Engaged!!!

At noon today, Jonathan David asked me to be his wife. Here is the story...

I woke up at 7 am this morning, bright and chipper for a new day. On impulse, I called JD and offered to get he and Andy (his best friend from home who is staying over for a few days) some Starbucks. After I brought back their drinks and pastries, JD and I headed off to our Thursday morning class as usual. Class was good, nothing out of the ordinary - just a 3 hour seminar. After class was dismissed, I waited in the hallway FOREVER for JD to go to the bathroom (he had gone earlier in the break so I wasn't surprised that he needed to go again.... apparently it was nerves). However, unbeknownst to me, JD was attaching a microphone to his chest, underneath his shirt. He came out of the bathroom, I made some sort of remark about the length of time he was in there, and we walked out of the building.

Now, I normally have class after this, but I had already decided I would miss it in order to work on the paper that is due tomorrow... so we walked in the direction of home together. Our conversation was very normal and engaging as we discussed class. JD wanted to show me something that was written on the building of Royce Hall that actually pertained to our class, and so I was quite distracted by looking at the roof and enjoying the day. After walking through the corridor of Royce Hall, we started to walk by the fountain that sits between Royce and Powell Library (a gorgeous spot on UCLA's campus). He casually said to me, "homegirl, I have a question for you" to which I replied, "well I have an answer for you.? He then said, "so when are you going to marry me?" (He does this allll the time so it was nothing new to me. I gave him my typical answer, "whenever you ask me...." and at that moment, he dug into his backpack and got out a jewelry box with the ring in it. He got down on one knee and said great things and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes a bunch of times before he even finished and we hugged and kissed and then heard applause... As it turns out, we were being videotaped by Andy and RO Smith and his wife Mindy (middle school leaders at Bel Air). JD's mike recorded the entire conversation and one of my best friends even popped her head out of the crowd. JD had it all planned out and a few special people were there to witness the proposal.

After some more pictures and staring at the ring, we walked home and headed off for a day of fun activities. JD had prepared a wonderful picnic and we went to the Getty to eat lunch. Throughout lunch we started calling our parents and talking about the date, etc... After lunch JD took me to Bloomingdales so I could buy a dress for dinner. We had a great time picking out a beautiful dress and then, after a shower and getting ready, JD came into my apartment with flowers, wearing a suit, and Andy walking close behind with the camera. We took more pictures and then went to this great Italian restauraunt on Ocean Blvd. for dinner. The night ended with us watching the video tapes and talking with friends. It's been absolutely surreal.
So the date is set... On October 21, 2006, JD and I will become Mr. and Mrs. Groves. Ahhhh!!!! This has been such a special day. My ring is gorgeous (thanks to my amazing cousin who did an incredible job picking out the diamond), my fiance even more gorgeous, and God is so good. I can't even begin to tell you all of the details that God blessed us with throughout this process, but I can tell you that this day has been more special than I could ever have imagined.

Blessed be His Name

Because I haven't written in awhile

It seems as if this time of the quarter always sneaks up on me. The first five weeks cruise on by with perhaps a paper or two, some quizzes, and reading... but all of a sudden I find myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Exam dates are approaching, papers are due, five more weeks of madness will ensue and then it will be all over. All over. Done. College as I know it will be finished. Of course more school is to follow so it isn't like my role as a student is over - not at all. But it will be different... grad school/seminary will be different I think. There are more responsibilities, more tailored studies, and college life will suddenly grow up. I can't wait... it's funny, I am sitting in Novel trying to write a stupid midterm that is haunting me because the reading for it is SOOO boring and yet I'm still excited that my life consists of reading and writing and attending classes and living a schedule full of bizarre hours. Wierd.

This is such a time where it seems like college age students are either still freaking out because they "don't know what they want to do with the rest of their lives" or are finally realizing the direction they want to pursue for the moment and are at peace with the fact that the next step is merely that - the next step. We get this notion in our head that we need to know exactly what our calling in life is, or how we're going to spend the rest of our lives locked in some career job wearing three piece suits and carrying a briefcase everymorning. We're 21 or 22 with the whole world ahead of us and the idea of being completely on our own (which is our perception) terrifies us, stiffling the dreams we dreamt in the first three years of college about changing the world and traveling and spending hours in coffee shops talking about whatever it is we talk about in coffee shops. I wonder what would happen if we slowed down for a second, forgot that we are still extremely young with endless options and really pursued our wildest dreams... Yes I guess I still am a dreamer. Call me an idealist or unrealistic or whatever, but I have to believe we're given this drive for changing the world and going crazy places for a reason. What would happen if we surrendered those dreams to God and then trusted Him with it... Oh the places we'd go...

I'm there. Pursuing something that grabbed a hold of my dreams about 6 years ago... Ready to take on the world... I love this.

Shaving Cream Extravaganza!

Just got pictures back from our shaving cream war that I wrote about a while ago... oh those crazy college kids!!!