Lifestyle, My Life, Relationship

Surprise at High Meadow

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By Joseph Mauler

“Joseph, we can’t plan our first dance. One of us has to surprise the other.”

The night sky was clear, stars littering the air all above us. The hood of my car kept bending under the weight of our bodies. Maybe laying on the hood of my car would damage it, but I’ve waited for a moment like this for too long. I didn’t give it a second thought.

I don’t know how many nights I laid on the ground, looking into this sprinkled sky. Even though the view was always breathtaking, I couldn’t escape the gaping hole of loneliness I felt every night prior to this one.

I turned away from the beautiful stars to something way more beautiful.

“I guess you’re right,” I laughed. “I always try to plan everything in my life. Even the special things.”

“Well, Joseph…” She was able to look into my eyes because the stars lit up our faces. “Thank you for this tonight. This is special and you surprised me.”

“Would you like to go for a hike today? I know this one trail that leads to a pavilion and it is really pretty.” She nodded her head, fresh in love after just two months of dating me.

Getting out of my car, I slipped my small Bose MicroLink speaker into my pocket without her seeing.

The hike was a quarter-mile up a steep hill to a pavilion surrounded by a field of tall grass in the middle of the woods. The pavilion was called “High Meadow.”

“This is so pretty!” She looked into my eyes again with that look.

I slipped out my speaker and said, “Well, you said we had to surprise each other for that first dance.” Her face brightened even more.

I put on “Could I Love You Any More?” by Reneé Dominique and Jason Mraz, which had just recently released three days prior. We had listened to it way more than three times already. I think it was a pretty good song pick for our first dance.

She took hold of me and we had our first dance, underneath that pavilion on that June day, with the smell of summer fresh in our noses. I don’t remember the last time I was happy like this before I started dating her, but I’ll never forget how she took hold of my heart forever.

I already knew from the moment I fell in love with her that I was going to marry her, but now I also already knew how I was going to propose.

After the novel coronavirus in 2020, I don’t think anybody had a normal vacation. After not seeing each other for most of March and April, Tyler and I had not had a lot of time to enjoy our relationship. Finally, in June, Tyler had a great idea.

“What if I take off work next week and we have a ‘staycation?’” Tyler asked.

“What is a ‘staycation?’” I laughed.

“You act as if you are on vacation at your house. You do things you don’t ordinarily do during your normal week around your state. I don’t have to work on my business this week and it would be fun,” she explained.

“Well, you taking off work sounds fantastic,” I said through a smile because Tyler is most certainly a workaholic. “Let’s do it.”

I planned on asking her to marry me later in the summer, but the timing felt too right. I had already bought the ring three weeks ago and asked her father for permission to marry her. I decided I was going to ask her the big question by the end of the week. It was going to be in that pavilion we had our first dance like I had planned all along.

We started off our week to a rainy and lazy Tuesday, watching our favorite TV shows and cooking. But to make this proposal one that would surprise her, I had to throw her off the scent.

“Hey Ty, we should browse more for rings. Want to go to that ring shop near my house this week?” I mean, what better way to throw her off the scent?

“Sure, we can go tomorrow,” she said.

When we were at the ring shop on Wednesday, my stomach dropped because I didn’t consider the fact she could change her mind on the ring she wanted. As we entered the store, I tried to play it cool.

After browsing some rings, Tyler asked the clerk, “Can you size me? I haven’t gotten officially sized.” The man nodded and quickly grabbed the box full of every size ring.

Pick size six. Pick size six. Pick size six. 

“Well, size six is way too big for you,” the clerk said, taking off the size 6 ring and reaching back into his box. “Let’s try something smaller.”

As we jumped backed into my Mazda 30 minutes later, Tyler turned from the passenger seat.

“I want the ring we picked out a couple months ago. It’s the ring. But now we know I’m a size five.” A wave of relief washed over me knowing I did purchase the ring she wanted, as well as another wave of anxiety over the fact I bought the wrong size. I figured it was good I was asking this week because I had only bought the ring three weeks ago, so I was still eligible to return it if needed.

