The Most Romantic Night of My Life

Thus far... :)

Wednesday September 23rd 2009. Spencer had arrived on Saturday and we’d been having SUCH a fabulous time together! He dropped me off at school in the morning for my 2 classes. Mid-way through that time I started feeling VERY sick. I texted Spencer and told him I felt awful. He picked me up at 1:30pm after class and started driving me to a clinic (I felt THAT horrible). But halfway there, I told him I thought I should try to get some rest and see if I felt better before I went to see a doctor. So he took me home, made me chicken noodle soup and a sandwich, insisted I drink an entire 32 oz of Gatorade, and then tucked me into bed. He was SO sweet! Totally took care of me! Then he waited downstairs for two and a half hours while I slept and rested. Spence told me that we had plans for the evening but that we’d wait and see how I felt when I woke up. Around 5:30, he knocked on my door. I was awake and feeling much better. Spencer came over by my bed and got down on one knee. He had this folded piece of paper that said: “Carly, will you…….” Then he opened the flap and it said “Go out with me tonight?” I laughed and said “Yes!” He said we had to leave at 6pm so I needed to get dressed quickly and then proceeded to give me three options of outfits to wear. All three were dresses so I was excited that we were going someplace nice!


He arranged for my roommate Callie to drop us off at the metro. We got on the yellow line heading into Washington, BUT then he said we were going to transfer at the next station and take the Green line towards Branch Ave. I was totally perplexed! That train heads into the rough parts of the city and I’ve been told never to get on it except to go to baseball games at Nationals Park…plus it takes us away from the city and nice restaurants. We quickly arrived at the Waterfront, however, and he said this was our stop. I’m thinking: “Is he taking me on a boat ride?!” He was! We walked a couple blocks down to the harbor and there the boat was waiting for us! They took our picture out front before we boarded (so they could try to sell it to us later). This is a picture of a picture...the actual looks better.




It was a Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River. I was so excited! I love water and boats and fancy restaurants and sunsets and city lights…it was all that combined into one! It was a large ship. There were quite a few other people joining us for the evening and everyone was dressed up nicely. We were lucky and got our own private table next to the window. There were candles on the tables and everything.



Dinner was good; dessert was even better. Spencer told me the cruise lasted 3 hours so we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy ourselves. We finished eating about an hour into the cruise. All of the servers were also singers. They started taking turns performing numbers and a few couples started dancing on the dance floor. There was an observation deck upstairs and Spencer asked me if I wanted to go walk around and check out the rest of the boat. But instead of heading towards the back of the boat where the stairs were, he takes me towards the front of the boat where the kitchen was. We meet a hostess who asks us: “Are you ready for your tour?” I was confused.


She told me I had to follow her and that Spencer was going the other way but would meet us. She took me outside and around to the very front of the boat and there was Spencer waiting for me at our very own private table with white tablecloth, roses, and champagne glasses! It was dark out but they had put a small light on the table (like candlelight). I was so surprised! We sat together for ten minutes or so enjoying the view. Then a server came out and started singing for us. Spencer asked me to dance with him there at the front of the boat. Neither of us knew what song he was singing, but we loved it anyway. After he left us alone, Spencer said: “I love you, Charlotte Ann. I want to be with you for the rest of my life and for eternity.” Then he got down on one knee took a ring box out of his pocket, opened it and asked: “Will you marry me?”


I was smiling—beaming. I made him sweat it out for a second or two while I caught my breath and said “yes!”



We were told we could stay out there for the rest of the cruise if we wanted to. So we just sat there on our own private deck for another hour together. It was so much fun!! Here is my cute fiance :)



The view was spectacular. The sky was clear and the moon was beautiful. We had amazing view of Washington D.C.—the capitol, monuments, and city lights…and all of it reflecting off the water. I loved every minute of it. When we finally came back inside they announced to the entire ship that we had just gotten engaged. Everyone was congratulating us wherever we went after that. They were playing music inside so we danced to another song (Kelly Clarkson “A Moment Like This” I think). Then finally we went upstairs to check out the observation deck.

When we got back into the port, the captain of the boat chased us down to the place where they try to sell you the picture they took of you before the cruise. He said the cruise line wanted to pay for our pictures ($40 worth). We also got champagne glasses with the cruise line name etched in them to remember to remember the night. Let me tell you, I was very impressed with that whole operation. They were extremely hospitable. This is us after the cruise...in love, engaged, enthralled with each other. :)



After the cruise, we went to the Lincoln Memorial which is a special place for us. The view of the Washington Memorial and the Capitol from the steps of the Lincoln is breathtaking!



Spencer had then arranged for Callie to pick us up at the Lincoln and take us back to my house. It had been such an incredible night and little did I know that it wasn’t over!





