he liked it so he put a ring on it.

To start off, I will give a little background information that will make the proposal story a little easier to understand. Hopefully I don't make it even more confusing...it was all I could ask for and more of a proposal :)

Paul went home at the beginning of the summer {2009} and I thought that I wouldn’t be seeing him until September. I was really bummed but I knew we would stay in contact with each other and hopefully pick things up in the fall. To my SURPRISE, Paul came to visit me for the weekend in May. I was very very very VERY excited when this happened. He drove all the way from Oregon just to visit me!!! We had only started to be really good friends during the last three weeks of winter semester but when he came back and surprised me in Rexburg, I knew that he must have really cared about me. {You don’t drive all the way across two states just to visit a “really good friend”}. We had agreed to just be really good friends over the summer and then we would see what happens to our friendship later. I could tell Paul was okay with this because he didn't want to rush things. I, on the other hand, was not okay with it. I did not just want to be his friend...I wanted him to be my boyfriend!! Once I realized this, I knew that I had to be the one to initiate the conversation about determining our relationship. On Sunday May 3, 2009 before church we went to the Nature Park to feed the ducks. I knew I had to ask him to be my boyfriend while we were there because he was leaving that day to go home. We were sitting on a bench just talking and then I finally got up the nerve to ask him. He agreed and that was that. He was my boyfriend :)

{Paul and I found after about 8 months of dating that we were perfect for each other. We discussed marriage and we both knew it was the right thing for both of us. So the next thing that needed to happen in our relationship was for Paul to propose. Paul knew that he wanted to propose to me at the Nature Park at the very same bench that I asked him to be my boyfriend. He also knew that I wanted to be surprised when he proposed so he didn’t want me to think twice if he suggested going to the Nature Park. So this is where my best friend and past roommate Jeanette Travis comes in. She was involved in the whole thing.}

On March 19, 2010 I received a phone call from Jeanette informing me that she was making a photo wall of all the places she has ever lived. And one of these places, OF COURSE, was Rexburg. At the time she was living in Tennessee so she couldn't take any pictures in Rexburg. She asked me to take some pictures for her. She named some places she wanted pictures of and she, OF COURSE, included the Nature Park . This was all a set up, but I was clueless to what Paul and Jeanette were planning.

March 21, 2010. After church, Paul and I had planned on going around Rexburg and taking pictures for Jeanette. She had told me on the phone that she needed them immediately. So we started off at porter park. We also went to the Rexburg sign and took a few other pictures around town. {Paul was playing along the whole time with Jeanette’s idea}. We finally got to the Nature Park. We walked around and took pictures. As we passed *our* bench, I mentioned the bench with a smile and then Paul smiled. We finished walking around the whole park and I thought we were leaving to go to the next picture spot, but Paul suggested that we continue to walk around just a little more. I kind of didn’t want to because I was anxious to get all the pictures for Jeanette and it was cold. This time around we stopped at the bench and sat down. The thought came to my head that he was maybe going to propose but I knew that we were at the Nature Park for Jeanette. He also had told me that he didn't have the ring yet. We just sat there talking about us. It came up in conversation that it had been almost 11 months since we became boyfriend and girlfriend at that very spot on the bench. After a little while, I got really cold and I stood up to leave and go to the car. Paul insisted that I take his coat so I would stay there. {Looking back everything makes sense, BUT I really was clueless at that moment}. We continued to talk and then Paul started to move off the bench and reach into his pocket. He started to kneel and I honestly didn't know what was going on. All of a sudden, he put the ring on my finger and said “The past few days have been great and the past 11 months have been so good and I promise the days and months and years will continue to be good. Emily Louise Morris, will you marry me?” I said YES of course. It was perfect and I was surprised and I was so grateful that he had chosen me to spend forever with.

“This is the place where you asked me to be your boyfriend.

This is the place where I’m going to ask you to be my wife.”