Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, “you owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky. --Hafiz

The Proposal...Brandon's Version

Ok, so for those of you that know Courtney and I this proposal story should be quite entertaining, but for the ones that don’t know us let me see if I can explain this to you in as much detail as I can. Courtney is the type of girl that has to have everything planned. Now when I say she has to have everything planned I’m not kidding…this girl has to have when she is going to go pee planned, and anything that is thrown at her without having a plan she gets very skittish and freaks out, it’s quite entertaining actually.

Me on the other hand, I’m a very fly by the moment kind of guy…just when you think you have me figured out or you think you know what I would be doing or what I would do, I will do just the opposite. I love to surprise Courtney and make anything I do for her as special as I can. So you can say I kind of screwed myself with the proposal trying to top other things that I have done.

It’s funny; I have known I wanted to marry Courtney for a long time and we have always talked about it and said we would get married after she graduated. Well I was slowly starting to run out of time to propose, but also do it so she was not expecting it! I have been trying to be as discrete and sneaky as possible. Once I had finally picked out a ring I was quick to the drawing board to think of a creative way to propose. Something that I thought would be so simple to do became the hardest thing in the world. I had all these ideas and everyone was trying to give me ideas and I finally just got so overwhelmed that I shut it all out and decided to just keep it as casual as I could and do nothing out of the ordinary so she would not suspect anything (because those of us that know Courtney, every time I would take her do something apparently she was over analyzing it and thinking I was always going to propose, no matter what we went to do). So I texted her one evening and asked her when she came home if we could do like a day date on Christmas Eve before church, something simple yet fun just the two of us so we could enjoy Christmas together before the madness of family and everything started. She said yes of course, but wanted to know what. I managed to play it off for about a month till Christmas Eve came, she every once in a while would ask what we were gonna do and I would just tell her she had to wait and see or make something up to throw her off. You could just tell in her eyes it was driving her crazy! You could tell that she knew I was up to something but she couldn’t piece it all together and it was probably driving her crazy! Finally about the night before Christmas Eve into D-day she had started asking me questions like what to wear, should she bring anything for the date, and I’m thinking to myself, I know exactly what this little brat is doing, she thinks she is so smart trying to get me to tell her to bring something so that she will know what we’re doing for our date by what I tell her to bring, no no I’m not that dumb little girl. So I would just make up the most random things like bring sandals and shoes, just something that would confuse her, and it worked, her responses started getting shorter and shorter which in Courtney world means she is getting more and more confused or irritated.

D-DAY FINAL HOURS:

