The Engagement Story

As promised, here is the story of the engagement of Jake and I.

Jake and I had been planning on celebrating our first anniversary for a while now. (You might even argue that we've been planning the celebration for a year.) We had kind of hazy plans to maybe have a low-key anniversary, as not to hurt our wallets too much, but we never really said what we were actually going to do. I asked Jake last week if he had any ideas for our anniversary and he said we'd be going on a "hot date," a phrase that always makes me laugh. We had had a relaxing weekend with his family, and had attended Ben's basketball tournament games in Ohio on Saturday. It was shaping up to be a good weekend. Jake and I came back from Ohio Saturday night, since Jake was serving on the worship team and singing for KidStuf in church the next day.

On the way back to Decatur, Jake and I shared a special conversation, talking about how we each had grown and have become better people in the year we've been together. I talked about how I really became myself, and how his support and love made me feel perfect, just by being myself. Jake had said that he felt that the change from "me" to "we" helped him to look outside of himself a little more and to make decisions that would be good for both of us. I told him how he came into my life at just the right time. I had decided that I was not going to beat around the bush about how I felt for him. Earlier that year someone I cared for had led me to believe he was interested in me for several months, and it crushed me to find out that when he was interested in dating again, that he wasn't interested in dating me. For this reason, when I started hanging out with Jake, I was honest with him right from the start. Before we had gone on our first date, we had taken a walk around campus, and took a seat on the sidewalk, under a tree, where we had a good view of campus and the lake. That night I laid out everything. I told him anything and everything I could think of about myself and my past that could possibly scare him away. It was a pleasant surprise to hear his understanding and supportive responses to all the junk in my life. That night was pivotal to all that we are now. Fast-forward to the conversation in the car this past Saturday night. With tears in my eyes, I told him how much it meant to me to have him accept me just as I was then, and how he accepts and loves me now. In the past year Jake had not only become my boyfriend, and more recently my fiance, but he had also become my best friend. That night I told him all of my woes, it had meant a lot to me. We had joked that night that we should carve our wedding date into that tree, since, we were definitely going to get married. It was a joke, but deep-seeded in our rapidly growing connection and relationship with one another. That night we deemed that tree, where we had shared so much together, as "The Love Tree."

Sunday morning. he got up early to go to church. He always has to be at church at 7:30 when he's singing on the worship team. He told me the night before that I could sleep in if I wanted, and come to service later, which is what I did. Before he got up Sunday morning, I placed an anniversary card behind the sink in the bathroom, where i knew he would find it. I had painstakingly read through the whole rack of anniversary cards, trying to find one that captured my feelings for him without using the word "husband." I finally found one that said "they say the best thing that can happen to you is to love and be loved in return" and then the inside said "that's why the best thing that has ever happened to me is you." I summed it up at the end saying how this past year had been the best in my life, and how I was excited to keep moving forward on this journey together. He had been at church for a while when I got up, and I noticed that his card was gone, and I smiled to myself. I got ready for church and drove there to watch KidStuf. Jake suggested that after he's done singing the worship songs for church, that we should sneak out and go back to his house and take naps. I was okay with this since we had been out late. We ate lunch, and then he went upstairs to his room to take a nap. I had been working on a project for my stop motion class while he slept. I decided after about an hour that a nap would serve me well too, so I went to bed too. He knocked on my door after about a half hour and said we should get ready for our date. He told me to dress up a little (nothing too fancy) and to be prepared for a lot of walking. I had no idea what we would do. We left at 5:30.

At this point I still didn't know what we were doing. It had been a lazy afternoon, and Jake doesn't give hints when he has a secret. I had assumed that our date would be in Fort Wayne, where there are lot of places to go. Instead, he headed the other way, down country roads, towards Huntington. I was perplexed as to where we were going. I love surprises, but anticipation for surprises are almost unbearable. I kept asking him questions, but his lips were sealed. All he said was that we would have to stop at Wal-mart and someplace else before our date started. We did in fact end up at Huntington, and when we got to Wal-mart, Jake bought a headphone splitter. The second stop was at my dorm, and he came up to the lounge and waited for me to get a pair of headphones.

When I came out to the lounge he said "are you ready" and I said "sure." We headed towards the elevator. He pushed the button for the basement, and I questioned his decision, since I knew he had parked outside of 1st floor. He reassured me that he knew what he was doing. When we walked outside he asked "do you know what we're doing yet?" and I hadn't the slightest idea, except for maybe something with music. He pulled out his iPod and asked me to put my earbuds in. He selected a track entitled "Jake and Darah Walking Tour." The voice on the track was Jake's saying "Hello, and welcome to the Jake and Darah first anniversary walking tour. I am your host, Jake Snider. You can tell I'm a credible witness, because I was there for most of these events. Let's begin. Please press pause and proceed to OP lot, and press play when you get there." When we got there Jake's recoded voice told us that this is where it all began, and reminded us that in December of 2007, Jake drove Darah and her roommate Colleen to HKC (which is Huntington Kids Club, a sort of youth group for little kids.) The recording asked us to proceed to the DC, and it told us there that Jake and Darah had gotten a chance to get to know each other here, over meals with mutual friends. We proceeded to Wright Lounge which is a lounge between Jake's old dorm and a girl's dorm. The recording told us that this is where Jake and Darah really started to like each other. This is the place where they played a board game with friends. It continued to a grassy section of campus where my friend Anna and I had laid out in the sun last spring. Again, Jake's voice through my earbuds told us how that afternoon, Jake was trying to get the attention of one of the lounging girls with his skills with the pigskin.

