The Proposal

We've known for a while that an engagement and marriage between us was inevitable, but the process of getting engaged(and later, married) is a wonderful thing, even when you expect it.

Just so everyone knows, I am marrying an amazing, brilliant and courageous man...who also happens to be my best friend. This is the details of the proposal from my perspective- perhaps my other half will share his later.

On Saturday last week, Daryl had asked if I wanted to go for a date on Tuesday. We haven't really been on any formal dates since we've started dating, so I thought it sounded like a nice idea- even though i'd settle for cleaning a barn with him and be just as happy. Tuesday rolled around, and Daryl seemed a bit distracted and tense. He picked me up from work and we drove out to Prarie Creek Reservoir. This place has meaning for us, since it was where we first knew we were both in love with each other. After parking the car, we walked towards the water, and I saw a little table with wine and food on it sitting there. I thought that another couple had already claimed that spot for their romantic dinner, so I suggested to Daryl that we not go over there. He just kept walking....and as we came closer, I saw his guitar and music on a stand. I then realized that he had set all of this up for me. He asked if he could play me a song that he had written. The song was beautiful- but it couldn't compare with the look of love shining from his face in that moment. It brought tears to my eyes as I realized how much this man loved me, and that I would probably do anything to be able to be with him. The last few words of the song led in to the proposal. He set his guitar down and knelt down in front of me....(I think he took my hand...its all something of a blur). With a look of sincere desperation, he said, "Jodi Lynn Treese, will you please marry me?" The answer I gave is clear, otherwise I wouldn't be writing the story of how we got engaged. I might mention that FEDEX added a twist to our story. The ring was supposed to be delivered earlier, but when it came time for the proposal, it still hadn't arrived. Daryl got a phone call on our way out to the Reservoir that the ring had arrived. His roommate, Danny, broke land speed records and brought it out to where we were, within about 10 minutes of the proposal.
We sat down to eat our first meal as an engaged couple; a meal that Daryl had slaved over, and it was perfect. He even had a bottle of my favorite kind of wine- Blueberry. We spent the evening watching the stars overhead, listening to love songs and talking about how amazing our life together would be.

The Beginning

Here is our story - from the beginning.

We met sometime in October of 2005 at our home group. At that time, Daryl was new to Muncie and trying to make friends. Jodi became a good friend, which Daryl greatly appreciated. We did things together, like such as crashing our bikes and going on bike rides and motorcycle rides together. We lived close together so it was convenient for us to travel to things together. The first time Jodi went to Daryl's house, he fed her some ice cream and let her listen to a recording of one of the songs he wrote. Daryl's first time to Jodi's house was for Easter of 2006. Since Daryl wasn't going home, Jodi wanted him to be with a family, and she deemed it fit for that to be hers, and a bunch of international friends.

One time, Jodi's bike was "broke" for several days so she asked Daryl to give her a ride to her work (which now was very close to Daryl's). Later that summer, we started training together for a 100 mile bike ride, which we took at the end of July. Spending 11 hours together that day was a good chance to get to know each other better. Daryl remembers having conversations about Jodi's life and her plans to go back to Nepal and finding her to be more interesting. Both of us remember becoming a lot more comfortable with each other and finding it really easy and enjoyable to talk. Jodi was planning to leave for Europe and then Nepal at the beginning of September. As the end of the summer neared, Daryl was really enjoying their friendship and having a hard time thinking about Jodi being gone soon. Looking back, he thinks that there were some hopes deep down that this would become something more than a friendship, but he wasn't really willing to entertain any of those thoughts since she was leaving, and he didn't really know when, if, or for how long she would ever be back in his life.

