the day he popped the question

Three years ago today, my hunk of a hubby asked me to marry him. I know it's kind of odd to document this three years late. However, after recently discovering the video footage of me telling the story never actually happened (blonde moment with mom and the video camera), I decided today was a fitting day to document it.
Brad proposed to me on a Friday, April 16, 2010. It was the middle of finals week and I had totally bombed a final that afternoon. I was pretty bummed about it and Brad had already told me he was going to pick me up from campus. He knew I wasn't feeling too hot about myself so he picked up some Cafe Rio and took me on a picnic to our favorite park in Provo. We had spent a lot of time there throughout our courtship, getting to know each other so it had kind of become our go-to hang out.
We enjoyed our pork salads on a blanket while we talked about how pathetic my performance was on my final. After relaxing a little, Brad gave me a brand new baseball and we decided to play some catch.

picnicking at the park

playing catch with the new ball

Because my baseball was new, I was being a bit protective. Anytime it would hit the grass or roll in any mud I had to wipe it clean before throwing it again. One of the many times I overthrew the ball it rolled past Brad and into some mud. His back was turned as he picked up the ball and, I assumed, was cleaning it off. It was taking him forever so I started nagging him, telling him to "throw it already." He finally threw it back to me and a smudge caught my eye as the ball landed in my glove. I pulled the ball from my glove to perfect Brad's  cleaning efforts. It was then that I realized it wasn't a smudge at all, but some writing...

reading the writing on the ball, over and over and over again...

Then, I looked up to see Brad running toward me, kneeling at my feet, holding up a little paper box. 

The little paper box was a bit of an inside joke from attending a devotional together, folding paper creations, the first weekend we met. I'm all about sentimental :)

popping the question face to face

saying yes!

yay for being engaged!

This is the ball he proposed with; we had it on display at our wedding reception:

@blushphotography

Everyone has their own preferences for their dream proposal story. For me, I just wanted it to be sentimental. I didn't need the rose pedals and candles with the lights (although that's darling). I just wanted the proposal to have personal meaning. Brad and I enjoyed spending time together in the park, eating our favorite food, playing catch - something we loved to do together. I also love that I have a souvenir from such a special day :) For me, it was perfect. I'm so grateful for my man and how he knows exactly how to make me happy.