Our Engagement Story

Hello Blogger World, I am Travis, Anna's fiance. We were engaged on July 31, 2010 and this is my story about that day.----- We had been dating for about 6 years to that point and we talked about the possibility of getting married many times. But we both knew that time was starting to wind down on deciding whether we would spend the rest of our lives together. I had put so much prayer into this and sometimes my answers would even confuse myself. I had a plan for what I wanted to do with my life for the next couple years and Anna had a better one. But the spirit I felt always gave me the same answer, getting married to Anna was definitely what I had to do, no matter what I had to sacrifice. Things weren't exactly figured out in my life to that point, but Anna's life was. She is going to go on to be a successful neonatal nurse, and she is very dedicated and good in her work. We talked about it and we agreed that eternal marriage should not hang on worldly things as that. However, I would still have doubts. But I knew the Lord was testing my trust in Him. And through more prayer, discussions with my bishop, and much thought, I felt more spiritual confirmation in this than anything before.----- I knew that I had to propose to her that night as she was leaving for school the next day. The day began with more prayer, that the Lord would be with me through everything that day. I went ring shopping and I had some input/suggestions from my mom and sisters. I ended up getting one from Zales that I thought would look good for Anna and one she would like forever. I thought of her when I saw that ring at the shop and I knew that was the one to get. I had to go to work that day but I argued with the head cashier to let me go early. He reluctantly let me off at 4 pm so I knew the stage was set. I rushed home, got ready for the night, and went to pick up Anna. She looked very pretty, as always, and I tried to dress up, well..it was a polo shirt and jeans, which is formal for me. I took Anna to Texas de Brazil, an upscale Brazilian BBQ restaurant at Fair Oaks Mall, for dinner. After stuffing our (my) face with all-you-can-eat steak, I was about to propose to her over dessert, but then I decided against it, as we were too full for dessert, and I didn't want to propose on a sore stomach. So we got in my truck and drove to Washington, DC by the Washington Monument. We walked around for a little bit admiring the beautiful views of the DC buildings (and Anna) illuminated at night. It was already great to be spending time with her, just walking around. It was very romantic and intimate being together in such a special place like that. But I knew my time was dwindling, and I had to step up to plate soon. I said one more small prayer in my heart. We finally reached an isolated spot on the field, away from all the tourists, right under the Washington Monument. I knew the time was right.----- My heart began pounding uncontrollably. I asked Anna if she really wanted to be married to me. She said, "of course." I said that I loved her and I was ready to move on in our life. I pulled the ring out of my pocket and got down on one knee. She covered her mouth in disbelief and said "no way!" Barely keeping myself from falling over, I popped the question. "Anna Karlee Brionez, will you marry me?" She immediately said "yes, of course I'll marry you!"----- Then I fainted..............nah just kidding.----- After all the action. We walked around some more, and sat on a bench under the Washington Monument. We sat there and I held her, we took some pictures, and we soaked in the moment. We were engaged to be married for eternity.----- After our special moment, we anticipated some explaining to do to people who have doubts about us. People who think we are too young, or people who think we should graduate college first. Things changed and I don't have a plan 100% mapped out (though I still plan on working in the IC). But I'm glad I have a partner to do that with now. I'm excited to go through tough times in our lives now that we have someone to overcome them with. I'm excited to enjoy our good times together. I'm glad I have an eternal companion and I intend to treat her as such. I've witnessed how much Anna's parents care about her and her well-being and I've felt their care for me as well. I know that this decision will not fail and I know that we will have a strong marriage and we will have our own little happy family. I've felt the Lord's confirmation and I know that He is happy with this decision as well. Though there may be opposition in this world, not only toward us, but to marriage in general, I know that if we keep following the Lord's will, we will continue to be as happy as we were at 10:31 pm on that memorable Saturday in July.

Weekend of Food

                                                       We didn't have straws....

Friday Travis drove all the way down to visit me- he arrived around 3:30 pm. It clearly hadn't been too long since we'd seen each other but we were both excited to hang out! We spent some time talking and laughing and before long we realized we were starving!! This was only the beginning. We went to Food Lion to pick up all of the materials for the dinner we would make. My mom had kindly stocked my cabinets with most things we needed but I lacked a few. We ended up making potatoes and sausage- a staple for dinner in my childhood- with sour cream or ketchup, corn and salad with cheese, tomatoes and ranch. It was so filling ad if I say so myself I'm becoming quite a little domestic engineer.
We had already planned on making cake cookies- cookies out of cake mix but you use less water and eggs so it doesn't rise, after dinner. Abby and I thought they turned out more like biscuits with icing and sprinkles but Trav thought they ended up ok. After a few we got accustomed to the dense taste. Our smoothie dessert had to wait until morning since we were stuffed. For breakfast we make strawberry/banana smoothies which turned out pretty good. Trav won't let me pour sugar in it since apparently that takes away the point of being healthy.... psshh. Oh no, thats not all, we went to Waffle House too. I thought I would be fine with one waffle and hash-browns but no, stuffed AGAIN. Travis and I have concluded that we'll eat when we're together and cut back a whole lot during the week otherwise we'll soon have trouble fitting through the doorway!! We had a great time this weekend, looked at tuxedos and wedding invitations online and spent too much time laughing. As usual, it's never fun to say goodbye but never fear, we'll see each other again soon!

Re-Sizing

Travis did a great job picking out my ring- it was just about a half size too big. Monday we made the trek to Zales in Harrisonburg to remedy the situation. It is an hour from SVU so I drove up and Travis drove the hour and 45 minutes from home to meet me. Yes, if you didn't know we are spending our engagement in separate regions of VA. Anyway, the jeweler said it would take up to 18 days to re-size. INSANE!! I very well couldn't go 18 days without a ring so we stopped into Claires to buy a cheap lookalike. People can't even tell it is fake unless I tell them or they have it in their hand. Makes me wonder why people spend so much money on rings anyway. We had a good time and made a whole afternoon of our time together. We went into Barnes and Noble and spent the last of a gift-card I have to there on muffins and cookies from the Starbucks in there. We saw the move 'The Other Guys,' I wouldn't waste your time or money on it if you ask me, we had "lunch" at Sushi Jack and dinner at Panera. we even stopped into a bridal shop just to take a gander. Travis could not tell the difference between the dresses- thought they all looked the same. I guess I will be taking someone else with me dress shopping. We even went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and inquired about setting up a bridal registry. It was so much fun and we did lots of things. We always love spending time together.

-Anna

We're Engaged!!

As of right now this blog is no longer just mine, it is now both mine and Travis's. We plan do update it on things we do together, plans for the wedding, and things like that. Frankly, it was mostly about the two of us already anyway. We hope you visit often. Anna