After Jodi left, we communicated by email, which turned out to deepen our relationship. During her time in Nepal, she went through some extreme trials (see her entries from that time at www.xanga.com/gloryupwards). Both of us went through some difficult times concurrently. Jodi found out she wasn't accepted into grad school, and Daryl lost his job. We prayed for eachother a lot during that time and both encouraged eachother through email and Skype. In June, '07, Jodi unexpectedly was forced to leave Nepal on short notice. She flew to Thailand without much of a clue of what was next. As Daryl prayed for her, he had hopes (along with most of the people in our home group) that she would decide to come back to Muncie until her visa problems got worked out. Jodi didn't see that as an option, but God did. He provided the money at the right time (and a frustrating government to keep her out) and she decided to surprise everyone by coming back but not telling anyone. Sunday, July 8, Jourdan called Daryl and told him he needed to come over to the Treese's house. It was very strange, but on as Daryl drove to the Treese's, he was thinking to himself, "I wonder if Jodi came home," but he was pretty sure that wasn't possible. When he got there, he thought he saw Bethany (Lizzie) and Abby in the hammock, but upon a double take, he realized it was his long-lost friend Jodi! It was so strange to Daryl, since he felt like they were closer in their relationship but he wasn't expecting to actually get to be with her anytime soon.

After Jodi's birthday on the 12th, we somehow, with church, morning prayer times, and other random things, ended up spending a LOT of time together. Neither of us seemed to mind. Several times, it ended up being just us spending time together. One day, we had prayer in the morning before work and then Jodi came to Daryl's house to make Thai food in the evening. Other people were invited to both things, but no one else showed up. Daryl thinks it was that same week that his roommate Danny one night said "so what's up with you and Jodi?". He knew at this point that he really loved spending time with Jodi and hopes were starting to emerge in him that this would blossom into something more, but he didn't realize that others noticed that too. Daryl spent about the next month wrestling within himself and praying about whether he should pursue Jodi. He felt there was a lot of risk, but finally became sure that he needed to at least give it a try. At the beginning of August, Daryl went to PA for a week and then helped a friend move to Atlanta. Daryl pulled a sly move during that time, and asked Jodi to pick him up from the airport when he flew in from Atlanta. Jodi assumed she was his last resort, but actually she was the only one he asked. That whole week in PA, Daryl was anticipating with great excitement getting to spend the car ride from Indianapolis to Muncie with Jodi.

When Jodi was waiting for Daryl at the airport, she struck up 2 separate conversations with some older ladies, who both asked her whether she was waiting for a "special someone". She replied negatively to both individuals. But she was really looking forward to seeing Daryl, too.

The fateful night
August 17, 2007, Daryl recorded the Tree Squirrels at their house. He knew that he wanted to ask Jodi Lynn Treese out on a date sometime very soon. After the recording session, Jodi drove Daryl home, because she had given him a ride since his bike broke. She came in for a little to try some food he had made earlier, and as she was about to leave, he finally got up the courage to ask. "Would you give me the privilege of taking you on a date sometime?" spake Daryl. "That would be awesome!" replied Jodi. Neither of us slept that night, we were so excited. Jodi was also quite nervous, because she knew that Daryl would not have lightly made the decision to ask her out, and because she had broken several other guys' hearts and she respected Daryl too much to want that to happen to him.

On the first date, we went to the Nile restaurant in Anderson, and then walked for a while in Mounds Park. It felt awkward to Daryl, and he was sure that she would think it wasn't a good idea. After a fairly silent car ride home, Daryl asked if we could go on another date. Jodi obliged, but because of our schedules we had to wait 9 days. The day after that first date, Jodi started the internship at MAC, which Daryl was already a part of. That meant that we got to see each other every day. We also rode our bikes there together almost every day.

The second date, we went to Ciudad Colonial for supper and then to the Prairie Creek Reservoir. We walked for a while and then found a nice spot by the Yacht club to sit and and watch the sunset together. After the sun went down, Daryl decided it was time for the DTR. After Daryl explained his feelings for Jodi (which he had rehearsed in his head for some time). Jodi reciprocated and Daryl was blown away. We were both amazed that the other was just the being crazy about each other was mutual. We prayed together and both felt that this was an amazing blessing from God. Daryl scooted closer and put his arm around Jodi and was the happiest man in the world. After getting chased out by the cops, they went to take a walk along the White River and then watched the stars together and fell hopelessly in love, both for the first time. Jodi blew Daryl away even more when she said "I had a feeling tonight would change the rest of my life." They both agreed that this felt like they were coming home. They knew this was God's perfect plan.

Thus ends the beginning. More to come later...