So Courtney is heading to my casa with no clue on what is going on or what is going to happen. Mean while I’m at Jason’s getting the boat hooked up and all last minute things together, taking my time and not rushing too fast thinking she is gonna be a brat and drag her feet like normal. Oh no this girl shows up at the house at 10:30 on the dam dot and I’m not even home yet! So naturally she is calling me and wondering what is going on, when I get home I go in and get a few things and then we go outside and she claimed she had a feeling we were either going to go to the lake or go quading haha. Either way she seemed very excited and didn’t waste any time getting in the truck. After forgetting my wallet at home we finally were making our way to the lake, the whole time I was trying to keep my cool and not show any signs of being nervous, because after all I was trying to make this as casual as possible so she didn’t think I was up to anything. When we go to the lake I gave her a crash course on how to drive the truck with the trailer so she could park the truck and I would not have to do everything. Once were on the water my nerves are starting to get going. At this point I still have no idea how I was gonna do it but I knew I was gonna do it on the way home, and I also I knew I was gonna do a fake proposal with the ring pop I bought but didn’t know how or when. We headed to the back of the lake and went it a few coves and floated around for a little while, this whole time you could just tell she was confused and being a brat, I think I asked her 12 times if she wanted to drive the boat and she kept saying no. Come to think of it I think the only phrases she knew that day were no and I don’t care. As we were in a cove listening to music I figured it’s now or never, so I asked her to get me a soda, and she opens the cooler gets a soda and shuts the cooler. I’m thinking to myself at this point you have to be kidding you didn’t see that ring box?!?! I let some time go trying to regroup my thoughts since she just threw a curve ball at my plan and so I let her know she saw a present and then made her look for it, after she looked everywhere but the dam obvious cooler I kicked it over to her. Her response was OHHHH is it in here? At this point I knew she was being a brat on purpose. She grabs the box with the biggest smile on her face and opens it to find a big blue ring pop. SUCKER! The look on this girls face was indescribable, and she didn’t play it off very well probably because she was so irritated. My plan was working against her and she didn’t even know it this whole time I knew she would be expecting something and I have once again thrown her off and she is just that much more confused and probably safe to say pissed at this point. By now it’s about 1pm and so we headed to the marina to get some lunch, during lunch I kept leaving and taking my phone being all shady just to plant a seed in her head and I could tell it was working because by now she was not hungry anymore which in Courtney world meant I’m now even more pissed because you’re being a brat and I know something is up but I don’t know what and I’m getting my hopes up again. So we finish lunch get back on the boat and I take her all the way back to the back of the lake again and cruise around for a little bit and then it was time, I asked her are you ready to go, she shrugs her shoulders and said sure. Once we get the boat on the trailer I’m getting so much more nervous now, this is it, its gonna happen she at this point won’t talk to me, all I’m getting now is mmmmmhhhhhmmmm , yes, no, and ok. As were leaving the lake she was just staring out the window with her bottom lip hanging like I had a fishing weight tied to it. Me on the other hand I’m doing everything I can not to laugh but yet trying to figure out how I’m going to do this and also freaking out that it’s actually going to happen! I looked in the mirror and told her shit one of the straps to the boat are coming off, she was like oh ok, so I pulled over in a rest area and by this time my heart is racing and pounding out of my chest I’m so nervous. I go to the back of the truck and get the ring box and a wrench just in case she is looking in the mirror she doesn’t see because again she is in brat mode so anything is possible with her at the point, I go to the back of the boat and pull the ring out of my pocket and put it in the box I bend over to pretend I’m working on the boat and bang on the trailer, before I can even call her out to come help or get what I’m going to say she comes flying out of the truck and walks around the back of the boat. And I’m kneeled on one knee and I probably look like a deer struck by head lights because I was not ready for her and she is like what are you doing what did you find? Looking at my hand closer she sees a box. At this point she starts kinda breathing hard and I think I was shaking the whole time too. She takes a step back and I honestly don’t remember what all I said other than I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you…Courtney Danielle Burford will you marry me? I remember she grabbed her mouth and her eyes got a little watery and she said yes.

