[From Amanda's perspective]

Where to begin?

It was our day of ‘firsts’; the anniversary for the first day of our first month of our first year. Almost everything to take place in this day was a first for both Ryan and me.

Ryan and I had just arrived in Calgary the day before, December 26th, 2004. It was my first time in Canada, my first time in the COLD and snow, AND my first time meeting his family. So, the morning of the 27^th started off with Ryan coming downstairs to wake me up, and then proceeding to show me a 2-minute introductory video (“Our Day of Firsts”). In the past, Ryan had done special things for me on our anniversary days (the 27^th of every month) and other random occasions, so having an adventure planned for the day wasn’t highly unusual.

After the video presentation, Ryan gave me “Present #1” which was ‘The Great Canadian Adventure 2004’ long sleeved t-shirt; my uniform for the day (!). Then we headed upstairs to have breakfast. “Present #2” came next, a disposable camera with the promise of more adventures to be had. My assignment, should I choose to accept it, was to take a picture of each of our adventures that were about to unfold.

So we started off in the car in the brisk, cold air, coasting toward Sarcee Trail. At the top of Sarcee Trail was Signal Hill, where we watched the sun rise at around 8:25am. As the sun was rising in the clear, cloudless sky and both our eyes were glued to the horizon...and each other... a song caught both of our ears. It was a strange and unfamiliar song by an unfamiliar group but it penetrated deep into the core of our hearts.

“Here I am sitting with my girl, watching the sun rise...” and all we could think about was gazing into the others’ eyes. (Whoa...this is getting mushy.) Included with #3’s present was a list of “Reasons why Amanda brings Sunshine to my [Ryan’s] life.” So, needless to say, the day started off with a ton of romance!

Off again! The following clue, #4, hinted at flying, yet I was speechless! Where to now? We drove by Canada Olympic Park (henceforth known as C.O.P.) where my mission was to take a picture that looked like I was barreling down the Olympic 90m ski jump. My sense of balance wasn’t quite as successful as one would hope, but it made us laugh! It should be noted that “Present #4” was a ‘Fly Girl’ T-shirt made especially for me by Ryan.

Having completed our ski jump mission, we were “out and about” <pronounced with a strong Canadian accent> again. This time, Ryan drove us to Bow Valley Provincial Park and we made...SNOW ANGELS (and lots of them)! First we had to dress warmly though, so Amanda became transformed into the newest Canadian superhero, “SnowMass.” (I even had my name on my jacket, which was borrowed from Ryan’s mom!) Both of us put on snow pants, snow boots, snow hoods, snow gloves, snow jackets, and of course, snow. Then we hopped into the snow and it became Angel Madness everywhere.

After that, we were driving west yet again on Highway 1 towards Banff National Park. We stopped off in Canmore (which is also the headquarters for the helicopter rescue team that had rescued Ryan when he broke his neck in September of 1999) and took a picture of the mountains known as the ‘Three Sisters’, part of the Canadian Rockies. The gift coinciding with this event was a 3 stranded cord, representing Ecclesiastes 4 (a cord of 3 strands is not quickly broken).

Next we entered Banff (which was a very quaint area) and drove up to the Banff Springs Hotel. We parked at the Spray Lakes trailhead and walked past numerous people (who paid for their parking—silly people) interacting with Canadian lingo (Eh!) as we bee lined for the warm lobby. Once inside the gargantuan antique hotel, my mission (after finding a restroom) was to find an old wooden cross and take a picture of it. It definitely took creativity because there were no crosses anywhere! But, as we were going through a doorframe, lo and behold, there was a cross beam for the frame! (say cheese!)

On to “Present 8,” which was a certificate entitling me to a Christmas ornament from the Spirit of Christmas store (where it’s Christmas all year round). After moseying around, I decided I most wanted a Banff ornament so I would always remember where I got it. Man, am I glad I did that! This day would turn out more memorable than I had originally thought!

The next adventure was a hot and cold one. We scooted over to Banff Hot Springs. Here I was given the “Top 10 Ways to keep my [Amanda] Panda Hot.” It was approximately 10°F outside (it felt colder in the shade), but the hot springs stay consistently around 120°F, so we took a picture of all the wacky people and then Ryan quickly whisked me off to the car once again.

We had to drive really far to get to our next location...almost half a block. The surprise from “Present #10” was a gondola ride up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. Of course, being the apprehensive, terrified-of-roller-coasters girl that I am, the gondola looked suspiciously like a ride that would knock my stomach out from under me. BUT Ryan reassured me that it would be fine, which was more than accurate. On the way up to the top of Sulphur Mountain, a breath taking view was beginning to unfold.

The gondola spit us out at the top and we headed into the cozy restaurant.

<Ryan asked what time the last gondola ride left to go back to the bottom. We had been rushing all day long and I didn’t have the slightest clue why, other than the fact that Ryan is CRAZY! I was soon to find out that our rushing was to provide us the greatest possible amount of time up at the top, enjoying God’s blessing of creation...and each other.>  We took some quick pictures up at the top of the incredible view of the Rockies and the valleys all around (and it had remained cloudless all day long, which, unbeknownst to me, Ryan had prayed for earnestly). We then scurried inside and grabbed some lunch (2 bowls of soup for $5 each...and Ryan never even flinched! That alone should have alerted me!). As we ate lunch, he showed me the “Top 10 reasons Amanda is my best friend” list.

