The Engagement

May 23rd, 2015 will forever be a special day for the Silva & Bernal family. 

Lake Chelan Winery

We were in Lake Chelan for memorial day weekend with some of our crossfit and new friends thanks to Duy Tran. (This picture is brought to you buy our new selfie stick)

It was a beautiful and sunny day.  After an exhausting week of work and late first night with our friends I slept in until 11:30am. Jaime woke me up in the morning (as he always does) with a kiss, soft spoken words, and the option "Do you want me to come back and wake you up in another half hour?" I usually beg for "5 more minutes" or whatever I can get. It's going to be a lifelong goal to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. I eventually woke up, ate breakfast and then we laid out in the sun for an hour or so to tan. 

Most of our group went wine tasting which gave us the opportunity to spend the morning together just talking and laughing as we always do. 

We got to hang out with a few of the kids that were part of the group at the house we rented on Lake Chelan. I'll never forget the look on Jaime's face while watching me play with the kids. He just had this smile on his face and was so at ease. Looking back I like to imagine he was thinking "I'm going to propose to this girl today and I can't wait to have a family with her."

After playing in the lake I told Jaime I wanted to work out so he programmed a "death by 10 meter sprints with burpees" WOD (workout of the day). One thing I love about Jaime is that he always challenges me to push myself. I love exercising with him and pushing each other to give it our all in everything we do.

After working out, Jaime told me to shower and get ready early for dinner because he didn't want me to be rushed. I'm always rushing all over the place (family, work, church, friends, exercise, errands) and it's rare that I actually have time to put on makeup, do my hair, and enjoy the whole process while jammin' to some music. He told me that his Dad Saul wanted us to pick up a bottle of wine for him at his favorite winery and he wanted to make a night out of it and take me to dinner. I asked Jaime what dress and shoes to wear. He always tells me that I look beautiful in whatever I wear (liar, but wise answer). On May 23rd however, he said "That red dress and those heels" (thank goodness I almost wore this crazy hippie onesie that wouldn't have been what I wanted to see in pictures looking back on the day he proposed....nice save babe).

When I got in the car Jaime had a red bag and told me "I have a gift for you but you can't open it until I tell you." I joked that I never listen to him anyway and I would probably take a peek but I remember feeling like I should listen to him and be good (just this once). We showed up at the Lake Chelan Winery and were seated at our reserved table. I told Jaime that this would be the perfect venue for an intimate wedding. There were beautiful lights, the green vineyard, blue skies, delicious food, warm weather and kids playing and rolling around in the grass. Our waiter's name was Derek and he was so kind and complimentary with us. Jaime ordered prime rib and I remember thinking "Hmm he only ate like half of that" when the truth is Jaime could probably eat a whole cow in one meal. I ordered coconut prawns which are a new found favorite after meeting Jaime.

After dinner Jaime wanted to walk up in the vineyards which had a beautiful view of Lake Chelan and the mountains. It had been a while since I was able to feel that relaxed and carefree, just enjoying the moment with Jaime. Thank goodness he slows me down and allows to me take time to appreciate the little things in life. He once joked and called it "The Mexican effect." We sat down admiring the view around us then Jaime handed me the gift and told me to open it. He told me that he has seen me spend so much time and energy making scrapbooks for my family members and those I love (I have been making Izzy's very belated graduation scrapbook throughout the past couple of months). He said "I wanted to make you a book to show you how special you are to me."

As you can guess, my heart melted and my eyes welled up with tears. I opened up the book and the first page had a the first picture we had ever taken together on it at the Hostile Takeover event at Northwest Crossfit which is the exact gym we met at on August 5th, 2014.

The book had pictures throughout the past 10 months of knowing each other and a storyline that went along with it. With each page my heart started beating faster and faster and I had that light bulb moment where I started piecing it all together. Jaime had been acting a little off all weekend, he only ate half of his dinner, he knew exactly what he wanted me to wear, and I thought "OMG he's proposing to me right now."

One of the things he told me from the beginning was that he wanted to make me smile everyday for the rest of his life. I'll never forget seeing it up on his bathroom mirror. Then I turned the page and it said "Will you marry me" and the options "yes" and "no." When this happened I literally jumped on it and looked him the eyes and told him that nothing would make me happier than to marry him. I told him that I loved him he he told me that he loved me but that I skipped a page and joked that I'm always going 0-100 so fast. Two pages stuck together and I missed the one that said "I just have one question."

My most favorite part of this whole proposal was truly and gift from God, the universe, coincidence, or whatever you want to call it. Short flashback to my birthday Jaime asked what I wanted. I told him I didn't him to buy me anything, I didn't need anything all I wanted was my birthday on December 4th (fun fact, his mother Rosario and I have the exact same birthday and ring size) to have some sunshine and warmth. Well, apparently that wasn't enough and he ended up taking me to Mexico for a week (REALLY!? Score.) The sun that day at the winery was bright but hiding behind the clouds. When Jaime told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me it literally burst out of the clouds and was beaming over us. I looked at Jaime and said "Really Jaime!? Even the sun!?" He just smiled and said "Even the sun."

The next half hour consisted of me freaking out, panicking, smiling, laughing, cry, grabbing my face and/or his face and saying "Oh my gosh baby, oh my gosh," "I'm gonna marry you," "Baby I can't wait I'm so excited, " "I love you I love you." Being the nurse that I am, I made Jaime feel my radial pulse, and he looked up at me and said "WOW, I can feel it, that's fast." I'm pretty sure I was in SVT getting light headed and about to faint I was so excited. He reminded me that I needed to circle my answer and I drew a heart around "YES."

