The Big Day

Meghan and I will be married (see previous post) on July 21st, 2007 in the Detroit Michigan Temple. We will have a reception later that night in Saginaw at Kathleen's and then a reception in Bountiful at Lewis Park on July 27th. We hope to see you all there.

Engage

Last Friday on April 13th in the year 2007 I made the best decision of my life...I asked Meghan Elise Deibel to marry me.

Gather around people, and I shall tell you the tale of how I contracted eternal matrimony with the woman of my dreams!

I decided the night before to do it. Never have I wanted to do something at one moment so intently...this was the date marked by heaven to get engaged on.

My Friday classes were dominated by constructing plans to execute the mission. I picked up the ring around 12:00 between classes. By the time I got out of class at 4:00, it was off to the supermarket to purchase picnic supplies. I specifically phoned my roommate Steve to ask if we had oil and balsamic vinegar in case I had to buy some. I even had him double check because I suspected we had run out of one or both. "Yeah," he said. "We have plenty." As I got home, I saw that the oil bottle was empty. I asked Steve where the rest of the oil was. He responded that it was in the cupboard next to the stove. Turns out it was a huge thing of CANOLA oil. I had meant OLIVE oil...

I told Meghan that I had gotten tickets to the Divine Comedy show that night and that we'd catch dinner before the show. I also swung by my friend Dave's place to get some fancy goblets and dishes. I neglected to put these dishes and goblets in my trunk before Meghan got in the car...so I quickly fabricated the story that I had gotten them "for a friend's date." Whew. That was close.

By the time I had changed and had gotten everything (well, almost everything) ready we were running a little late, so we decided to "go to Wendy's." Once we were in the parking lot of Wendy's, I put a blindfold on her and put her back in the car. It was go time.

We drove up to Bountiful to Holbrook Canyon which is exactly due west of my hometown temple. As we were driving along Bountiful Boulevard, I realized that I had yet to call her father and ask for permission (as it had been a very recent decision). After we parked in the canyon parking lot, I told her to sit tight.

I then called Brother Dave Deibel to ask for his permission/blessing to marry his daughter. He responded that he would "love to" because we "get along pretty well." It really wasn't a nerve racking experience--I was a man on a mission!

I placed the picnic (precariously) in one hand and held Meghan's in the other (she was still blindfolded) as we walked up a fairly steep hill that directly overlooks the Bountiful Temple and the Great Salt Lake Valley. She had not reckoned on a hike, so her shoes were not exaclty ideal...But we made it to the top in a short time.

I then proceeded to arrange the Mediterranean picnic dinner that consisted of a variety of meats and cheeses, French bread, Martinelli's, grapes, strawberries, and a 100 Grand bar.

I also placed the ring into its designated hiding place: underneath the biggest strawberry in the pint of that fruit I got for dessert. I also placed that mammoth berry right side-up so it would look the most appealing to pluck.

I couldn't have planned the moment when I took off Meghan's blindfold any better. The sun was just barely beginning to set above Antelope Island, coloring the water and sky alike a bright orange. The temple was directly beneath us, and a full dinner complemented our hilltop vista.

I asked her if she would like to have a picnic with me.

She agreed, but I later found out that she had anticipated the proposal at that perfect moment. My red herring of a surprise romantic dinner had succeeded. She now thought it was just a picnic.

After an amazing meal we heartily consumed (we both were pretty hungry), I offered her the dessert strawberries and suggested she pick the "biggest one." Thankfully, she picked the designated strawberry and exposed the ring.

Her eyes got wide and stared at me.

I then got on my traditional right knee and asked Meghan to marry me. She consented with a resounding "yes" and we both misted up a little. Insert PDA here.

I then put the ring on her, but it turns out the "right" size 6 ring that I got was a bit small. She wore that ring of rings on her pinkie finger the rest of the night.

After packing up the picnic, we walked down the steep hillside in the dark, marvelling at how Meghan had done it blindfolded before.

Meghan then reminded me that it was Friday the 13th. How ironic--the most unlucky day of the year now was the luckiest of all time! Needless to say, it will be easy to remember the infamous day on which we got engaged because of its reverse significance.

Once we got back to the car Meghan called her parents. They had known about our plans for several weeks and were excited and eager upon learning that it was official. After exiting the car to walk around the Bountiful Temple grounds, I quickly discovered that I had locked my keys in the car. I called my dad... "Number one, I'm engaged! Number two, bring a coat hanger, I locked my keys in my car."

We walked around the dark but beautiful sacred grounds and then waited for my dad.

