Hey, We're Engaged!

Tommy: At some point in early July of 2014, I got a call from my good friend Jeremy. He asked if I would be interested in helping to lead a trip with his youth group climbing a 14er. Climbing one was something that I had wanted to do for a long time, but never seemed to have the time to do it. I agreed to help and we decided that July 19th would be the date that we went. For those of you who are not familiar with climbing 14ers, you have to wake up very early to start climbing so you can be off the peak of the mountain and on your way down before afternoon storms roll in. As luck would have it, I got delayed flying into Denver the night before while returning from a work trip. I didn’t land until after 1 am on Saturday morning. When I finally got home, waking up in just 3 short hours was the last thing that I wanted to do, but because it was too late to cancel, I decided to suck it up and just get what little sleep I could. My alarm went off at 4 am and I felt awful. I said a quick prayer asking God for strength to get through the hike and I headed to the church to meet up with everyone. After several hours of hiking, I finally made the 14,267 foot high summit. I took a picture at the top and posted it to my Instagram account, having absolutely no clue that in doing so, a series of events was starting that would lead me to meeting and, as of Saturday, getting engaged to the love of my life.

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully God is weaving together the story that He has written for us. I say this because at the same time I was climbing my 14er, about 60 miles south of where I was, Ashley was doing the same thing; and she also posted a picture on the summit of her 14er to Instagram. (I’m sure you will hear her side of the story in her section of this post.)

Ashley: My story is similar in some parts, and different in others. Sometime last spring, I made the decision that my time in the great state of Colorado was winding down, and I had a year or so left here. I love it, but was feeling the need to be closer to family. It had been a hard year, and the realization that being close to loved ones was a higher priority than my love affair with this state was a hard-hitting one. To feel okay with leaving, I was determined to cross as many things off of my Colorado bucket list as possible. One of the things that was on my list was to hike Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak is the 14er that Colorado Springs is notorious for, and after admiring it from afar for a few years, it was time to schedule a date to summit that sucker. I picked a Saturday that was supposed to have decent weather, and invited a few people to come. My coworker, Tami, was the only one able to make it, and we set out for the Crags trail very early on Saturday, July 19th. We were pretty proud of ourselves, and the only way to truly cross something off the ol’ list is to document it with pictures (if it isn’t on Insta, it didn’t happen, amirite?) Later that evening, I posted a couple of pictures as well.

   

T: A few days after Ashley and I had climbed our mountains, we were both contacted by a mutual friend, Ashley Markisohn (to keep the two Ashley’s separated I will only use her last name from now on.) Markisohn sent us a group Facebook message introducing Ashley and I to each other and encouraging us to meet up for dinner because “it just ain’t right that we don’t know each other!”

A: Ashley Markisohn was my church camp counselor from way back in junior high, but she and I have kept in touch over the years. She has always been someone who I’ve admired and looked up to, and her heart is so similar to mine. That lady has always been able to speak great truth into my life, and so as she started telling me about Tommy, I figured she was right about us getting to know each other.

T: I called Ashley a day after the message and receiving her phone number. I was on a business trip in a small town in Idaho when I called. We talked for a few minutes when Ashley asked me why I was in Idaho. It was at this point that she started to figure out just who she might be meeting up with, and I am shocked that after this phone call, she still agreed to get dinner with me. When she asked why I was in Idaho, I proceeded to tell her that I was a game warden and that I traveled all over the country arresting animals who misbehaved themselves. After a couple seconds of silence from the other end of the phone, I started cracking up and told Ashley my real profession (A: wait, you don't arrest animals?) and that if she was going to go to dinner with me that she better be ready for anything.

A: After talking with Tommy on the phone, and doing a little Instagram research into his hobbies (he liked to hike, Jeep, and sometimes wear chaps - okay, that last part I was indifferent about), he seemed pretty great. I, however, had plans of my own. After dealing with some other events during the summer, I had very little faith in humanity and more especially, relationships. Plus, I was moving in a year. Because Ashley recommended we know each other, and because he sounded like he’d be a fun person to get to know as a friend, I agreed to us going to dinner.

T: We went on our first date on July 30th. I picked Ashley up for dinner, and we went to the Cherry Cricket and started to get to know each other better. I was completely mesmerized by her the entire time we were there and I had the strangest feeling in my stomach.  I have heard it said by several married couples that when you meet the right one you will just know, and I have never actually believed them. It seems like a concept that is too far fetched to be true. How would I actually know? What would I think or feel? Anyway, We continued to enjoy dinner together and 2 hours into our meal, while talking about our families, Ashley told me that goodbyes were very hard for her and that’s when everything changed for me. Time seemed to almost slow down for just a moment and I thought to myself, “well, you’re never going to have to say goodbye to me.” That was it. That was the “you will just know” moment that all the married couples had told me about. My whole mood at dinner changed. I was suddenly much more nervous and yet more relaxed at the same time. After a 4 hour meal I took Ashley home and called my best friend Ed and told him that I thought everything was going to be different with this girl and that I could already tell that this was going to be a lot of fun.

