when Jarrett met Natalie {part 2}

The Engagement
{aka: bad omen, i think not}

after a brief stint in the hospital in late October 2001 for a kidney infection i was home still recovering. i distinctly remember being mad that jarrett did not come to the hospital to visit me on one night when i was there. little did i know, the reason he didn't come visit me was because he was doing a little shopping. i was released on thursday, and home resting the following days. i remember i was up watching tv in my bedroom & the phone rang. i didn't answer it, but had a feeling it was jarrett - but when i wasn't told to pick up the phone immediately, i assumed it wasn't him. after a few minutes my mom comes up to tell me jar is on the phone for me. i remember thinking, why did he talk to my mom for like 5 minutes, that never happens.

he asks if i am feeling up for going out to dinner. i say absolutely, i am ready to get out of this house. he was supposed to be there to pick me up at 6:00. at like 6:30 he calls from his cell phone & thought it was me that picked up. it was my sister. he is just belligerent yelling that he hit a deer & would be late. sarah relays the message to me - cussing tyrade & all. we all have a good laugh. jarrett is always easily worked up.

so i sit & wait...patience is a virtue, i do not possess. he arrives, i go outside to see the damage to his truck. but he had switched vehicles with his brother after he hit the deer. my mom convinces me to go back inside & take my medicine with the full glass of water it requires. i begrudgingly obey & go back in the house as they go out to the garage to talk to my dad about, what we now call, the bad omen.

i never make my way out to the garage, after about 10 minutes he comes inside to ask if i am ready to head to bloomington for dinner. we leave & i think nothing of it. while driving he seems super nervous. i assume it is because an hour ago he slammed into a huge buck & did a ton of damage to his beloved pick-up. we arrive at the olive garden & put our names in. we go next door to walk around toys r us, do a little light shopping for my soon-to-be-born niece, cassidy. the whole time he is walking around with his hand in his pocket. i remember i slapped his hand & said something like "what are you doing playing a little pocket pool or something" joking (you know, that is what i do). he tenses up & says, "don't do that" & got a little bent out of shape. whatever...

we eat our dinner. he takes me home. we go up to my room & watch a little SNL. he sits up & is just sweating like crazy. i assume he is going to throw-up. i grab my garbage can & shove it towards him. he drops to one knee & i say "what are you doing?"

he says to me "my time with you has been the best time of my whole life. you have made me so happy. and if you give me the chance, i will spend the rest of my life making you just as happy. will you marry me?"

SHOCK OF THE CENTURY!!!!

i don't even remember saying yes. i remember crying like a baby. i remember throwing myself at him & wrapping my arms around his neck. i remember nodding like a fool, still unable to speak. i remember him sliding the beautiful ring on my finger with shaking hands. i will remember it always. i will cherish those 10 or so minutes for my entire life. i am rarely at a loss for words. he totally & completely caught me off guard. i wasn't prepared for this. i was in ratty old sweat pants & a t-shirt. it wasn't what i had pictured in my mind at all. but it was PERFECT.

Saturday, November 3, 2001. the day he asked me to be his bride. the day he made me the happiest girl in the world.  the day he asked both my mom & dad for permission to ask me to marry him. the day that he hit a deer. and the day my brother-in-law brad told him in the garage, "the day you pick to ask nat to marry you, you hit a deer & total your truck -- that's got to be a bad omen."

bad omen, i think not.

my mom later told me she was waiting to hear me scream. but i was utterly & completely speechless. i knew an engagement was coming - i assumed christmas or thanksgiving. but on a saturday night after eating olive garden & in the middle of weekend update on SNL my loving boyfriend of only 9 months asked me to marry him.

everyone said it was a very speedy courtship. "you haven't been dating long" ask me how many times people said that to me when i told them we got engaged. the answer would be A LOT. no we haven't been dating since our freshman year in high school like sarah & brad. no we didn't date for a whole year before we got engaged. we didn't have to. we knew. and when you know, you just know. i always think it's stupid when people say that you will just know. it's true though.

we bought our first home...which is the same house we still live in

let the wedding planning begin. i don't know for certain when, but i know within the next several days, we had already set a date for our wedding. it was to be October 26, 2002. i think i called the church on the following monday or tuesday to ask if they had that date available. we had the wedding party picked out by thanksgiving. my mom, sister, & i went dress shopping in january. we had every detail planned. i was not bridezilla by any means. if i had been, i'm sure somebody would have told me.

[to be continued...]