Josh Loves Kristin

Ok, here are some more photos for all of you who are dying to see them. :) What an amazing experience that weekend was! :)

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Guess what? The rumors are true, it finally happened! Kristin Shaffer and Josh Wychopen are now officially engaged!

A few weeks ago, Kristin and I had made some plans to drive out to San Antonio, Texas, and make a day of it! We both love road trips, so Kristin had jumped at the thought of driving out there, walking the River Walk and doing some shopping. However, I had a little plan up my sleeve. For awhile now I had been conceiving a plan to ask Kristin to marry me. Although the epiphany for my plan had only come twelve days before and Thursday the 18th was fast approaching, not even the hurricane would stop me this time. ;) I decided to use the San Antonio trip as a cover for what I was actually planning. Hehe

I drove in on Wednesday afternoon, the 17th, and spent the evening with Kristin. I had told her that we would need to go to bed early because we would be leaving really early in the morning for San Antonio. We talked about it and agreed that I would wake her up around 5:30am the following morning. I barely got a wink of sleep the whole night, I was so afraid I would miss my alarm. :) Just as I had finally fallen asleep, the alarm went off. Oh no, it’s time… :) I got out of bed and went to wake Kristin up. It was 3:15 in the morning when I proceeded to tell her that we were not going to be able to go to San Antonio that day. I saw her face just drop, then a look of sudden concern as she wanted to know what had happened to change plans so suddenly.

In a simple, matter-of-fact-way, I told her that we couldn’t go to San Antonio because we would be leaving for Colorado at 6am. :) Kristin was completely taken back. She said, “Colorado? Really, like you mean Colorado? Seriously right? You’re not kidding are you? Colorado?” I told her that I was very serious and we needed to get going. :) She asked me, “Please tell me it’s not 5:30?” I just chuckled, “No dear, it’s 3:15 in the morning. You have an hour and a half.” She said, “Oh ok, I thought the night seemed really short…” hehe :) I haven’t seen someone more awake in a short amount of time than we were in those moments. :) LOL

We got ready and by 4:15am we were out the door, breakfast in hand and a song in our hearts! :) We arrived at the airport shortly after 4:45 and had the car parked and were on the shuttle by 4:55. By 5:00am we made it through security and stopped off at Starbucks for an early morning caffeine boost – we were still waking up, hehe. Our flight was to leave by 6:10am, and we were in the air shortly after that. Kristin and I dozed off and on as the flight progressed, often looking over at each other and smiling, amazed that we were actually doing something crazy. Doing the kind of, spur-of-the-moment thing that one only dreams about but never does…Colorado for a day? Wow. :)

By 7am mountain time, we had made it to Denver and within the hour had the rental car. As we started our drive further into the heart of Denver, I tried to act like nothing was going on. I told Kristin that we could do anything she wanted. We could go to a nearby mall and shop around or we could do some antiquing or we could get some breakfast, really anything. I told her that Rocky Mountain National Park was only about an hour an a half away and I had never been there before, she thought that was a good idea. So, after stopping by Walmart and grabbing a few snacks, we started our trek up the mountain. All part of the plan… hehe :)

We made it to Estes Park by 10:30am and drove around the mountains for a little while just seeing the sights. I wanted to end up over at Bear Lake, right in the center of Rockies and a very beautiful lake on top of everything else. This was Colorado in September, so the leaf-bearing trees were a vibrant yellow and the aspens were incredible! Surrounded by mountains and gorgeous trees, all of which was reflected in the crystal clear water was almost to much to take in. :) The walk around the lake would only take about 20-25min. So we started our little stroll around the lake. Once we made it to the other side of the lake we came upon a large rock jutting out into the lake. We climbed out on the rock and asked a passing couple to take a photo of us.

We were standing there, right in the middle of the Rockies with absolutely perfect weather and stunning views. It was amazing! :) After we finished up taking the photos, we sat down on the rock and  just talked for a little while, the conversation ending with a sigh and an I love you. sigh. :) I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little box. :) Kristin looked down and immediately her face lit up with excitement! :) I got down on one knee in front of her and asked her to marry me. Words cannot express the feeling that was in our hearts during that moment. :) Kristin was clearly excited that I would ask her to marry me, and I was extremely excited when she said yes. :) I slipped the diamond ring onto her finger as she said yes.  It was the most amazing moment of my life to this day! God is sooo good!