As we finished lunch, with a picturesque view of the mountains all around, Ryan set up his laptop and Pocket PC at the table.  Before viewing the next presentation, I was given another Top 10 list, this one entitled the “Top 10 Reasons Amanda is my True Love.” At this point, I definitely was starting to get a little insight into what was happening. This was beginning to be way more elaborate than any adventure Ryan had ever planned out before! Was it just because we were in Canada? It was only our 13-month anniversary after all! My brain was starting to get fuzzy and at this point everything seems like a dream! (Yes, Ryan did pinch me several times afterwards, so I know I was awake!!!)

Out comes the slide show presentation! Ryan had labored and spent countless hours on a beautiful presentation that...oh wait. That’s one of our secrets. Sorry. But it was INCREDIBLE! The work, the music, the photos, the perfection! It’s a shame you’ll never see it.

Moving right along… at the end of the slide show, Episode 5 of our continuing audio adventures was presented to me. Something clicked inside of me as Ryan handed me a CD that was said to contain Episodes 1-5 on it. Why was I getting a CD with all the previous episodes on it? Hmmm...

As Ryan plugged headphones into his pocket PC, my heart began to race. I actually think race is an understatement. I shall have to listen to the story sometime again soon, because I am not sure how much I really retained from it. I only remember being lost in Ryan’s eyes and the rhythmic sound of my heart pounding in my head. As we neared the end of the story, Ryan escorted a wide-eyed, wobbly-kneed panda out of the restaurant and to the stairs, which led up to the outdoor observation deck. Before going up the last set of stairs, Ryan handed me a secret personal journal entry that he had written over 2 years earlier. In it contained the desires of his heart for a mate, compiled after some serious time with the Lord. The funny part is, it was a perfect match with me....and the funnier part is, my list is the same way! By now, I’m sure you know my heart was not even beating anymore—it was a consistent patter and you almost couldn’t distinguish the pattern to tell individual beats.

As we walked up the last flight of stairs, Ryan opened the door to the picturesque, panoramic view below. He led me out (if there were people around, I hardly knew) and there are not words to adequately describe all that unfolded. As Ryan handed me the final gift (Present #13) he proceeded to tell me for the first time those incredibly special words filled with the depth and sincerity that can only be found accurately in the portrait of 1 Corinthians 13 - “I Love You”. There was such an incredible purity and sense of fulfillment when Ryan said that...it was the way God meant it to be! After some precious words, I was instructed to open the box, where I found a picture of my Dad with a big grin and a thumbs up sign with Ryan (taken December 22nd). And then, Ryan dropped to one knee and said the words that every girl dreams about hearing said to her and always wonders when and who and where.

My reaction?

Hmm, let me look at my left ring finger as I type and try to remember...YES!

I hadn’t even seen the ring yet as I locked into an embrace with Ryan, oblivious of time, temperature, surroundings (however beautiful they might have been) and people. Eventually Ryan reminded me I hadn’t seen the ring yet and as I opened the box, a little toy Panda (my Big toy Panda’s ‘long lost’ baby) had the ring carefully placed on her left paw. It was a mountain top experience to say the least!

As Ryan carefully slipped the ring off of baby Panda’s paw and on to my left ring finger, the angels rejoiced in heaven (HALLELUJAH!!!) and we were both overcome with such incredible joy that neither of us had ever experienced before. It is the joy that comes from doing things God’s way, waiting on His timing, for His absolute best. It reminds me of the verse, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Ryan is more than I ever could have prayed for or dreamed of in a man and I am so excited about our future together!

We headed back into the restaurant and sat there for who knows how long, shivering with excitement and joy as we shared our hearts together, reminiscing what God had done to bring us to this point in our lives-the point where 2 individual lives begin their 11 month merger into becoming one unit with Christ at the center. 

As we went back to the car (after descending the mountain first, of course, although I can’t remember if we floated off or if we took the gondola back down), I looked back at the place Ryan had just proposed and noticed the mountain had a very obvious cross etched into the side of it. This was yet another incredible detail given to us by God to show us His smile on our lives.

We hurried off to meet Ryan’s parents, Shawna and Neil for dinner to end the most incredible day of our lives (but to begin the most incredible journey of the rest of our lives). On the way back to Calgary, Ryan gave me the last of the “Top 10” lists. This one was the “Top 10 Reasons to get married to Ryan!”

We had dinner in the Calgary Tower, a revolving restaurant. Ryan had prearranged with Shawna to have a vase with a dozen red roses and one yellow rose on our table. According to British custom, this means ‘proposal’. Shawna and Neil knew Ryan was proposing to me during that day, so they had prearranged the dinner so that we could surprise Ryan’s parents with the news. His parents were under the impression that the dinner was to celebrate Ryan’s new job at a Delta Connection. Little did they know they would be getting even MORE celebratory news! I believe the most frequently spoken thing out of Ryan’s mom’s mouth was “I can’t believe this is happening!”

This day DEFINITELY goes down in my memory banks as the best day of my life...that I’m sure will be superceded only by our wedding day on November 26^th, 2005. We wait in patient anticipation for that day and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together, serving each other and serving the King. And He has set us free, FREE indeed!