For the past 48 hours I've caught myself staring at this sparkly thing on my left hand. What the heck happened? Am I seriously wearing an engagement ring? It's strange that this day has come, but it's not hard to believe.
Yes. I'm engaged. When I called my old roommate Cami and told her that, she apprehensively said "Do you want to tell me who it is?" She knew, of course, but she was just being cautious in case some dramatic shift in my life had happened since I had seen her last a few months ago. To Aaron, I told her. I am getting married to Aaron. I need to keep telling myself that so that I know I'm not just dreaming.
Lots of people in my life, however, haven't had a chance to get to know Aaron. My brother, for instance, asked me if he would like Aaron. I said I hoped so and that I liked him. But I'm biased. So here I go, attempting to familiarize you with Aaron. My fiance. Ah...that's weird to say. And type.
So I don't have many pictures of Aaron since he got back from his mission. He only got back a month and a half ago. Yes, a month and a half. You're probably thinking we are crazy. Crazy, or in love? Probably both. You can decide that. But here's the one halfway decent picture I do have of us.
You may notice from the picture that we are about the same size. We are in fact. I'm never really sure which one of us is taller, and if I gained a pound or two, I think we would weigh the same. My feet are bigger than his and definitely nastier (thank you modern dance). My leg strength can beat his, but his right arm strength alone can keep me pinned. I'm not scared of the left though. I probably have a bigger head then him, and, though we still have yet to try it, I'm pretty sure he could wear my pants. We like being basically the same size though, because our wrestling matches are somewhat fair. Every now and then I can pin him for a minute.
Aaron grew up in Minnesota. Yes, a Midwesterner. When we first met, he told me we had to be enemies. He was brainwashed since elementary school to hate Wisconsin. I never knew I was supposed to hate Minnesota and anything or one that spawned from it. Obviously, that changed. We both like a good, cold, snowy winter and all the fun that brings with it. And we both like cheese. In fact, I think he likes cheese more than me. He should be from Wisconsin.
He went to Spanish Immersion school until high school. He loves speaking Spanish and it makes me wish I could speak better so that I could fulfill his desire to speak it with someone. I try, but I'm not fluent. He became even more fluent, though perhaps a bit corrupt, on his two year mission to the Dominican Republic.
Aaron loves all things Apple. Good thing I had a Mac when we first met or we might not have hit it off so well. He likes web design and optimization and wants to be able to speak the language of computer programers--not so that he can program, but so that he can tell the programers what to do. He tried to explain to me what exactly the internet is. What I learned is that it isn't anything. Blew my mind. But he understands it.
He is an entrepreneur in blood and spirit. He just got accepted into the Business school at BYU, though he often likes to point out that all the people that start things, such as his idol, Steve Jobs, end up dropping out of school. You don't need a business degree to have an idea and make it happen, but for some reason you do need one to work for the people without degrees, he says. Aaron dreams big. Sometimes it scares me because I've never dreamed that big, but mostly it motivates me to push the boundaries myself and achieve whatever I want. He's destined to start something and pave his own way, because he could never be satisfied with less.
Sometimes I sit and envision Aaron's brain as this constantly morphing orb of noodles, and it's usually lit up like a one of those hand-held Simon Says games where you have to hit the same color pattern that it shows you. He'll teach himself anything he wants to know, and figure out how to do anything he wants to do. He loves scheming, whether it be business ideas, future plans, or nice things to do for me. He also loves economics, another subject that just confuses me.
Oh, and he secretly wants to be a pilot. I think he should do it. Not commercially, just so he can fly us around.
Another thing about Aaron is that he is an amazing drummer. I know that some of my brothers may have a preconception that all drummers are weird, as their experiences have led them to believe, but I don't really know what that means. Sometimes I think we all are a little weird when it comes to something we are passionate about. He currently rocks out with our friend, Ryan King, and they are looking for guitarists to top off their band. He once admitted that another secret desire of his is to be a rock star. But what musician doesn't want that? I haven't heard that idea come up in the past month and a half, though.
Aaron is sweet and thoughtful. The one Christmas we had when we were dating before his mission, I just went out and bought him some clothes or something, while he spent countless hours during finals week staying up late, making me a heartfelt and personal gift. He often surprises me with flowers and nice notes and I honestly think he has never said anything to me that I could even try to take offense from.
This is only the beginning of Aaron Robison and it probably won't inform my brother as to whether he will like Aaron or not. In fact, you may read this description and think, "Wow. Aaron and Rachel are nothing alike. A business mind and a dancer? What do they have in common?" But we do have things in common. We both like good music. We both like thinking about the future. We both have a need to be productive in our lives. We both want to travel the world. We both want to have a family. We both like trying new food, though I'm usually the one that puts it in front of him. We both like living in cleanliness. We both like the theory "Don't do anything you don't want to do", but I think he sticks to that more religiously than I do. We both like doing nice things for each other and for other people. We both like to learn. We both like dark chocolate. We both love the Midwest. We both like creating things, but we create in different ways. We both like watching movies, exercising, and reading books. We both like the idea of having a vegetable garden.
But all that really matters is that we both love each other, so hopefully that's a good indication that Aaron is an amazing guy and if you love me, you'll love him, too.
