"a great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. it is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences." --dave meurer

i have a perfectly reasonable explanation for why i never finished blogging about africa.
no i didn't die.
both my computers did.
long story, perfect for a later time, which i will get to, i promise.
right now i have a more important story to tell.
i apologize that it's taken me so long to get it out.


so on tuesday, may 1, was mine and tayte's 10 month anniversary since we started dating.
{for those of you who are familiar with us, i'm referring to this most recent dating experience, not cumulative.}
i had plans to come home from work, shower, get all cute, and make a yummy dinner for tayte and i to eat as soon as he got home.
i didn't have much time, so i was jesting with tayte and told him i would have to hurry.
he told me that he would take care of dinner, and he insisted even after i told him i had already thawed the chicken. his insistence made me a little suspicious.
unfortunately, when i got out of the shower, i didn't have enough time to do more than throw on a t-shirt and random jeans and run out the door to go pick him up.
on the drive home, after he officially asked me to dinner, i apologized for not getting ready and joked that i could go change if he wanted.
he told me that would probably be a good idea, and i learned that he would be changing as well.
this made me more suspicious.
in fact, when we were walking to the car to go to dinner, i checked his pockets to see if i could see a ring box.
no ring box, but i got in the car anyway.
he took me to texas roadhouse...yeah, he loves me.
during dinner, he brought up a story my aunt had told the night before about some missionary in houston.
he told me that "she said that story was in an ensign, and i really wanna go find it."
i didn't think much of it, because, well...there was a steak in front of me.
after dinner, i was so full, and all i wanted to do was go to his house and sit on the couch.
he requested that we stop by the byu library, because he "really wanted to go find that ensign."
i grudgingly complied.
we go down to the periodicals, and we find the aisle that had an "ensigns" sign.
almost instantly, i found a stack of ensigns, and pointed it out to him.
he walked further down the aisle, and told me to come down where he was.
i pleaded with him to just look through the pile that was in front of me so we could go.
he insisted that i come down further, saying "this is what i was looking for."
when i got closer, i saw that he was pointing to a book with a spine that said "a love story."
my first thought was, tayte's being sappy because it's our 10-month and we're gonna read a love story together.
no really, that's what i thought.
so i pulled it out and realized that he had covered a book, because the cover said "a love story by tayte campbell and tenery martineau."
i turned it over and read the back, which had quotes different people have said to us, and a little summary about us.
the last line said "This lasted for 10 months until one day Tayte asked...."
i look up and tayte has whipped out this bouquet of roses from nowhere.
as he kneels down, i thought, "he's joking. he's not gonna propose right here in this aisle in the periodicals..."
but sure enough, he got down and popped the question.
i was shocked, and he was laughing at my surprise.
i hyperventilate, pull him up, hug and kiss him, say yes, you know...the usual.
then i ask him about the ring, and he tells me to open the book.
he had cut a square of about 40 or 50 pages out of the middle of the book, and the ring was sitting inside, tied to a ribbon.
there was more celebration, and i thanked his roommates who were standing in the aisles next to us, and we left the library.
so there you have it.
tayte campbell and i are engaged!! :)
we'll be getting married in the mesa temple on august 11th.
{and don't worry, all you utah people--we'll have an open house up here, just for you.}


so you may be thinking that the periodicals is a really weird place to get engaged.
but let me tell you...we spent more time studying in the periodicals than anywhere else. these past 2 semesters, that's how we spent our time. i wish i was joking, but i'm totally not.
so the periodicals was actually the perfect place for him to do it.


so here's the thing. let me tell you about this tayte character real quick. i haven't said much about him because i didn't want to be that girl who blogs about how much she loves her boyfriend or whatever. but this is an appropriate time. i won't tell you our story, because that will take a long time, but i will tell you this: i love him. he means the world to me. it's true the journey to where we are now was not even close to being traditional, and it wasn't always rainbows and butterflies. but i wouldn't change it for anything. it has been a perfect learning experience for both of us. i've come to different realizations recently that made me realize just how perfect tayte is for me. he is my best friend, and i can't wait to spend eternity with him. :)

{oh and i'm not posting any pictures, because the only ones i would post are the ones already on facebook.}