I tried to jimmy the door with the hanger for 15 minutes to no avail. We then called the cops who shortly arrived. They were able to slimjim the door open in a few seconds. I told the cops I had just proposed and one of them asked to talk to Meghan in my parents' van. His words went something like this:

"First, congratulations. Second, are you sure you want to marry this guy? He just locked his keys in his car... He's probably going to be distracted for the next little while. Better keep a spare so this doesn't happen again."

After law enforcement had hammed it up and left along with my parents, I told Meghan that I had another surprise for her. At that moment, I meant to pull the trunk release, but instead I hit the seat release. My seat and my torso quickly went horizontal. "That's, uh, not the surprise," I tacitly said.

After pulling the correct lever, I gave Meghan a dozen roses I had stashed in my trunk.

We then went to my parents' home to take some pictures (see above).

After arriving in Provo, I said good-bye to Meghan as she went to tell her sister and roommates.

Happy? I guess that partially explains how I felt about the whole amazing experience.

But there was something more...a joy. An amazing joy.

That our life together had just begun.

Back to Basics

Initially I was critical of Cheney coming to speak at graduation. I considered it a misstep on the part of the university given his unpopularity and the inevitable protest against his coming that would ensue (see above).

But yesterday I made a conscious decision to back BYU and the Vice President's commencement address. My Republican conscience called upon me to oppose this spectacle.

The BYU College Democrats exploited this controversy through sensational means that have become the calling card for the anti-Bush folks. I.e. "Cheney is a war profiteer," "Cheney is a baby killer," and most of all, "Cheney is EVIL." This protest injected us into the partisan circus that has accompanied W's administration that we had avoided up until this point. We are officially now just as petty as virtually any other university in America.

Once again the left has hijacked a venue to bash Bush and the Iraq War. Cheney is coming with an apolitical motive to deliver an apolitical speech at an apolitical organization. It is one of only two commencement addresses he is giving this spring. He is without a doubt the most prestigious non-church figure to come to graduation in 20 years. This is an honor, and we should recognize it as such.

I gave several film and print interviews to this effect. A snippet of one even made it into the Deseret News. Unfortunately, the article fails to mention which side I was on. Nevertheless, I felt vindicated when the Daily Universe released a poll about Cheney's visit today stating that well over half (55%) of respondents were in favor of this visit, less than half (39%) had no opinion, and only a few (6%) were opposed. Now that's what I call a conservative/politically apathetic community!

Protests are slated for graduation day. Ridiculous. The administration was uncannily kind in its blessing of yesterday's protest. Once again, the left at BYU is proving itself an organization of self-proclaimed non-conformists who protest for the sake of protest because they consider it their entitlement as students at an instituion of higher education.

That was an interesting foray outside of the hardline Republican right for me... I guess I never will stray too far from my partisan roots.

The Tradition Continues

Mark opened up his mission call last Wednesday after much anticipation. The future Elder Stoddard received his call to the Chile Antofagasta mission! He (along with everyone else) is stoked, for the Stoddard South America tradition rolls on! (My father served in Peru, and I served in Ecuador.) How sweet it is to have the common experiences that accompany mission service in one of the Lord's choicest vineyards! ¡Viva Sión!

Go ahead, judge me--but it's not a complete family portrait. Meghan is holding my niece, Emma.

I'm hecka proud of my bro. He's going to have a rad mission. He's a hard worker and has been one of my best friends ever since I got back from my mission. Needless to say, I'm going to miss him something fierce--especially when the Asian Santa is quoted or I watch a kung fu movie. Nos vemos, ñaño. These next two years will change a lot for both of us--but it's gonna be tight when you get back.

Peggy Noonan and the Allegory of the Garbage Can

The recent Dick Cheney/Iraq debate reminded me of a great article I read last semester by conservative columnist Peggy Noonan...

I would encourage everyone to read the full text--especially conservative Bush supporters who are disillusioned with the way the Iraq War has panned out (like me).

The following direct quote from this article perhaps best encapsulates the ugly reality of Saddam's removal from power.

"Here is an unhappy fact: Certain authoritarians and tyrants whose leadership is illegitimate and unjust have functioned in history as--ugly imagery coming--garbage-can lids on their societies. They keep freedom from entering, it is true. But when they are removed, the garbage--the freelance terrorists, the grievance merchants, the ethnic nationalists--pops out all over. Yes, freedom is good and to be strived for. But cleaning up the garbage is not pretty. And is sometimes leaves the neighborhood in an even bigger mess than it had been."

I think history vindicates this argument. Whether Tito in Yugoslavia or Suharto in Indonesia, brutal authoritarianism gravitates towards societies where it is needed to keep order. The lid on Iraq has now been off for four years--and garbage is strewn all across its neighborhood.

Now we shall wait and see how long it takes until we have sufficiently fatigued ourselves in the effort to take out Iraq's unlimited sectarian trash...