Uncharted Territory: Engagement Story

Here's the full story for those who care!

For those of you who don't know this, the Fiance is studying Boy Scouts. That's right, Boy Scouts. More Specifically Boy Scouts with a Non-profit minor, so it's really the business side of things. It's kinda his passion, and I love him for it, though there are some that wouldn't. (Though in this case, nobody asked them.)

Anywho, for him to go to a meeting with a bunch of BS executives isn't that weird....it's fairly normal, in fact. So when he told me that he and a co-worker at camp were going into Base Camp that Tuesday for this meeting, I didn't think too much of it. I figured "Sad....now I won't get to sit with him at dinner tonight", and that was the end of that train of thought.

The night right before, the Ponil staff gathered together to do Thorns and Roses, where you talk about the good, the bad, and what you're looking forward to. When it got to the Fiance, he said his stomach wasn't doing too hot cuz of this meeting. Alright, that was legit - his stomach doesn't do well when he gets nervous. I walked with him to the Dining hall and waited around for him to finish up, even though he insisted that he didn't mind me leaving him...I'm such a good girlfriend though, I was going to wait no matter what! So I did, until we walked back to the girls room together a bit later. End of Monday.

The day of the meeting, I never really got a chance to see him. We might have had breakfast together, but I doubt it. This was the "Wayne's breakfasts make me semi-nauseous* this early in the morning" phase. (Wayne was the cook for the Ponil Staff.) Then for the day's duties, my boss Adam assigned me to work the Cantina - one of my favorite jobs! However, this did mean that I had total and complete isolation from my other co-workers the majority the time.....lots of time to spend with smelly scouts instead I guess. :) The rest of the day passed uneventfully, with me wishing I could go hang out in base camp and not work.

At dinner time, I closed up shop, and decided to go take a quick 30 minute power-nap before Wayne served dinner. I was EXHAUSTED at this point, and wanted nothing else but to collapse on my bed and pass out. Of course, it was right at this point that Adam comes up to me and asks what I was doing for the night. I kinda looked at him like he was an idiot and told him I was going to take a nap, get dinner, and then perform in the cantina show....same thing I had done every night for the past 3 months. He then was kind enough to inform me, that no I was not, I was going on a 10-23, or a fire look-out. See, where we lived/worked was undergoing a SEVERE drought, and had had numerous fires already start up. (14 to be exact at that point). Philmont staff are trained that if a camper/hiker/advisor/whoever reports a fire sighting, we have a specfic vantage point that lets you see if there is a fire so you can radio it in. I had already done several of these during the summer, so I groaned and turned to get my gear and uniform on. It was then that Adam informed me I was also lucky enough to get him as my buddy during this hike......Joy.

I ran around and collected all my gear, and when I got back to Adam, I heard this over the radio: "Affirmative Ponil, we do have a 10-23. If you could get 2 people in reds (staff polo shirts) and send them up to your lookout point we'd appreciate it." Adam told them we already had two people ready to go, so off we went. At this point, all I wanted was dinner....I hadn't eaten since 12ish and it was roughly 5:30ish. Not a big deal in regular day-to-day things, but at camp that's eternity. I had been up and working since 6! I began trudging the 45 minute hike up to our look-out on top of Hart Peak. It was then that Adam decided to tease me about going so slowly. Being the wonderful person I am, I decided to pick it up a bit. Needless to say, We finished that hike in about 20 minutes - half the time it normally takes.

I was hot, I was sweaty, and I wasn't in greatest of moods. As we got near the top, Adam decided then was the perfect time to take a leisurely break as he tied his shoe. I sat there semi-impatiently as he motioned for me to get to the top on my own. "I'll be there in a sec," he said. When I reached the last stretch before the summit, I turned back to see him fiddling with the radio. I was so annoyed with him, I decided I would go find the stupid fire on my own. Coming around the bend, the summit sits off to your left, with a wooden sign declaring this to be Hart Peak, and the elevation to be 7900 ft. As I rounded the bend, who should I see but the lovely Benjamin Thaddeus Swank sitting nicely as you please at a table with two chairs and a fancy dinner, in his best pearl snaps on top of this mountain!?

I admit that I was so mad/happy, I started laughing really hard, threw my pack and then huffed over to the table and sat in one of the chairs. Turns out, he never really went to that meeting! (duh.) The reason his stomach was upset? He was proposing. When he went to the dining hall? He was trying to get rid of me to start the steak and asparagus/ Chocolate mousse cake he was making for us! (Woops. My bad.) He had hiked up before us, with the table, chairs and meal all by himself! He told me that he got about 15 minutes into the hike, when he realized he had left the table back in the camp. He was so mad/worried I'd catch up to him before he could set up that he ran the whole way back with his pack/chairs, and ran the whole way back. What a beast. <3 The call over the radio had been a fake, set up with no one less than the Head Honcho of Philmont himself- Mark Anderson!! Apparently EVERYONE had been in on this little secret, and no one was more excited than the bossman. After Ben proposed, Adam (who had been about 5 feet off.....romantic I know. Rules are rules. (no boy-girl alone together)) called down to base that the "fire on Hart Pk had been lit". What then commenced was the most ridiculous amount of cheering I had ever heard. From what I can tell, there were roughly 50 people in the radio room listening, as well as all of the Camp directors and all the staff camps as well. They postponed the daily Itinerary readout just to hear if I had said yes. (Which I did, by the way. :P Though, I did punch him as soon as I got the ring on.) They then thought it would be fun to announce over the radio that "Program Counselor Thaddeus has just proposed to Program Counselor Elise...please be sure to change the spelling of Hart Peak to "Heart" peak in the subsequent weeks." .....Ridiculous people. :D

Also, if you ask Fiance, he said I cried. I absolutely did not cry. Not when he proposed anyway. When I first sat down i was laughing/mad/exhausted/surprised....so maybe I teared up. But I didn't cry the way he says I did. Just wanted to clarify. :)

And now, enough words! Picture time!