane of existence. When I got to him, he looked straight into my eyes and said "Krista Konkin, you are the only woman I want to wake up beside forever" and then he took a big pause. I was sure I was going to throw up and he looked awfully nauseous as well. Then he got down on one knee, opened up the ring box and asked me to marry him. I said yes. I called him a nut. I kissed his entire face and then we started to laugh. Mom popped up from the bushes and started to snap pictures. It was perfect. My ring is custom designed to fit my promise ring and we hope to get married in September. What can I say? I am engaged.

I have raged agaisnt being married all my life because it has always seemed to ordinary and like a very unsuccessful venture. But I hadn't ever met Leon. There is nothing that seems more right than being with him forever. Engaged and married and weddings...all that stuff is just stuff. Labels that DO make a person nervous and committed, but they have never been what motivates me. Leon motivates me. My love for him...the fact I haven't stopped laughing since we met, the fact that we are crazy kooks together, the fact that I am so attracted to him physically. All of it. I would jump out a plane without a parachute and trust that faith would help me to fly if it meant I could be given the chance to spend my lifetime with him.

YAY!!!! God. Yay and god and all other expletives. I am engaged. I will post pictures and movies...soon. On the blog or on my site or on facebook...somewhere. Tonight I am going to let the shock wear off.

January 27th is suddenly my favorite day.