The recording continued and brought us to places all over Huntington. All of them were significant places in our budding and growing relationship. It took us to the sidewalk behind Roush Hall, which is where I lived last year. The recording told us what I already knew "this was the place where Jake and Darah said goodbye for the first time." It was a rainy night, and I didn't want to leave him. It looked like something out of a movie. the recording continued saying that that night we were apart for a month and a half. When we reunited, we were in Pittsburgh, PA, where Jake, Colleen (my roommate) and Cevin (who is now Colleen's fiance) picked me up from the airport for a week long vacation together. Jake's voice in my ears helped retell how it was one of the best weeks of our lives. That week, we not only had fun as 2 couples and 4 good friends hanging out all over West Virginia, but Jake and I told each other that we loved each other. He said "since we cannot go to West Virginia this evening, let us enjoy one of the songs of our trip." At that point the song "The Other Side of the World" from David Story's album "The Hinterland" started playing. Its one of our favorite songs, and its the ringtone that is assigned to me and me alone on Jake's cell phone. The recording continued "After they got back to school in the fall, their relationship continued to blossom. They shared so many meaningful dates and times together that there are too many to count. But, before we go, there is one last stop that has to be made, at a particular tree, not so far from here." Jake and I started walking to the Love Tree. Its a fair distance from where we were, and the anticipation is building, and for me it is becoming nigh overwhelming. About 50 paces away, I sighed, and Jake asked if I was okay, and I said I was, but I was fairly certain that Jake was preparing to propose.

When we finally reached "The Love Tree" we were holding hands and taking in the same view of the lake that we had that special night. Jake again asked if I was ready and I said "I think so." The recording continued. At this point, I don't really remember what the recording said. It said something about carving the wedding date into the tree, how it had been such a good night, the place we first held hands, and later the place where we first kissed. The recording said something like "it was funny to think about our future then, but it is something I want to make a reality now." By this point, I am crying a whole bunch from all the joy and power about what is about to take place. The recording said "take it away Jake!" I looked at Jake, he was crying too, and clearly searching for words at this moment. I think he said "Darah Lynn Morin... Lord" as if he was starting a prayer and then continued "Darah, I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Then he knelt. He looked me in the eyes and said "Darah, will you marry me?" and I said "Yes!" and hugged him around his neck. He then reched in his pocket and pulled out a ziploc bag, that contained my ring. I laughed as he zipped it and unzipped it before he pulled out the ring. He hada hard time telling which hand was my left through everything that was going on, so I helped him out. He placed the ring on my finger and stood up and we hugged there under the tree.



I could not have asked for anything better.



That night we celebrated over dinner at Olive Garden, which is where we went for our first date. We've made many many phone calls to family and friends.

The ring is an eternity band. I picked it out actually, though, somewhat accidentally. I was out in Fort Wayne with my friend Jimi and Colleen (my roommate) while Colleen was trying on wedding dresses. We ended up at the mall, and I told Colleen how Jake and I had wanted to pull an April Fool's prank on her and get a ring from American Eagle that looked a lot like one that I wanted. Needless to say, Jake and I decided against it, thinking it may be a little too mean for a prank, and things might get out of hand. Colleen said "speaking of rings..." and went on to suggest that since Jake had been asking me all kinds of questions about what kind of ring I wanted and what size ring I wear, that I just walk down to the jewelers and find out. I too thought this was a good idea. Come to find out, I wear a 6.5. While I was there though, the clerk insisted that I try on a ring, and hey, who can blame me for giving in. She showed me this one eternity band with a high carat weight, but I didn't like it. It was bulky and not my style. I wanted a dainty ring. I suggested the thin eternity band. She pulled it out, and guess what, it was a perfect fit. She had me pair it with a plain wedding band, and I was on cloud 9. It was at about this point when Colleen and Jimi came in, spotting me wearing some bling. The clerk said that that day was the last day of the sale, and though this item wasn't on sale, that she could put it on sale for me. The sale price would be 25% off. It was a good value after that. They suggested that I just wear it out, and bill Jake for it. This was a no-no. I asked for the price in writing, which she was happy to give me. I left thinking "I don't know about this." I decided to let Jake know anyway, and if he wanted to act on it, he could, and if he didn't want to, that would be fine too. So I called him. He said "so you found one that you like?" and I said "yeah." Then he said "Okay, let's go get it then!" So that day we went down to the jeweler and he bought me that ring. He held onto it for about 3 weeks before proposing though. When he did though, it was perfect. I could not have asked for a better proposal, or for a better man to be engaged to.

The full proposal, complete with pictures of the locations and the audio accompaniment will be posted on our new website soon. The website is http://www.jakeanddarah.com

Thanks everyone for your congratulations and well wishes. Jake and I are so so happy to move forward in this next chapter of our lives and we are glad to have your support.

Love and Blessings!

Jake and Darah

Here is a scene I built for my flash final.

This is not a test.

How many people read this? Please comment if you do.
If there aren't many people, I'll just call y'all.
Thanks.

3D II Toy Animation

3D I Robot

Here is the robot I made for 3D Animation I.