December 18, 1999

Krista asked the married ladies to tell their engagement stories. Here is mine.

I thought it was a normal Saturday. It was like every other Saturday in my life. My boyfriend and I had our three year anniversary on December 15. We decided to celebrate on that Saturday because our anniversary date fell on a Wednesday and I was studying for final exams in college.

A letter was given to me by my boyfriend. I opened the letter and it was the start to a scavenger hunt. The first place I had to go was a park in town. The clue I was looking for was taped to a light pole and had a cassette tape inside with the letter. The letter said that the tape was songs that we both enjoyed and to listen to it while driving. I couldn't listen to the tape because my car didn't have a cassette player. So old school! The next clue lead me to a Mexican restaurant that my friend worked at. I had to walk in the door and say that I loved my boyfriend to get the next clue. After I said the phrase my friend gave me the next clue.

I drove over to the next location, which was a out of business go-kart track. I got stuck there. I couldn't find the letter. After five to ten minutes looking for it, I called my sister on my cell phone. I told her that I couldn't find the letter. She told me to keep looking for it. I hung up with her and continued the search. I still couldn't find it. I called her back and said that I would keep looking, but if I couldn't find it where was the next spot on the scavenger hunt? She told me that the next stop was the mall. I hung up again and looked all around for it. I finally found the letter. It was in a white box hidden in the white snow. My boyfriend made it hard to find.

I read the letter and drove over to the mall. The letter told me to go sit on Santa's lap. I walked to center of the mall to see Santa. While waiting my turn, I noticed my family and my boyfriend's family all nearby. My sister came and stood next to me at the bottom of the stairs leading to Santa. When I was standing there, I noticed a photographer that I worked with at the newspaper standing near Santa. Finally I knew something was up. It takes that to realize that something was up. After I figured out I was on the exit steps to Santa, I went to the other staircase and walked up to see Santa.

I sat on Santa's lap and he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him that I wanted a bunch of new camera equipment, like a couple of new lenses and camera bodies. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and there was my boyfriend wearing a suit and holding a dozen white roses. He sat down on Santa's knee, handed me the roses and he told me to look at the camera. The elf helper took our picture sitting on Santa's lap. When this happened I thought to myself, "I went on this scavenger hunt all over town just for roses!" I wasn't too thrilled about that. You can see it all over my face in the above picture.

After the picture was taken. My boyfriend stood up and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a box, then opened it. It was a diamond engagement ring. I later found out that he had it designed just for me. I remember he said something to the effect of wanting to spend the rest of his life with me. I only thing I actually remember him saying was, "Deloris, will you marry me?"

We got married on September 15, 2001.