Engaged!

So the big news is that on October 8th, I got engaged to Shannon Mollie Epps. This may come as a surprise to some who didn't even know we were dating, but that was partially on purpose. As coworkers, we tried to keep our budding romance under wraps for as long as possible to avoid the office politics, but I think in retrospect most everyone probably knew anyway. Regardless, Shannon and I met two years ago in DC while we were in training for the State Department. One day, Shannon's A-100 class was invited to play my class in volleyball in Falls

Church. I stopped by to offer my friends moral support, when a friend introduced me to

Shannon, who had previously been assigned to Caracas. From the second we met, I knew I needed to get to know her better. Unfortunately, a few weeks later she shipped off to Venezuela. We kept in touch for the next several months over email, then spent some time together after I arrived in country. Six months later, I finally got the courage to ask her out to a movie. She suggested Harry Potter. Nearly a year later, having spent almost every day together, I proposed.

As Shannon's tour came to end, I went on R&R and accompanied her as she departed Post. We first went to Albuquerque and joined my family to attend the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival. Shannon met my mom when I was off parking the rental car, so by the time I caught up, they had already introduced themselves. After making further introductions to the rest of the family, we went to dinner. Over the following few days, we went to the festival, rode in a ballon over the city, then drove up to Santa Fe.

We continued our tour to Arizona, where we drove all around Phoenix, visited Sedona, and Shannon met some more friends.

Next, we flew up to Utah, where Shannon's parents were visiting DC for the BYU homecoming game. The timing likely was not ideal, but at the game, I asked Shannon's dad for permission to ask her to marry me. After a 30 minute chat, and me turning several shades whiter from anxiety, he agreed.

Shannon believed I was going to propose the following morning, so naturally, I couldn't propose then. I schemed with my brother and sister-in-law to propose at their home after the game, when she would not be expecting it. My brother made our favorite dessert from Venezuela, Pot de Creme (not actually Venezuelan, but we discovered it there), and my sister-in-law bought some beautiful roses, and spread the petals on the floor. Frank Sinatra, who we both love, was playing in the background, along with candles and fresh raspberries from their garden. Homemade grape juice was served in wine glasses.

As we got home, Shannon was nearly asleep. As I was getting out of the car, I fumbled and dropped the ring box, quickly picking it up without her noticing. Approaching the door, I told her to go in while I secretly got the ring out. She walked in, and without noticing the music, candles, and rose petals, started putting her bags down and looking for my brother and sister-in-law. Meanwhile, I was down on my knee in the doorway, and after a suggestion that she turn around, to her complete surprise, popped the question. Previously, I had put together a short speech for the proposal, but my mind went completely blank. So instead, I said, "Shannon Mollie Epps, will you marry me." The best part was she said yes! I put on the ring, made of three princess cut (certified conflict free) diamonds in a platinum setting. Very nice! Only then did she notice the entire scene that was put together for the proposal. We enjoyed the dessert, had imported French hot chocolate, and enjoyed the raspberries.

Wedding is planned for January in DC!

M