A: Getting ready for dinner, I was more nervous than I thought I’d be. He picked me up (wearing a suit and tie, no less) and we went to dinner. Halfway through, I could tell that my plans for only wanting to be friends were quickly falling through. I sent my roommates a text message while he was in the restroom that said “I think I actually like this guy - stand by.” I did like him. The conversation was compelling, and by the time we left, I wasn’t ready to go home. In times like that, you get ice cream. So we did. By the time Tommy took me home, he was dropping off a very different girl than the one he had picked up a few hours earlier.

T: Over the past seven months, Ashley has become such a huge part of my life. We have been blessed to have many fun experiences together and I am so excited to be able to share those with her and continue to create new memories for a lifetime. Before I could ask Ashley for the opportunity to share a lifetime with her, I first had to ask her family's permission to ask for her hand. I called Ashley’s sister, Lindsey, at the beginning of February, told her my plans and thoughts, swore her to absolute secrecy, and enlisted her help in making sure that her whole family would be together for dinner on Thursday the 4th and booked a trip to Iowa. I called Ashley’s dad, Bruce on the evening before I was flying out and told him that I would be in town and asked if I could join them for dinner. I waited until Bruce agreed to letting me come for dinner before I told him that Ashley couldn’t know that I was out there. :) I flew out to Iowa, had dinner with her parents and two of her three sisters, and asked their permission to ask for Ashley’s hand in marriage. I have been so blessed by her whole family up to this point and was once again very blessed by them when they said that they would love for me to ask her.

A: Tommy is the guy that I have had the honor and privilege of getting to know, and getting to love. We are very different in a lot of little ways, but very the same in all the big ones. He is the person I always wanted to end up with, and then started believing didn’t exist. He opens car doors, he doesn’t shy away from the tough conversations, he goes above and beyond in everything he does and in all of his interactions. His discernment and reliance on the Lord are why I don’t have to wonder about how we’re going to tackle the unknown challenges of the years ahead. Through him, I’ve gotten to meet some of the best people in the world. We've had more amounts of fun and adventure than I could've dreamed of.

T: I flew back to Colorado on Friday afternoon and drove to Red Rocks park to GPS mark the spot where I was going to ask her and sent them to Ed who would be hiding in the bushes ready to take pictures! On Saturday morning I asked Ashley if she wanted to go on a hike. She agreed and I instantly became incredibly excited and nervous about what was going to happen. I got her ring out of the spot I had been hiding it, put it in my pocket, and began to do everything I could to stay busy so she would not know that I was nervous. We drove to Red Rocks on a beautiful 75 degree day and walked to where I had originally planned to ask her. We were 100 feet away from “the spot” when Ashley told me that she had to go pee. Plan derailed. I didn’t want her to pee her pants in the excitement (or sheer terror ;) of the moment so I had to let her go pee before I could ask. The only problem was that we were nowhere near any bathrooms. Ashley, obviously having no idea what was about to happen, said that she would just go in the bushes…...right where Ed was hiding. Thankfully, Ed is part ninja and he was able to get out of where we were walking. As she went into the bushes, I ran over to Ed and gave him the updated plan. I was too nervous to try and reset the original plan so I told Ed that right when she came out of the bushes I was going to walk about 20 feet and then ask her. I had been rehearsing my speech all morning, yet when I got to the spot where I was going to ask her I forgot every single word of what I was going to say. I threw something nice together (I think... it was all such a blur)  and got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Thankfully, she said yes and now we are going through all the craziness of starting planning for our wedding. I am so incredibly blessed by Ashley and I am beyond excited for everything that we have ahead!!

A: Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag - I have a small bladder and wilderness restrooms don’t bother me (glad that could make it into the story.) Anyway, the question we’ve gotten the most over the last few days is “were you surprised?” Yes, definitely yes. Some things were a little off during his “work trip” on Thursday that caused me to be suspicious, but after he got back on Friday and told me all about the trip, I was slightly embarrassed about how wrong I’d been. I’m about to marry the sneakiest man alive. As soon as we were off the trail, and Tommy started telling me how much I meant to him (and I could tell how nervous he was), I knew what was about to happen. I think we both had some tunnel vision, because I never noticed Ed snapping pictures, and neither of us noticed the girls on the trail yelling about how he was about to propose. The “heck yes” part was easy. About an hour later, during lunch, Tommy double checked to make sure I had said yes. He didn't remember that part. 

People have asked about the ring, and all I can say is that pictures don't do it justice. The ring belonged to Tommy's great grandmother, and was the same ring that his dad used to propose to his mom while he was saving up for her ring. It's perfectly perfect. Now I need a manicure (Katie, where ya at?!)

After the initial shock of it all (actually, scratch that, I think we’re both still a little in shock), it has been so fun getting to share the news with family and friends. We are so thankful for the outpouring of love.