The Idaho adventure has had its ups and downs as has the relationship that caused it. Last November she and I had some pretty serious discussions in which we firmly established that we were not ready to take it to the next level. It was kind of weird because I was expecting to be by that point. Then something happened in December and a chain that had been attached to my ankle came undone. Over late December and January there was something of a sea change in our relationship. While there were circumstances that lead up to its beginning, nothing can explain exactly how it happened. But by the end of January, I was starting to feel ready.

There were only a couple of things I still had to do, both involving a trip down to Texas. The homecoming tour of Texas was everything I needed it to be and while down there I picked up the engagement ring - a family heirloom - and brought it back to Idaho with me. I wasn't sure exactly when I was going to do it, but I knew it would either involve Montana, Wyoming, or Utah.

Camille and I first met in Oklahoma, first kissed in Texas, first said "I love you" in Florida, and got started in Idaho. I wanted to add another state to "the list" (a sentiment not lost on her). When we started planning a trip to West Yellowstone, Montana, I asked her to get a room with high speed Internet if possible. She said that it wasn't that important. I pushed the subject and she started getting a little bit miffed, saying that we weren't going on a nature trip to hang around the hotel and play around on the Internet. Little did I know that she was planning to tell me that she had really felt the "sea change" too and was going to tell me in Yellowstone. But her plans were thwarted when we got to Yellowstone too late and never really had a chance to. My plans were thwarted by the lack of high-speed Internet that she didn't want.

By that point I already knew that I was going to use the web site. Had it not been for the site, I never would have met Kevin and Callie and without meeting them I never would have met Camille. She was also vaguely familiar with my blogging adventures prior to meeting me and thought that I seemed like a pretty cool guy. Using the site seemed appropriate. But that meant that Montana was scrapped.

I didn't want a pixelated proposal. I wanted it to be something personal. I also didn't want anyone seeing the proposal before her. There was also one other issue: while I'd always imagined the traditional on-one-knee proposal, she had said that she thought a discussion was more appropriate than a simple question-and-answer. So I wasn't sure that she would say yes. I was somewhat confident that she would assent in the end, but I didn't want to put the pressure of a public proposal on her.

So I decided that I would use the blog as a set-up and I'd use the posting area of the blog as a tool. I wrote a post of a precise length so that she would have to scroll down twice. When she had to scroll the window down I'd sneak the ring out of my pocket. When she scrolled textbox down (the only line below the scrollbar being the last "please turn around" line) I'd get on one knee as she turned around.

I knew that she was doing a rotation in Salt Lake City. I was reluctant to have Utah, of all states, as a member of our illustrious list. But that reluctance quickly dissipated when I drove down to Salt Lake City and instantly warmed to it. During my first trip down there, Camille was more talkative about "us" issues than usual. She had tried to tell me about her sea change, but I became evasive because I didn't want to have the engagement conversation that I feared she might be leading to. Meanwhile, she was afraid she'd said something wrong.

The following week was a difficult one. Not difficult for us together, but for us individually. But difficult enough that I began to reconsider the timing. Thought about proposing another out-of-state trip pronto. But things calmed down and the train got back on track. On Tuesday I called her parents to ask for their blessing, which they enthusiastically gave. They seemed more certain she would say yes than I was.

Friday I left from work down to Utah.

Now the posting area on Nucleus is set up in absolute lengths, meaning that the meticulously lengthed post wouldn't show up the same way on her laptop as it would on mine. That meant that I had to set my laptop up to call long distance to Idaho using a calling card, something I'd never done before. Camille (who has done this before) helped me out, but it was reluctant to work. She started getting a little bit agitated at my insistence on getting my computer hooked up asking why I couldn't just use hers. I avoided answering.

We finally got it set up.

While she slept in on Saturday morning I got to setting everything up. I changed up the post a little bit, got it set up, and disconnected from the Internet. When she got out of the shower, I told her that I had an "us" post that I wanted her to read. Since I'd agreed to get her approval on any post that involves our relationship, it didn't send up a flag and she sat down - towel in hair - and read the post. She scrolled down the first time and I got the ring out of my pocket and sat it behind me. She scrolled down the second time, confusedly turned around, and I popped the question.

It took her only a couple of seconds to say "Yes." As we hugged, she said that she didn't know what to say. I told her that she'd said the only word that really mattered.