8 Years!

Enchanted Garden Ball- June 17, 2005

 

  

Standing on the famous "Pedestal"

 

 

Out of the 170 pages I’ve typed as a want-to-be writer, I dedicated 27 pages to my six month courtship with Ross. In celebration of eight wonderful years of marriage, I have copied and pasted excerpts from my records. It was hard to decide what to add, but this is what I came up with: 

June 24, 2005 “...We were there for a couple of hours after the sun went down, we watched the lightning just outside his car, and we leaned back and just talked. Ross put his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. For the rest of the time, we always had our arms around each other; it felt nice…” was recorded in my journal, “...I see nothing but good in him... When I pray, I thank Heavenly Father for Ross' friendship… I'm not saying Ross and I will get married, (even if Mom and Michelle are already mentally planning the wedding.) ...I'm finding out if Ross is the type of person I want to spend eternity with... Whoever I marry, I am not looking for perfection. I want someone who is aware of the areas he needs to work on, and willing to change. I want an eternal companion who will inspire me to be a better person. Already, Ross makes me want to be a better person.  

June 25, 2005: “In the evening, Ross and I went to a Madison Lions semi-pro football game. It was the third night in a row we were together. I took advantage of the time we had together. It was Saturday night, and the second summer block starts Monday. In the middle of the football game, our hands were “like magnets” (as we later described it) when he held my hand for the first time. For the rest of the night our hands were interlocked.

“This is a really big deal to me,” Ross confessed, lifting our interlocked hands, referencing him holding my hand when we walked back to the car after the game. I was overwhelmed with joy. I had the best conversation with Ross… At the end of the day I wanted a duplicate night with Ross, sooner rather than later.”

August 21, 2005: “What is love?” Ross asked.

“Well, do you remember a few weeks ago, in sacrament meeting? All the talks were about 'love'. Someone asked, 'how do you know when you are in love?' Some of the things that were mentioned were: the relationship is not based on physical contact, but you just want to be with that person and cannot imagine being without him or her, it means caring and respecting the other person…”

Laie Hawaii temple, May 2006 (We went to Oahu with my family a week before we got married. My hometown made the family vacation possible through donations. A gift for my mom; when she was battling cancer.) 

  

May 19, 2006, Seattle Temple

September 11, 2005: Our good-bye lasted longer than normal. It took a half an hour for us to say our final good-bye. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and he did the same. My feelings for Ross went from interest, to like, liking a lot, beginning stages of love, falling in love, to fallen in love. I had to hold it all in; I was about to burst! Ross already knew I would never say “I love you” unless he said it first…

After the CES fireside tonight, Ross, and I [took a walk] …talking about love of all things… We found a place to stop, and I sat on a fence while Ross stood in front of me; with the David O. McKay 2005 Relief Society/Priesthood manual in hand.

“I want to read you something President McKay said about 'love'. 'Well, you may ask, “How may I know when I am in love?” That is a very important question… In the presence of the girl you truly love you do not feel to grovel; in her presence you do not attempt to take advantage of her; in her presence you feel that you would like to be everything that a [great man] should become, for she
will inspire you to that ideal.'

“You are unlike any girl on campus. There are plenty of pretty girls, but they do not have the characteristics that you have. I do not feel awkward holding your hand, hugging you the way I do, or even kissing you, and that is really unusual for me, so knowing that; I would say that I do love you.” I wrapped my arms around him,

“I love you too.” I whispered in his ear…

September 17, 2005: [In the past, Ross and I have pondered] “…To truly love someone: How do you feel when you are around the person you love? How do you feel when you are away from the person you love?

“How do you feel when you are away from me?” I asked.

“Well, it was like the weekend you were gone for Labor Day [I went to Utah] I missed you; I was so lonely without you. At first, when I started to tell you that I love you I had to warm up to the idea., but now I can say, without any question that I love you, Kammer.”

“I love you, too.”

[Ross replaced “Kimbo” for “Kammer” shortly after we started dating. He told me that Kimbo is too common for a nickname. Apparently, among Ross' roommates they always refer to me as Kammer. I left a message for Ross on the answering machine, “Hi Ross, this is Kim...” Ross and his roommates replayed the message… They couldn't tell if I said “Kim” or “Cami”. It was a consensus; they clearly heard “Kammer.”]

 

 

 

[December 2005:] I placed bets with two roommates on when Ross would propose, so far both roommates are wrong. On Thursday, Ross and I did an endowment session. One roommate was certain Ross would propose at the temple; she said “I’m never wrong”. I mentioned that Ross will be really busy Friday night with lots of homework, and our “hot” date is postponed until Saturday. My other roommate predicted Ross was fooling me and that he really had “something up his sleeve”, but I know that if Ross tells me he has a lot of homework, he truly means it.

“If anything he will propose on Saturday,” I said.

Saturday, December 10, 2005: During dinner, [at Wingers] I couldn’t help but to be curious ‘I wonder when Ross will propose to me?’ I didn’t want to think about it, for I knew I'd have a ring on my finger before Ross graduates. [Monday, we went to Dale’s Jewelers and I picked out the ring]. However, among my roommates I joke, “He'll probably toss the ring out the window when he drives out of town asking, 'Will you marry me?'”…

 “What do you want to do tonight?” Ross asked, driving out the parking lot [after dinner.]

“Well, we could always do the usual; watch a movie at your place.”

“Okay… But before we do, I thought we could walk by some frozen ponds at Nature Park.” A light bulb went on in my head, ‘is this is his plan to propose to me?' I didn’t want to read too much into it, just in case I was wrong. We walked around the ponds hand in hand, making small talk…  “Before we freeze to death, I want to tell you something.” He let go of my hand and grabbed for something in his jacket pocket. I expected it to be something small, but it was bigger then I imagined. I looked at the plastic bag he held. ‘What is in there?,’ I thought. He pulled the contents out, and I was surprised to see my right shoe, the Keds shoe I had given to Ross when I asked him out on our first date [a whole other story I won’t get into now or this post will be much longer]. Only this time I saw a ring attached instead of a fairytale story. He stood up, keeping his eyes locked on mine... He got on one knee with a pleading expression, “Will you marry me?” I wrapped my arms around him.

“Of course I will!” He untied the shoelace and took the ring off the shoe, placing it on my finger. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Kammer…” He put my glove back on, taking my hand as we ran to the car in the bitter cold air, anxious to warm up. Ironically, we stopped at a bridge. “Are you ready to ‘cross that bridge’?”

“Yes!” And we ‘crossed the bridge' of engagement.

 

San Diego Temple- June 2006 

 

June 7, 2006 (2 ½ weeks after Ross and I got married) “It is moments like this I wonder what Heavenly Father sees in me, what makes me so special... Ross told me we are a miracle in the fact that Heavenly Father brought us together. He told me that when we met he had been off his mission for three years and it wasn’t like he didn’t date at all, he went on a lot of dates, but it wasn’t the right time. He prayed about whom to marry… and he got the answer that he should marry me!” “…I’ve never felt this way in my entire life. I have never been so happy or feel so much love…”