On June 17th, 2011 I became the happiest girl in the world! My best friend, Nate Jorgensen, proposed to me ON The Empire State Building in NYC. You might want to grab a tissue for this one it is a real tear-jerker.....
Nate and my story began on November 11th, 2010 when my good friend Ann Parris decided to line me up with her co-worker. She had warned him that I had the reputation of being a man-eater and assured him I was a total sweetheart, but that I had just been burned and was therefore extremely guarded. Her and my friendship even took several months to form into sisterhood. Nate called me after I had finished helping two good friends by being "Vana White" at a tree festival in Layton. While I was at the tree festival he had left me a message requesting that I call him back and when I did I got his voicemail and left a rather lengthy one informing him of this crazy black lady at Wal-Mart trying to beat me up for letting her butt me in line. It was totally weird! He later called me back and from that first initial phone conversation we both later said how we felt something there. Our first date was set for November 17th and was to be a double date. We ate at a delicious Indian Restaurant called Tandoori followed by WiseGuys Comedy Club. I remember Nate was so incredibly nervous at dinner and barely ate two bites of his food. At the comedy club we decided to sit in the very front (apparently this is a bad idea unless you like to be picked on). Of course the comedian found fun in it being our first date and all. There was also another couple that was all dressed up and the little dude had a gift for his lady, but it ended up just being a promise ring. The date in my eyes was complete fun and very enjoyable. From that day forth I do not remember not talking or seeing Nate. We had our first kiss on the Eve of Thanksgiving. And he even attended the sales with me the day after Thanksgiving. On December 31st at the Bird residence Nate and I declared our love for each other!!
Alright enough backround information let's get to the good stuff!
On the 13th of June I left on a redeye to New York with my mom and brother. I was super excited to go to my favorite place, but also scared of how much I was going to miss Nate. Wednesday was spent at Central Park and Times Square. On Thursday I begged my mom to look at wedding dresses with me (even though I was not engaged, a girl has to in NYC:) On the way back to the hotel my mom laughed hysterically when I told her that I had teased Nate by saying I was gonna be done if one more 12 year old got engaged before us. (I came up with this "12 year old" statement when my gorgeous 2nd cousin Kourtney got married on June 4th). My mom simply said, "Amanda, I can assure you Nate is taking his time with this." My heart sank into basically my toes and I decided that the 11-11-11 wedding date was probably not going to happen and that I needed to accept that. The next morning my brother had to get to the airport and meet his wife because she took the redeye out. The plan was to let her sleep for a few hours and then we would head to The Empire State Building and use the Groupon (ya, I totally fell for it) tickets Britt had bought. The weather was kind of sketch, so I decided a nice simple braid in my hair, with no make-up, and a baggy sweatshirt would be fitting for the day's festivities. My mom was putting her hair in curlers and my brother was looking extra sharp as well. Both of them did not want to clue me in on anything, so neither of them questioned my appearance, ha ha. As we were walking to catch the bus to take us into Manhattan I had mentioned that my mom must have put a little extra something into her coffee that morning because she was zipping right along. On the bus ride over Nate had sent me a text asking what was on the agenda for that day. I replied to him, "The Empire State Building.... see ya up there babe!" I then told my family how funny I thought I was with my comment because I knew Nate was at work in Utah. At this point Britt thought that the surprise was spoiled, but in all honesty I just was being funny. From March until this point I had teased Nate about various locations he could propose to me.
After finally arriving to 34th Street I needed to use the potty (go figure) and get myself a drink, so I decided to go into SBUXcluelessness (thanks to my darling mother) wore off and I realized Nate was PROPOSING TO ME at that very moment. My biggest dream was finally coming true, I was going to be someone's wife, a mother..... A million thoughts were going through my head. Not to mention a bazillion cameras that kept going off around us. I remember us kissing and the feeling of knowing I was going to MARRY MY BEST FRIEND!
In all honesty I do not remember what Nate said, nor what I replied with. I actually had to verify later that I did infact say yes to him. The ring slid on perfectly and has stayed on my finger ever since. On 11-11-11 at 11 AM I will marry James Nathan Jorgensen in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. I cannot wait to start a family with him and grow old by his side.
