I have tried so many times to sit down and put into words the most amazing day of my life, but my fear of not being able to express all the emotions in a proper manner has stopped me after only a few lines.
{photo credits: Andrew Martinez, thank you, Andrew}
Last Saturday, April 10, 2010, Scott and I became engaged to be married! And although we have known we would take this huge step for a while, the surprise and excitement was just how I imagined it. Pardon the length of this post, and please bear with the extreme details.
Scott had told me that he had "Langdell" (law school version of class reviews), but that he would be finished by noon, so we could do lunch together. I thought it was a bit strange when he asked me to be at his apartment right at noon, but I overlooked it and arrived there on time. The guard let me in without asking me where I was going, and when I knocked on Scott's door all I heard was Noah barking, so I went in to find the first clue to a scavenger hunt that would lead me to Scott!!!!!!
The first note, which sat by some beautiful orange tulips said:
Well my darling, I seem to be lost somewhere in the fourth largest city in the United States, but for some reason I feel like I am in Japan! I don't have my car or my phone, and I need you to come rescue me! The last place that I can remember being is at the law school checking my mailbox. Maybe if you look there you will find me! (then he proceeded to give me directions and the mailbox # and combination).
It took me a few minutes to realize I actually had to get going. I am not sure which was going faster, my head with the million thoughts that were crossing my mind, or my heart rate due to the expectation of what was soon to come. I had only been to STCL once, when Scott had orientation, and knowing how awful I am with directions, I trusted Scott had left his GPS in the car. Once I get to his car, the GPS is already placed in the dashboard with a note that says:
Turn GPS on and flip this card ONLY after you leave South Texas. Panic moment #2! So I get my phone's not-so-good GPS, and by some miraculous force arrived right where Scott had directed me to park. I overpay the meter, and go into the school.
Once there, I find his mailbox, and after struggling to open it, I find note #2, that says:
If you are reading this, you have not found me yet :( I now remember that right after class yesterday I made a stop at a shop located at: 1958 West Gray Street. Houston, TX 77019. (713) 521-5996. You can now use my GPS and just type in the address. I have a feeling you will know exactly which shop I was in when you get to the address, but just in case you can always ask Mia. :)
Following my panic moment #3, I get back in the car, turn on the GPS, and off we go to mystery destination! I thought it would be easier now that I had technological assistance, but when I hit some barricades due to an event taking place right on the street I needed, I semi-panicked, again. I fully believe that God was specially watching over me at this moment, because I do not know how, but I ended up in a spot where the GPS figured out where to go without putting me on the closed streets. Once the GPS says "you have arrived, destination is located on your right" all I see is a lot of unfamiliar shops. One name stood out, Swirll, but we had never been to this location before.
I go in, and think that the girl behind the counter clearly has to be Mia, but when I ask she says no. Then I ask her if Mia is in, and with a puzzled look she goes in the back of the store and gets the manager. He tells me no Mia works at Swirll. We try dialing the number Scott had put in the clue, but it does not work, so the manager suggests I go to Kroger. What? Kroger???
I pull out of the parking lot and as I am making my way to Kroger I see to my right a sign that says "Mia Bridal Couture". My heart immediately drops and I don't quite know what to do. I don't even notice when I park in a handicap parking space, and just go into the store hoping Scott is right there because my nerves are close to taking over me. I walk in, and tell Mary that I am in a scavenger hunt, and half-way through my sentence she just says she knows exactly who I am and that she needs to go get something from the back. She comes back with two boxes and note #3, and then tells me I have an appointment to try on wedding dresses on May 1st! ...
I can hardly believe this is happening. I get back in the car, and open the boxes, which contained a Martha Stewart Keepsake Wedding Planner and Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette book!!!!!!! Then I open the note that says:
I heard these two books can be very helpful in planning a wedding and something tells me that you may need them in the near future! You should be right on my tail by now my love, and this is the trickiest part in finding me because my memory on how I got here is very vague. You may want to check the glove compartment in my car, there may be something there that can help you. ;)
{this is a picture I took afterward of all the things I collected throughout the day: books, notes, magazines, flowers, maps}
I open the glove compartment to find a driving map that takes me to Hermann Park, and a walking map that leads me to the Japanese Garden!!!!!!!!!!! I am so nervous at this point, I can hardly drive. But I need to get to Scott, so I attempt to make my way through an extremely crowded Hermann Park. Parking was only tricky because I had to fight a lady that pretended to not notice the blinker while I waited for a car to pull out of my future spot. As Scott says "the blinker makes it official", and I definitely got there first! So I park, walk towards the Japanese Garden, and notice that as I am walking, the people around me are getting weirder and weirder.
The first two people I see are a couple of girls dressed head to toe in Star Wars paraphernalia. Then, to my right, there is a stage set up where people on costumes are teaching the crowd how to fight with samurai swords. The only logical explanation is that I clearly must be at the wrong place. So I ask a girl wearing a volunteer vest if she knows where the Japanese Garden is. She literally responded: Do you see the sign that says "Become a Ninja for $5"? Right through those doors is the garden. I must have had the most confused look ever, because I couldn't quite comprehend what was going on.
{Photo by Andrew Martinez}
I walk in to the beautiful and very crowned garden, and straight ahead, standing on the bridge that goes over the pond is Scott! I can't describe the feeling when I saw him, all I know is that I couldn't wait to get to him. After we hug and kiss, I remember asking him not to do it right there, because there were about 5 to 10 people on the bridge with us, but next thing I know Scott is down on one knee, and this is where my mind goes totally blank and I begin having an outer-body experience. He tells me how much he loves me and how much we have been waiting for it, and then he says: Laura, will you marry me? From his account of the events, I said YES! Next thing I remember is people around us congratulating us and wishing us the best. And then, Andrew, Scott's friend from STCL comes out of nowhere to take pictures!
{the big moment! Photo by Andrew Martinez}
It took me about 2 hours from the moment I opened Scott's door to the moment I finally sat down to grasp what a fantastic turn our lives had just taken. It was all so overwhelmingly blissful and I still have a hard time believing I get to spend the rest of my life with such a wonderful guy. Scott, you truly make me the luckiest girl on earth. I love you.
