SHE SAID YES

I’d like to tell you a little story. The story about the day I nearly died. February 25, 2011, Emma and I decided we would hike Pinnacle and head to Za Za’s after for dinner! Little did she know, this would be the date that changed our lives. Something you need to know pre-hike is that we’ve been on a detox diet since the Tuesday before. If you know anything about detoxes…they’re designed to…well detox you. Clean. You. Out. Just keep that little tid bit in mind the rest of the story.

The plan was make it up, give her a few presents, propose, and head down the mountain. She’d made it sound like it was basically like standing on an escalator, so that’s what I prepared for. In light of that, my backpack included the following (though this is not an extensive list):

– iPad. Forgot to take it out.
– Notebook.
– Lumix point and shoot camera
– Polaroid 600
– My NIV study bible. Forgot to take it out.
– My NASB bible. forgot to take it out.
– Loose paper. everywhere.
– iPhone
– Water
– A filled 3 ring binder.
– A DVD of Michael Jr.’s prison minsitry he gave me at Winter Chill
– The JONAH CD from Adam Robinson…from LAST Winter Chill
– A Shoebox filled with notes, gifts, tickets, and trinkets from Emma and I’s dating relationship.
– Another Bible. For her.
– A ring with a rock on it the size of my nose. Just kidding. But the ring was in there.

Also. I have a busted back. So I threw all of that on my back and we started walking. SPOILER ALERT: THERE WAS NO ESCALATOR. We started walking, and Emma is a fast walker. She’s racing somebody everywhere she goes. LUCKILY, we started hiking right after a group of 5 teenagers who had apparently recently discovered how to cuss. They loved it. I should also probably take this moment to say that, due to EXTREME nervousness, I hadn’t eaten in 21 hours, and I hadn’t slept in almost 36 hours. And I’m out of shape.

By marker 3 of 10, I’m drenched in sweat and beginning to question whether this is the best way to pop the question.

By marker 5 of 10, I’m trying to feed myself hope.

By marker 6 of 10, I’m laying down, in the middle of the trail, getting licked in the face by some hiker’s dog.

By marker 7 of 10, I was just hoping to be able to ask before I died.

The trick was, my friend Drew Cason was at the top of the mountain, hidden away with his photographer gear ready to document the moment. I texted him and said, “Dude…I’m not going to make it.” I made it to 8, made a loud noise for Drew to hear, and got quite the look from Emma. To our side, we found a clearing with stones to sit on and an incredible view of the lake.

Was I trying to make the moment romantic? You better believe it. Was I sucking wind like a fat kid chasing free ice cream? No doubt.

When I had finally gained my composure as much as I was able to, I asked if she wanted one of the three presents I had for her. Naturally, she said yes, and I brought out a shoebox that, 3 years ago, contained a pair of cleats. As she opened it, she found what looked like a bunch of trash. In reality, it was tickets from movies we’d seen together and concerts we’d experienced. Garvan Gardens bracelets (our first date was there). All the Valentine’s notes she’d written me. All the encouragrams she’d given me. A couple polaroid pictures. Other little things I’ve accumulated over the time we’ve been together. Yep. I’m good.

Her next present was wrapped in timely Christmas wrapping paper. It wasn’t TOTALLY Christmas. But it was red with little star bursts on it and with…ok…yes it was 100% Christmas. But, it was the least Christmasy paper we had. She opened the present and saw her new Bible. (Yes. It’s cliche. If you think i didn’t do anything romantic, please see the last paragraph).

She opened the box and found “Emma Grace Walker” imprinted on the cover, and any doubt that I wasn’t going to ask vanished. She knew what was coming next. She knew it. She expected it. The tension built. I had my hand in my jacket pocket holding the ring box.

BUT I COULDN’T SAY ANYTHING.

I FROZE!

She was awesome, very understanding. She played it off and said, “Oh Austin I love the Bible, thank you so much!” with a BIG smile. She even opened it and thumbed through the pages, as if she didn’t know what was in it. All the while, I’m there, kind of on one knee, staring at her like an idiot.

FINALLY it clicked, “Oh…crap. Now. It’s happening right now. It’s game time, Austin, man up and use words.”

[[[TIME OUT]]]
I had such a speech prepared. I knew exactly what I was going to say. All the things I wanted to tell her that I like about her. All of the things that I’ve prayed for. All of the things that I saw in her. All of the things I appreciated out of her. It was bold, romantic, moving, impressive, and well prepared and well delivered. In my mind. Turns out practicing in the car does you ALMOST no good.
[[[TIME IN]]]

I started, but couldn’t bring my voice over a whisper or I’d bust out crying for some reason. So I whisper-mumbled through trying to convince her it was a good decision, and finally said “Emma Grace Smith…will you marry me?”

She didn’t say yes. I know the blog post said she said yes. She didn’t. There was no, “YES!” or “YES HONEY!”

but….there was a “Yea!!”

SO WE’RE ENGAGED! Emma’s been my best friend since the end of sophomore year of college, and we’d been dating 1 year, 2 months, and 4 days.

After that, we hiked down the mountain, went to her house and changed, then headed to Za Za’s to celebrate. What she didn’t know was that our whole family, hers and mine, were there, ready to celebrate. It was such a great time of enjoying everyone’s company and starting off this next season on the right foot.

We finally got back to her house, and I got a call from the one, the only, Ryan James. I FREAKED OUT. I looked at Emma and said, “Oh…my…..gosh. Does he know? How could he know?!” We were trying to keep it a secret until Monday night so that Emma could have her blowout with her EEE sisters.
-Ryan: “AUSTIN…WALKER!”
-Me: “RJ…what’s up man?”
-Ryan: “Guess what I just realized?!”
-Me to Emma: “Oh my gosh he knows!”
-Me to Ryan: “What’s that bud?”
-Ryan: “You live in Little Rock. We’re in Little Rock. Come see a movie with us!”

SO, after all of that, Emma and I went off to Breckinridge Theater in Little Rock and saw Unknown. Ironically, the fact that we were engaged was unknown. Emma took off her ring, in order to keep it a secret until Monday. So, Ryan, Matt, Drew, Caleb, Oliver, Haley, Kristen, Audrey, and I feel like I’m missing someone. Anyway, to you all, yes. We were engaged when we walked up. Sorry about that.

I don’t know that I can reveal a date just yet…but it’ll be this summer! Holy cow. Stay tuned for more, and a special thanks to DREW CASON for the photos and for suffering up Everest to get them!