After the proposal, we still had a few hours before we needed to head back to the airport, so we drove through the rest of the Park, taking in the amazing views from the peaks. There was even snow on the ground up at the top! It was beautiful! We wanted to keep driving, but a coming storm made us turn around and head back for Denver. On the way back, we decided to eat at a lovely little Italian restaurant tucked away on main street. One of us ordered lasagna, of course. :-) As we drove back to Denver, we looked behind us and found the mountain range completely covered with the storm we had narrowly escaped. God had given us the perfect window of time for the proposal to be done in the most beautiful weather imaginable! God is so good!

We arrived at the airport a little early and waited in really long security lines. Once we made it through security we crashed at the gate, completely exhausted from the day. By 7pm we were on the plane flying home. Kristin and I both fell asleep on the flight, and it was good to get some rest after such a long, yet wonderful day. :) Before we fell asleep, Kristin asked if Laura would be at the house when we got back because I always said that I would love to fly Laura in when the time came. I very emphatically told her no. :) Laura was actually landing about 15min after we were, and I planned for us to pick her up. After we went and got the car, Laura just so happened to call Kristin and conveniently distracted her while I drove back to terminal c arrivals. :) As Kristin was talking with Laura she looked up and there she was standing there with her bags. She was sooo surprised and it was so great to have Laura a part of the weekend. :)

The day ended with a warm reception at the Shaffer house, complete with video cameras and lots of pictures of Kristin showing off her ring. No one would settle down until we presented a full slideshow of pictures from our day and talked through every detail of “the moment.” By the time we were done, it was 3am in the morning – it had been a full 24 hours! Hehe. Sleep was never more welcome.

The next day as Kristin woke up, the day before seemed so surreal, she wondered for a moment if the entire thing had simply been a really wonderful dream…but no. Her ring glitters on her finger, and now we can start the journey toward “happily ever after.”

Here we are
On earth together
It’s you and I
God has made us fall in love
It’s true
I’ve really found
Someone like you
Will it say
The love you feel for me
Will it say
That you will be by my side
To see me through
Until my life is through
Well, in my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I

I am glad
At least in my life
I’ve found someone
That may not be here forever
To see me through
But I found my strength in you
‘Cause in my mind
You will stay here always
In love, you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I
In my mind
We can conquer the world
In love, you and I
You and I, you and I

Performed by Michael Buble

Ok, this is Josh again. I am sitting here in Dallas and Kristin is roughing it out in Houston. Something wrong with this picture? Shouldn’t it be the noble gentlemen that is roughing it while his young lady is relaxing in comfort? This is just the way it worked out, I would have loved to have been there . . . but it didn’t work out. I really miss her and it has been about six days since I have seen her. That is the longest we have gone without seeing each other since April of this year. :) I talked with Mr. Shaffer aka David earlier this evening. He reported that the power is still out but they are doing ok. The night went well from what I know; by morning they could see that the house was fine, along with the few vehicles that were left out. Although there were about eight trees that are down in the yard, things are good. Not really sure when the cleanup will begin, but they said the neighborhood looks like a war zone.

The night went well here in Dallas and it has hardly rained all day. We got a little wind, but other than that things have done really well here. My parents drove up early and are now staying in Fort Worth. Their house is doing well too, they called the neighbors and there are some branches down in the yard but the house is in tact. There is a little water in the street, but it was nowhere near the house. Praise the Lord, He has protected us again! :)

I am not really sure when I will be heading down to Houston this next week but I am looking forward to getting back. This is the first weekend in weeks that I have had by myself, I have been trying to get some things done on the computer (changed the theme on this site) and some things around the house. :) Continue to pray that the Lord brings the power back to our families homes. More to come later…

To be or not to be? That is the question…

Ok this is Josh, here is the reason I am not in Houston.

Hurricane Ike: Satallite

Partly because all lanes lead out of Houston at the moment but those are small details. Back to the big story . . . meet my friend Ike. :)

Hurricane Ike: Over Houston

He is big, large, hungry and wants to take a big bite out to the H town. I had great plans to be at the Houston Symphony tonight with Kristin listening to Dvorak’s New World Symphony, instead I will probably do something really boring around the house. I just talked with Kristin and the wind is picking up a little already, meanwhile Mr. Shaffer aka David is boarding the house up. :) With winds expected up to 74+ I really think that is a wise idea. :)

Hurricane Ike: Forcast Models

Hurricane Ike: Advisories

Hurricane Ike: Storm Pulse

Here are some photos from the latest storm trackers. If you would like to follow the storm closely go to www.stormpulse.com.