Tarah and Jason

Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 11:32 AM

Our Yearly Mushroom Hunt

We went up north to hunt for morels (they’re mushrooms for those not in the know). We go up every year and I love it. Looking back now, I should’ve known something was up. Jason was very lovey dovey with me, and his mom was excited about the smallest things. But I just chalked it up to having a great weekend away.
 
We arrived Friday night, had dinner, and hit the sack, ready to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning to start our hunt. Saturday morning rolled around and Jason woke me up at around 6 a.m. so I could shower and get ready. He told me that he had woken up at around 5 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep, like he was like a kid on Christmas morning.

The Proposal

We finally got to the woods and started searching, each of us wanting to find the first one ($5 to the winner). Jason managed to steer me away from his family and we went off on our own. About an hour into our hunt (I had found a few, Jason found the first one…as usual), he called me over to him.

“Check out this morel I found! It’s huge! I’m going to take a picture of it,” he said. He pulled his backpack off his shoulders and kneeled down to take out the camera.

So I wandered over his way, searching the ground as I made my way over to him, not wanting to miss one. When I got near him, I searched but didn’t see a morel.

“I don’t see one.”

“I think it’s under that leaf,” he said, still on his knee.

“Why is it under a leaf?” I picked up the leaf he was pointing to, and then I saw a mushroom -- and a diamond ring.

I’m a little hazy at that part; I just remember staring at it for the longest time and then looking at him. What was happening finally hit me, and I said, “Are you serious?”

At this point Jason looked up at me and said, “It’s a legitimate question. Will you marry me?”

I said something along the lines of, “You better not be kidding with me.” I started crying. After kisses, hugs, and more tears, he slid the ring on my finger. I don’t know if I said yes. I think I did…I’ll have to ask him. He caught me completely off guard. I once told him I had two wishes for when he proposed: I wanted to be totally surprised, and I didn’t want to share that moment with anyone when it happened, no family, no friends, no strangers. He pulled both off -- his parents were yards away and I had no idea it was coming.
 
After we met up with his parents and brother at the car, his mom pulled out champagne and we toasted to our engagement!