ENGAGED! 02/11/12

Tonight I got engaged. It was so unexpected and I was completely floored. I knew I was going to marry Zach. I've known that for quite some time. I figured he would propose at the USU Aggie basketball game on Valentines Day or on Leap Day (because it only happens every 4 years) but he selected February 11, 2012 and it could not have been more perfect.
So, lets start from the beginning. If you already know this part, feel free to skip down to where it says Engaged! 


I met Zach my freshman year of college. My friend Lauren and I went to the week of welcome paint dance. Lauren found a lovely frat boy named Jake ( I was a little skeptical) and she got his number. After about a week of texting him, she discovered she wasn't interested in him, so she gave me his number and I was going to break the news to him. Jake and I ended up meeting on campus the next day, and I went to his apartment where I met another best friend, Ali for the first time. Jake invited Ali and I to a gathering at his frat house called "Sig Ep Sunday's" where the boys in the fraternity give out ice cream and socialize. Again, I was skeptical, but I decided to go because Jake was nice and a wonderful guy, and Ali was already a best friend. We went to the Sig Ep house that Sunday and in the basement there are couches and luv sacs. I met a boy there. He seemed kind of weird, and I thought he was old. (A 3-year age difference is hard for a freshman to fathom!)

                                    We love going to Aggie Events! Always have,  Always will!

This boy got my number. For the next year, this number would say "Zach Sig Ep" as his contact information. That year...well lets just say I was a freshman. Thank goodness for patient roommates! And for patient Zach's! On our first date we went to Smiths, bought a loaf of bread, cans of tomato soup and rented the movie The Proposal (ironic?) I was not very interested at the time, but that all changed later.
 In the fall of 2010, I entered a large Family Finance classroom of about 400 students. Somehow, Zach found me in that class and decided to sit with me. He was too cheap to buy the book, but thankfully my roommate Tara had taken the class and had loaned me her older edition of the book, so we shared mine. I saw Zach every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a whole semester. We became great friends that semester. We started dating that September, but I got scared things were going too fast and called things off in November. (Remember, I'm only 19 at this point) Still staying friends, I went to Phoenix with Zach's family for part of Christmas break. I had never met his family but I absolutely loved them! (and still do!)


After Phoenix was a rough semester for me and Zach and I didn't see much of each other. I was in the process of working on applications to Utah State's Education program and Special Education program. It was hard not having classes together. Thankfully I pass the Sig Ep house on my way to my apartment every day so I always stopped in to see Zach. That summer (2011) was rough. Zach and I still talked as friends, and we were still trying to figure out what "we" were. My little brother left on a mission, and so did my best friend Tara. Zach and I spent the 4th of July together down in his hometown of Richfield, Utah. We began dating again in August. We had our ups and downs but finally decided that this was it :)

We dated the next semester and had a blast.

We spent Christmas at my parents, skyped with Nate (Elder Anderson) and then drove to Richfield to be with the Cards. I turned 21 there and Zach took me to a bar on the way back to Logan. He is so great. We always have a lot of fun.

Engaged!
As I said earlier, I knew I was going to marry Zach Card for some time. The date had been set, and some things booked. We had been ring shopping and selected a gorgeous one. Now all I had to do was wait for him to pop the question.
At USU, it was the Mardi Gras celebration tonight. Zach wanted to play the black jack tables. (The first time I every played black jack was Christmas with his family) So, he came to my apartment and picked me up. We drove to the Sig Ep house and from there, walked to the TSC where the festivities were being held. Zach said we were meeting the guys up there, so we went to the casino. There we found a bunch of Sig Eps, and David (a Sig Ep and friend) who was the dealer. Zach sat in and started to play. After one round, he asked David if he could deal. He thought it would be cool to get a picture of himself dealing because his last name is Card (cute, right?)  David agreed, and got my camera while I sat in Zach's seat and placed my bet. Then Zach started to deal. He dealt the cards face down, which I didn't realize was wrong since I'm not very familiar with black jack. He then dealt the second group of cards, and then told everyone to look at their cards. I flipped the first card to find something very peculiar about this card. At first I thought it was a Joker because it wasn't what I expected. It was a king of hearts with the words "Will you" written over the card. The second card I flipped was a queen of hearts and it said "Marry Me?" Everyone started to clap and I looked over at Zach who was down on one knee. He asked me to marry him and of course I said YES! He put the ring on my finger, then we kissed and stuff, then he asked me, "Do you wanna hang out with me forever?" This is something I said to him once when we were discussing marriage, because I told him I didn't want to hang out with anyone else forever, I wanted to be with him. I said yes again and then we were engaged! It was such a great night. Definitely one I will never forget.