The Proposal...Courtney's Version

To begin, I was kinda anticipating it to happen. I first got onto anticipating it when I saw a Helzberg Diamonds catalog in the door panel of the truck one weekend when Brandon came down to see me. Honestly I began to think that our engagement was coming when I saw that but it wasn't something that was constantly on my mind. The first Valentines day that Brandon and I were together he gave me a necklace from Helzberg and that is also where my promise ring was from so it wasn't unusual to be getting things from them in the mail because we would get cards and catalogs and other stuff from them on a fairly regular basis. What really got me onto anticipating the engagement was towards the end of the semester when Brandon, my mom and my sister were all super skiddish whenever I would get near their phones. It seemed like everyone would have them attached to their hand and I was not allowed to touch them. So that got me thinking. Then, when I got back to school after Thanksgiving, Brandon sent me a text and asked me if we could do something fun on Christmas Eve before we went to church. I agreed and he was super excited. I remember his text saying something along the lines of "Really? Can we do something fun, like go somewhere and do something fun?" Without a doubt I agreed and the anticipation started building.
I talked about what I knew with Val, one of the girls that I am on staff with at school. Before we left for winter break, I pretty much had it narrowed down that it was going to happen over break, but more specifically, it was going to happen on Christmas Eve. I never said anything to Brandon about thinking that I knew everything that was going on...mainly because I didn't really want to be a brat and throw a wrench in his plans, but more so because I didn't want to look like an idiot if I was completely wrong and I really didn't know anything.
The week that I got home for winter break I remember Brandon telling me that we needed to go out to his mom's house. I distinctly remember asking him why we needed to go out there and he told me "I don't know, she needs me to do something." Usually Brandon isn't that vague with stuff, so I jumped to conclusions and this is what was constantly going through my head..."Geeze Brandon, I'm not stupid, I know exactly what is going on. You have a ring but it is at your mom's so that there isn't a chance that I will find it at the house. You are saying we have to go to your mom's for some BS reason so that you can get the ring...you think you are so smart, but boy I am on to you!!" When we went out to his mom's, we took the new quad trailer so that she could see it. We hadn't been out there for very long and he asked me to take her outside to show it to her **this is where I decided that I was going to enter into brat mode**...I didn't really want to go outside to show her because in my head, when I went outside, he was going to get the ring and put it in his pocket. So I decided not to put up a fight and I reluctantly headed outside to show off the trailer. A short time later Brandon came outside, with no bulge in the pocket...but I was still convinced that he had gotten the ring while I was outside.
Fast forward a few days to Christmas Eve...Brandon had planned a date for us and the night before, he told me that we were leaving at 10:30a. I did complain about the time, but I went with it and I was at the house at 10:30 on the dot...but he wasn't. I got to the house and I really wanted to go to QT so I sent him a text and asked him if I had time before he got home and he told me no...dumb haha. When he got home he had the boat all hooked up and ready to go...let me remind you that up until this point I had no idea what we were going to do for this date.
So we were on our merry way to the lake...yay!! We got on the freeway and on the on ramp Brandon realized that he forgot his wallet...well me being antsy and all thought that this was all apart of his grand plan so I tried convincing him that it was okay and we didn't need to go back home to get it because I had cash and it wasn't a big deal. He bought into the idea for all of 2.5 seconds and got off on at the next exit and went home to get his wallet. So then we were on our merry way to the lake...again. We actually made it there this time.
So we decided that Brandon was going to back the truck into the water and get the boat on the water and I would park the truck...the only slight problem was that I had never drove the truck with any type of trailer on it and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to learn right then at the lake...but the idea that I disliked even more was having to sit on the boat, in the water while Brandon went and parked...not because I didn't want to be alone, but because I didn't want to take the risk of running his brother's expensive boat into the rocks and all that madness. So, Brandon had me drive around the parking lot at the lake to make sure I was going to be able to drive the truck with the trailer all of 50 feet to park. Don't worry, I got it down. So we got the boat on the water and I parked the truck with no accidents and we were on our merry way.