We sat back down and he held me in his arms while we read over the book again looking out at the breathtaking view. While this was all happening Jaime had photographer hiding in the vineyard taking photos of us (knowing how crazy I am about photos, scrapbooks etc.).

While we were still up on the hill I called my Dad to break the news and we had a short and sweet conversation I will never forget. He told me that he loves Jaime, that he is perfect man for me and that he is so happy for us. He said that he came over to ask for my hand and was so respectful and sincere. He brought the ring he picked out to show my parents. His Dad insisted on making the trip to Oregon with him to purchase the beautiful ring which was far more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

He also went to talk to talk to my Mom and step dad Dallas and even shared the news with my little sister. I always told Jaime that the key to my heart is through my baby sister, there's no one I love more in this world than her (although she's tied for first now). My Dad was at a friend's wedding and mentioned that he was so excited to had already announced to everyone that we had just gotten engaged. After calling my mom and step mom Rosy, Jaime and I walked back down to our table and we were congratulated, now it made sense why all the employees were staring at us throughout dinner. We ordered dessert and the Winery gave a us a little gift and thanked us for having our special proposal there.

We made our way back to the house and Duy bought us some special cakes that we enjoyed with our friends. I had to take a few minutes to lay down and detox, I was still on cloud nine, panicking, laughing, smiling, freaking out. I called a few other people to share the special news then Jaime and I laid on the bed and talked about hopes for the future. Jaime teared up and told me that he had always dreamed of having a family and couldn't believe his dreams were coming true. I can't help but admit, that's all I have ever dreamed of myself. I just want to be happy and have a family.

The next day we drove back home and Jaime had another surprise in store for me. We grabbed brunch at Liam's in the U-Village and then went home to take a nap. Once again Jaime told me to get dressed up and we were going to dinner, "just the two of us." Even though we overslept Jaime let me take my time to get ready. We made our way to the restaurant and I quickly realized we were going to one of my favorite restaurant called The Pallisades. When we pulled up the restaurant I noticed two familiar cars in the valet. I looked over at Jaime and said "Just the two of us right" with a smirk. The hostess took us to our table and I saw my family and his family patiently waiting.

I couldn't help but tear up again seeing them all laughing and smiling together. They congratulated us and Jaime treated everyone to a wonderful dinner. He shared a toast and said he was so grateful for every one's support, that family means everything to him and that he is so excited for the start of this chapter in our lives.

We often look back at how there so many events in our life, so many highs and lows, so many people, different relationships, life experiences and challenges we had to go through to get to where we are now. I am writing this now almost a week after he proposed and I can say that I know with all my heart and in every fiber of my bones that I love Jaime and cannot wait to be his wife.

I cannot wait to spend everyday for the rest of my life with him. I cannot wait to start a family and watch our kids grow. I cannot wait to continue seeing our families grow together. We have so much we are working towards and there's no one else I want to be on this life journey with. He really outdid himself with this proposal, the family dinner, my beautiful ring and with working so hard every day to make our dreams and plans a reality.

I have been bugging him for quite some town now to ask me to marry him. I'll be honest that saying "When you know you know" was always so annoying to me because I didn't understand it. When I met Jaime, he felt so familiar to me and I used to tell him this all the time even before we started dating when we were friends. I couldn't explain how or why I felt so connected to him. All I knew was that when I was around him it felt right, I was safe and I was happy. It didn't take long before I fell in love with him, and I felt fast. I nose dived off the tallest mountain (or I like to think took a leap of faith) and it was all worth. It took a lot of patience and maturity from Jaime to give me the space I needed to sort things out. I was so nervous about falling so fast him, I knew so quickly that he was the man I was meant to marry and I'll admit it did somewhat freak me out. He told me when I first walked in the doors of the gym on August 5th, 2015 at the new beginner crossfit series that he knew I was going to change his life, and after our first date that he was going to marry me. I remember him telling me that after dating for a couple of months and thinking "Hmmm, well that's lovely...we will see." I hate to admit it, but Jaime you were SO right.

Our story won't have one wedding, it will ultimately have three. We are going to be doing a civil ceremony on June 4th, 2015 with our parents and siblings. Two years from this exact date we will be having our traditional wedding celebration with all of our extended family and friends once both of my siblings (Connor and Izzy) are back from their LDS mission. Sometime in between or whenever the time is right we will also have a religious temple ceremony. What's so beautiful about the ring that Jaime picked for me is that it has three diamonds and I teased him that it's perfect because I get a diamond for every wedding.

When we were looking for his ring there was one that ultimately stood out to us as well with three diamonds. There is also a little saying we have had since we started dating and something that has always been so important to me in finding a husband. I wanted to find someone who shared the same faith and would support raising a family within the church. My faith has been the foundation to my happiness and central to my life since birth. I believe that marrying someone is something that is so important and so sacred your souls are bound together not only until "death do us part" but for "all time and eternity." Can you guess what I will be engraving in his ring?

Thank you to everyone who helped make this day special. Duy, Tam, and everyone at the Chelan house. My parents, family, Jaime's family, the Lake Chelan Winery, etc. etc. I will look back on this day and smile for the rest of my life.

I can't wait to share each wedding ceremony and step of our new story with those I love. I have never been great at journaling (It's 3am and Jaime is sleeping, so far this seems to be the only time I have found to start writing) however, it's so important to me that my children, my children's children, and everyone I know understand how important this man is and will always be in my life. I want to look back and always remember how kind he has been to me, how well he has taken care of me and my family, and how grateful I am for all of our blessings. I hope to remember every moment and be able to continue sharing these memories for years to come.

...and yes he has fulfilled his promise to make me smile everyday since I met him.