August 3rd, 2008 - Twilight Engagement

I always get a little giddy inside when August rolls around. Not only is it a month before my birthday and wedding anniversary, but it's also when Straton proposed. I get reminded of that night often. I wanted to record this for future purposes, so if you're in the mood for a cute love story, keep reading.

Straton and I knew we were going to get married. One date is all it took to recognize it. I remember I was so nervous to go on that first date that I almost made up an excuse to get out of it. I told myself I had to suck it up and at least make some friends in Logan. So I went. I swooned. I went home to gossip about how cute he was.  
And I knew. And so did he.

It took five days of being boyfriend and girlfriend before we said I love you (under the stars, nonetheless). Before we knew it we were talking marriage, family, future and everything else we've ever dreamed of. I knew the proposal was coming, but I still wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise as to when it was coming. That, he pulled off very well.

Of course, if you know me then you know I'm a Twilight fan. Let's set the record straight first. I'm no where near a fangirl by any means, but when my cousin Siera and I learned there was going to be a release party for the fourth and final book Breaking Dawn at Borders, we knew we had to be there. More than anything it gave us something fun to do together that we both would have a laugh at. So we geared up in our homemade t-shirts and headed out.

After people watching some of the craziest fans we'd ever seen, they finally had everyone line up to the cash registers according to our wristbands. At this point (which was about 11:30 P.M.) Siera and I were just ready to get our books and skeedaddle. As we're waiting and waiting in line, they were yelling off raffle ticket numbers. Even though they were having no luck getting their voices heard because it's 100 decibels loud in there. All of a sudden Siera's mom shows up with a camera and says she wanted to take some pictures for us and see how things were going. Of course gullible me thinks nothing of it and I proceed to daydream amidst the chaos.

Twenty minutes later, a Borders worker stands on the checkout counter and yells for a Lauren Mortenson to come forward. As the intense crowd drops to silence and my stomach drops like a bomb, I started getting nervous.  I briefly thought "is this the moment?!" but that thought left just as fast as it came. Because what sparkly vampire hater would want to surprise their girlfriend at a Twilight uber dork party? I had no idea what was going on. I didn't even have a raffle ticket, so this could only mean one thing. Trouble. Racking my brain for reasons why I'm walking, what feels like a plank, to the counter, she tells me that I am the second person to receive the book for the night. "Uhhh, ok?" was really my best answer.

As I'm standing in line and trying to convince Siera to cut in with me (which her mother WILL not let her do), they start the countdown to midnight. 3, 2, 1 and the madness begins. As people are pushing and shoving, with me wide eyed and standing there, I see Straton standing next to me. Completely dressed up as Edward, he whispers a cute little message to me, and gets down on his knee.

I still to this day cannot remember the details of that exact moment. A mixture of shock, happiness, and camera flashes plagued my mind. But for a guy who hates Twilight/Edward or anything related, he sure did an awesome job.

And that's how we came to be. 

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**Behind the scenes: Edward in the making 
{Thanks for your help Stevi!!}

P.S. we made it on here.