We got back to my house and walked around to the back of the house instead of going in the front door. Spencer had recruited my roommates the day before and arranged for them to put twinkling lights and tea candles all over the deck and railing. And there were two dozen long stemmed roses that were white with pink edges sitting there in a vase. David Gray was playing from Spencer’s laptop as we walked up. It was SO romantic!! We danced to two songs: “The One I Love” and “This Year’s Love. “ It was the perfect end to the evening!! I loved it! I didn’t want to go inside even though it was EXTREMELY humid that night and we were both ready for some cool air. I insisted that we call our families from the deck. Just didn’t want it to end. It was THE perfect night! I loved every part of it!


I am SO happy! I love Spencer more than anything! He amazes me daily with what a truly good person he is and how he cares so much for the people in his life…especially me. He treats me like a queen. He makes me laugh, supports me through trials, complements me, and is the best listener and friend I could ever imagine. I love living life with him by my side. I can’t wait to be married in the Temple and sealed together for eternity! We’re planning on early May in Salt Lake City. :)


Oh and don’t even get me started on my ring….I am IN LOVE with it! It is so beautiful!! I seriously stare at it constantly! So sparkly! It is exactly what I wanted.



I am one deliriously happy girl!

Summer with Spencer

Backing up a bit...

Spencer and I did lots of fun things this summer, none of which I wrote about on this blog...oops. He came to DC to pick me up in May, we had a really fun night going out to Georgetown, eating Thai food, and strolling down to the Waterfront. Then we left the next morning for our 5 day drive across the country. We first headed north to Palmyra, saw the Sacred Grove...then went west to Niagara Falls and down to Kirtland Ohio. Day two took us to Detroit for a baseball game and then to Chicago where we spent a day site-seeing and going to Wrigley Field for a cubs game. Then we drove to Denver on Day 4 and then to SLC on day 5. We had such a fun time together!! It was fabulous. Later in May we went to Oregon to spend time with the Williams Family and again had so much fun! Even though I worked a ton this summer, Spencer and I were still able to spend most of our evenings together. I was very sad to leave two weeks ago when it was time for school to start again. Here are some pics from the summer.

My Grandma had a fancy party for her 80th Birthday. We ate great food, danced the night away, and had a fabulous time.



At my parent's house for one of the dozens of BBQ's we had this summer.



Thai Food in Georgetown.



Sacred Grove.



Niagara Falls.



Portland, Oregon Temple.



Chicago. Cubs game, Miracle Mile and Skyline from Lake Michigan, the Bean.





Motorcycle Driveby and Date Night up the Canyon.



The Fray in Concert at USANA Amphitheater with friends Collin & Traci and Brett & Kristy.

From SLC to DC and NY with Dad

So I sort of took the summer off from blogging as you may have noticed. But now that I'm away from my family and Spencer, I have more free time to fill with stuff like this. These are pictures from my trip with my Dad. He drove with me from Salt Lake City to Washington, DC this August. We had a fabulous time. We stayed in Denver the first night with the Thorntons and then drove to Kansas City via the Eisenhower Library, Truman Library, Liberty Jail, Kansas City Royals Stadium. Day three took us all the way to DC (from Kansas City...which is about 1100 miles!) via Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. When we got to DC, we went to a Nationals game and moved all my furniture and belongings down the street to a new house. I have a new appreciation for my Dad after that move! He was unbelievable! I didn't think we'd be able to fit everything in the Uhaul truck (we were moving my stuff and my roommate's too)...but he did it...citing all of his past experience as a member of the Elder's Quorum. THEN, we left everything in a pile in my new house and caught the Chinatown bus to New York City!!!! I was really excited to take my dad to NY because he had never been before. We had a fabulous time! Here are some pictures of all the fun we had.

Kansas City Royals. I loved the fountains in the outfield!




Liberty Jail



St. Louis Arch.



Churchill Downs.




Citi Field. NY Mets new stadium.




David Letterman playing baseball with Mark Teixeira at the intersection of 53rd and Broadway in NYC. We just happened to be walking past.



The Manhattan Temple.



Central Park.



View from the Staten Island Ferry.




Times Square. I promise my neck isn't really as long as it looks in this picture. Dad has his "I just can't believe how incredible this city is" look on his face. He seemed to really love seeing everything in Manhattan and on multiple occasions commented that he now "gets" what people say about this city...and that he has better appreciation for oh so many Seinfeld episodes. :)



Grimaldi's. Amazing pizza! But we definitely appreciate just how good and close to the real thing Big Apple Pizza is after eating pizza in New York.



Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across the bridge from Brooklyn to Downtown Manhattan after eating at Grimaldi's and visiting Wall Street, the NY Stock Exchange, Chinatown, and Little Italy all that morning.



David Letterman Show. My dad LOVES David Letterman and we were lucky enough to get in to see the taping of his show! Before the show started, Dave, came out to talk to the audience. He took a question, and picked my Dad! It was awesome...Dave totally made fun of my Dad (for shouting his question)...I loved it. Apparently my Dad thought it was pretty cool to be made fun of by Dave too...funny. Also, Dad ran in to Biff Henderson on the street and grabbed a picture (he's on Dave's show).





Marine Core Museum in Quantico, VA.



Thanks for taking so much time off to travel with me, Dad! I had such a great time!