Now at this point, I was expecting the proposal any time, so I was slightly...or maybe more than slightly antsy. I over analyzed every move that Brandon made, and when I say every I mean EVERY. At one point I remember him bending down to pick something up and I freaked out a little in my head thinking that it was happening...but he stood back up and went about his business without my mini freak out phasing him at all. So while on the lake Brandon would go in a cove, and back out and in another cove and back out. Then back in a cove, and then he turned the boat off. We sat there for a little while...meanwhile I was completely on edge. Then Brandon asked me if I could get him his drink out of the cooler, so I reached around and grabbed the cooler and opened it up, grabbed the drink, handed it to him, closed the cooler and pushed it back behind the seat. Well, to my surprise, in the cooler, on top of his drink was a ring box. My first instinct was to pick it up, but upon further analysis of the situation, I didn't pick it up knowing that by picking it up I was doing exactly what he wanted me to do. My exact thoughts were "Oh hell no! I will not pick it up. If he wants to give it to me he can pick it up and give it to me himself...silly boy." I could kind of see the disbelief in his face when I didn't acknowledge the box. But he brushed it off and didn't say anything about it. Some time passed and we really didn't say much to each other but out of the blue Brandon told me that I had already seen one of my Christmas presents. Well me being in complete brat mode played stupid and looked everywhere in the boat (except for the cooler) for this present that I had supposedly seen. Brandon took a video of me looking for the present. The video ends with me being so frustrated that I threw my face into my hands and just shook my head.
Eventually Brandon pushed the cooler back in front of me. I opened the cooler and surprise surprise, there was a ring box!! I opened the ring box to find a big blue ring pop...yep that's right, a ring pop. I was slightly unhappy with the contents of the box. Brandon explained to me that he couldn't afford to buy me a real ring but that he loved me very much and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I decided to make the most of my less than ideal situation, put the ring on my finger and began to eat the candy.
About that time, Brandon asked me if I wanted to go and eat lunch. I agreed and so we headed to the cafe off the lake to eat lunch. Well the idea that there was going to be a real proposal wasn't out of my mind. I think that I was on edge throughout lunch thinking that he was going to pull a fast one on me and propose during lunch, but it didn't happen. So after lunch we headed back out onto the lake for a little while. Brandon asked me if I was ready to go, and I reluctantly said sure. I knew that the idea of leaving the lake stole all the hope that I had that there was going to be a real proposal that day.
So off the water we went. We pulled the boat out and began wiping it down. I feel like it took significantly longer to clean the boat this time than it had ever taken, but at the time I really didn't think much about it. We found ourselves in the truck driving away from the lake, and I found myself leaving all hope a real proposal there at the lake.
We got back onto the main road and out of nowhere Brandon looked at the mirror and told me that a strap was coming loose on the boat. At this point, I could have cared less. I don't think I would have cared if the boat had fallen off the trailer and bounced down the highway. I was annoyed that I had all of this anticipation and I was going to be returning home with nothing more than a half-eaten blue ring pop.
So Brandon found a place to pull off of the road and consequently it was right where you would get dropped off to float down the salt river. He got out of the truck and did whatever needed to be done with the strap and all. Honestly, I really wasn't paying attention to what was going on because I really didn't care. However, outside I did hear Brandon hit something on something (now I know that isn't very descriptive, but it sounded like he hit his arm, or something, on the boat) and I was concerned because of his broken arm. Following the sound, I heard what sounded like either "ouch" or "oh shit"...it was difficult to decipher. I sat there for a minute to decide if I should go and see if he needed help or if I should just stay there. Well, I decided that I should go and make sure that he was okay. So I hopped my tush out of the truck and walked around the truck and the boat to find Brandon kneeling down. At first I couldn't tell if he was okay. But then I looked a little harder and I saw that he was holding a little black box that he then opened and inside was the ring that I had been waiting for.
The rest of the story is quite foggy to me...but he said stuff to me and it ended with "will you marry me?"
I didn't even have to think about it before I said yes :)

Today I found the recipe for Oregano's Big Rig Pasta...best discovery ever!!

Find it here

Dream Big
as big as the ocean blue

finish school
get married
have a family
learn piano
learn photography
run a marathon
go to Hawaii
learn to surf
own a business
masters degree
personal trainer
skydive


to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment

I've got to say this is one of the most amazing movies that I have ever seen.

Jake Taylor has everything. He has a beautiful girl, he's the champion in basketball and beer pong, and everyone loves him. Then, an old childhood friend, whom Jake used to be friends with, commits suicide.. Jake begins to think. He wonders what he could've done to save his friend's life. A youth minister tells him that Jake needs God. So Jake becomes a Christian. However, things begin to spin out of control. His dad is cheating on his mom, his girlfriend is pregnant, and his former friends ridicule and mock him. During all this, Jake is going to realize just what it means to be a Christian and how, to save a life.

i'm not telling
you it's going to
be easy, i'm
telling you it's
going to be
worth it.