Mace Ann Haycock is ENGAGED!!!

Who: Benjamin Lewis Camp

What: The most beautiful, secretive, detailed, sparkly, floral, surprising, sunny, sweet, wonderful proposal in the whole wide world :)

Where: Thanksgiving Point Gardens

When: Thursday, April 25, 2013 (during the Tulip Festival at the Gardens)

How: I’ll start out by saying I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE SURPRISED! I had absolutely no idea this was coming and here’s why: I was positive that Ben would not have asked for my hand in marriage without first talking to my dad and getting his permission… That being said, Ben went on a business trip with Response to the Buying Summit in Las Vegas two weeks ago-. He flew there with management, had a packed schedule, texted me consistently what he was “doing”, AND I knew my dad was supposed to be in Reno that weekend anyway. So little did I know, my mom picked Ben up at the Venetian for a two-hour lunch break to meet my dad right as he was getting in from Reno.  After a slightly intimidating, but mostly sentimental conversation, my dad gave Ben his blessing and my mom cried tears of joy that he “passed the test”.

Ben proceeded to tell me a handful of little white lies for the next two weeks and I continued to drop hints about NOT wanting a short engagement. My stress level was rising every day we hadn’t planned a trip to Vegas and the whole time Ben was just laughing to himself I’m sure.

On Monday, April 22, Ben told me that he was going to take me on a surprise date in Salt Lake that coming Thursday. He told me it was going to be a relaxing, fun, celebration that finals were over, but I knew he really wanted to do something sweet just so I wouldn’t be mad that he was going on a 7-day cruise with three other attractive, SINGLE, guys two days later. ;) He told me that he didn’t want to give it away, but that I might want to dress up a little bit, because we were going to some kind of concert, or show or something. (He also convinced Lauren to do my eyelashes before she left for Vegas on Wednesday without me knowing somehow.)

Ben picked me up from work at 3:30. We drove to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point first, which I thought was a sweet surprise, since I had never been there before and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. I couldn’t think of more perfect place or person to spend the afternoon with. Once I freed up enough space on my memory-crammed iPhone, I started taking pictures of pretty much everything I saw, typical me. I’m sure Ben was really anxious the whole time, but I had NO idea what was coming. He played it off so well, I didn’t even see the ring-size adjusters fall out of his shirt pocket, or his mom and two cousins creeping around after us! ;P I snapped tons and tons of tulip pictures (some almost matching the color of my boyfriend’s hair) , some “selfies”, and even posted my first Vine then, totally oblivious.

Eventually we made our way to THE SECRET GARDEN… It’s this beautiful secluded garden area with a fountain (my favorite) and a charming entrance (my second favorite). Ben and I took a seat on a bench near the most adorable old couple. I remember Ben asking me something like if I thought we would be like those cute old people walking around the garden one day. I held back a couple of tears then, thank heaven, because I STILL did not know what was going to happen next, I just thought that was a really sweet thing for him to say. We stood up and walked into the main area where the fountain was right after that and he asked me if I thought we were going to be happy for a very long time. To which I responded “I think so… actually I know so”, then he told me that he knew we would be too and he said “I have a question for you” as he was reaching into his shirt pocket! All I can remember right then is thinking: There is NO way this is happening over and over again. I was in such shock I didn’t notice all of the people watching us, and I can’t even really remember all that he said… something like “I love you…Mace Ann Haycock… will you marry me?” and just like that he was on one knee and the only thing I could say was yes (apparently over and over again). Then in a split second I seemed like we were hugging and I was crying and I had a rock on my finger and cameras were everywhere. Everything was perfect. I had a fiancé, and my happily ever after had begun.