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In order to tell the story of our engagement, I will have to first tell you the story of our first date. For those of you who don’t know, Andy and I were set up on a blind date by my Aunt Mary and Uncle Fred (more Mary).

We met on August 27th when he picked me up for our date. Andy was well prepared for our first date. He planned on going up to canyon for a picnic and walking around the falls. He even had picked up some yummy sandwiches, but I didn’t know about that then. Well, it happened to be raining that day, so he gave me the option of going to this authentic pizza place. I chose that plan since it was raining. We went to the pizza place where I ate pizza with corn on it for my first time. After dinner he started driving me back home, and then he noticed that it had stopped raining. We decided to try the canyon anyways. We went up to Canyon Glen and started walking the trail towards Bridal Veil Falls. For those of you who know me well, you know that I can easily get spooked in the dark outdoors. As we were walking it started to get dark so I kept noticing all the dark shapes ahead. Andy noticed that I had slowed down my pace a couple of times. He then said, “You think that dark bush up there is a Bear, don’t you?” I looked at him very timidly and told him yes. We then decided to turn back. We ended up talking in his car for awhile…..away from the rain that had returned. Then he took me back home.

Now that you know about that date, I can tell you about last night’s date (February 10th).

Andy picked me up and hinted that I needed to be dressed warm. He even bought us matching beanies. On the drive he made me put both beanies on and over my eyes, so I could not see. However, I have a good sense of directions, and I was pretty sure we were driving up the canyon. When we parked he got out, and told me he would be just a minute. He left me blindfolded in a car for about 10 songs. Thankfully, he left the car running and music on. Then he led me down an icy path to a camp-chair next to a fire. He had been building a fire and putting together our sandwiches while I was sitting in the car. We ate the sandwiches and fed a stray cat. This was just the first part of the date. Here is a picture of us trying to stay warm…

After we ate he walked me back to the car, and then he cleaned up our stuff. Then he blindfolded me again and drove for a couple more minutes. We got out, and he asked me what I could hear. I told him that I could hear water from the river. That wasn’t correct, so he asked me what water a part of our first date. I told him rain, so he had to clarify that it was water that we actually didn’t get to see. As I guessed Bridal Veil Falls he pulled off my beanie/blindfold, and I saw that we were on an illegal pullout across from Bridal Veil Falls. The snowy mountain was beautiful. Andy then turned me around, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. He said, “Will you marry me, Melissa? Now that I finally got our first date to work, I want to work on making everything else work in our lives.” I leaned over and said, “Of course I will. Yes!” Then I kissed him. He pulled out the ring, which I couldn’t really see in the dark, and said that he hoped I was right about my ring measurement (4 1/2). I wasn’t, but I told him to just shove it on so he did. He then got a flashlight so I could see it. After taking a few pictures we drove back to my place, and I started announcing to the world that I am engaged to an amazing man! I look forward to spending the rest of my life and eternity with Andy. He makes me happier than I ever could imagine! I look forward to being Melissa Bayless!