Written from Mallory’s point of view:

We had already discussed getting married in February. We knew we wanted to get married, but we had no ring yet. We decided that we wouldn’t let people know of our intentions until there was ring on a finger. Unfortunately, Lincoln told me that he wasn’t going to have funds available for a ring likely till the end of April.

The weeks passed, and I was growing impatient. He felt like I was going to burst if I had to wait to keep on waiting for the ring to come. He repeatedly apologized for the delay and lamented that things were just out of his hands. “I’m working on it,” he repeatedly said.

In March, he had spring break so we decided to take a brief trip to Utah to visit his family. If we were going to get married, it would probably be a nice thing for me to meet the future in-laws, wouldn’t it? Our flight for Utah was on the 17th of March. Sure, I had suspicions–I had hopes–that he was going to propose soon. But I didn’t think it would happen in Utah. I was even more sure that it wouldn’t happen that week when while on the flight Lincoln had me rummage through his carry-on for a granola bar. “If he had the ring with him, he wouldn’t let me look through his belongings so casually,” I thought. Not this week, it seemed.

Little did I know that he had purchased the ring already, that he had picked it up from the jeweler nearly three weeks before our trip, and that the ring was in fact in the carry-on in which I was rummaging.

Before we left for Utah, we had talked about going running while out there. I needed to prepare for a half-marathon I was to run the following month. He felt that was a great idea. He would have liked to take me skiing or hiking so we could enjoy the mountains but felt it was unfortunate that we just didn’t have the time. However, he said that he knew of a nice trail up the canyon we could take. That way I could prep for my race, and we could enjoy the mountains.

We arrived in Utah late, late Monday night and decided to go for a nice run early the next morning. I woke up Tuesday morning to find Lincoln lying at the foot of my bed fulling dressed in his winter running attire: hoody, shorts, tights, running shoes, and all. I thought it was odd, but he said he couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t quite ready to go yet, so we sat around for about 45 minutes. Finally, we got up, I got dressed, and we began our drive up the canyon.

He said his mother had recently taken the trail, that it was in good condition, and that there was convenient hut under which we could stretch so we didn’t have to sit in the snow to stretch.

After about a fifteen minute drive, we finally arrived at the trail to begin our morning job. We exited the car and went to go stretch under a gazebo near a pretty little lake. It was cold, and we looked fabulous in our chic running clothes. I felt particularly stunning without my make-up. We started stretching; I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing. After a couple minutes, he commented that he needed my help to stretch his hip flexors. I think he said they were his problem area. Well, he had me grab his hand and pull while he knelt and resisted my pull. So with my back turned, I pulled as he stretched one leg. One leg down. He switched legs, and I went to pull again. The next think I felt was a velvet box in my hand.

He pulled me close, and I about collapsed. My knees buckled so hard. He said something, but honestly I don’t remember what he said, but I do

remember saying “Yes” to it. Not long after that, he took me back to the car and popped the trunk. He had his mother prepare a picnic basket for us to enjoy up in the mountains: hot chocolate, croissants, strawberries, cheese, and juice.

We didn’t end up running. But it was perfect. We’re so happy.

Pretty Pond