With full confidence that I was going to ask her in a couple of days, I texted my brother Jon, who is a professional photographer. “You free this weekend? I may want you for pictures if you know what I mean.” Because I had told him only two weeks ago I had Tyler’s ring, he responded with several exclamation marks.

Now that Jon was in to take our pictures as well as decorate the pavilion, I needed to find a way to get Tyler there without her suspecting a proposal.

On Friday, Tyler and I went to Western Maryland for our first of many road trips. Once we were comfortable in our seats for our three hour drive, I turned down the music.

“What if we had a fancy picnic this week?” I asked.

“Well, sure. I mean, where would you want to have a picnic?” she responded. “I don’t really have any dresses with me either.” She did not seem to be very enthusiastic about the idea.

“Well, I was thinking we could hike to that pavilion where we had our first dance. Actually, I looked at the calendar this morning and it has been one year since our first dance. It’s almost poetic, you know?”

“Oh! And then we can go to the farmers market and buy fresh ingredients! We should buy wine, too!” Tyler changed from indifference to eagerness. This was too perfect.

“We are about to pass the exit for your apartment, should we stop by there to pick up some dresses for you?” I asked quickly, as I saw her exit approaching on Route 695.

“Yes, it’s right here, get off!” she shouted.

With a quick check to my right, I crossed over five lanes of traffic and barely made it.

When we were browsing her closet for dresses, she pulled out an orange sundress. When I saw it, I knew that was the dress.

“I bought this just for you,” Tyler said. “I actually haven’t worn it yet.” She showed me the price tag still attached.

Everything was falling into place. The plan was that Jon and his wife, Becca, would go to High Meadow on Saturday, which was the day before I planned to propose, to set up the pavilion with sunflowers (her favorite flower). They surprised me by decorating the whole pavilion with more than I expected, including a blanket they bought that said, “Of all the walks we have taken, this one is my favorite.” That was perfect for avid hikers like Tyler and me.

On Sunday, all that was left was getting there without her suspecting anything. After we had picked up our ingredients from a local farmer’s market along with some wine, we got ready. When I walked into the bathroom, Tyler turned and looked at me.

“Wow! You are really dressed up!” she said.

“Yup,” I responded with pride.

“Do you like what I am wearing?” She looked at me expectantly wearing a casual blue dress, not the orange sundress she told me she was going to wear.

Even though Tyler looks amazing in sweatpants, I knew it was not the dress she would want to wear for her engagement photos. So, with a gulp, I said, “Well…it’s okay…”

“Do you want me to change?” Tyler asked with a surprised tone, since this was the first time I had ever said anything like this.

“Yes.” I said. “Actually yes, I do.” I had to get her into that orange sundress.

When we pulled the dress out of her bag, she exclaimed, “Joseph, it’s all wrinkly!”

“I will iron it!” I announced as I pulled out my iron in the closet and began to straighten it.

As she was getting dressed, I slid silently into the other room to grab the ring. I hid it in a drawer right beside the bed she had been sleeping in for the last couple weeks. Along with most things with this proposal, I had taken a risk.

I ran downstairs and shoved the box into the pile of blankets we were going to take.

When we hopped in the car, I noticed she was wearing her normal, sporty flip flops.

“Hey, where are your nice flip flops?” I asked.

“They are in the house,” she explained with annoyance.

“I will go get them!” I shouted as I ran inside.

Because I had been acting so strange about the clothes Tyler was supposed to wear, the 30-minute drive to the trailhead was silent and extremely awkward. I kept trying to make small talk, but I knew Tyler was analyzing why I was acting so weird.

When we were exiting the car, I realized I had made a humongous mistake. I forgot I hid the ring box in the blankets, not the picnic basket. I couldn’t carry both the blankets and the picnic basket, but I couldn’t ask her to carry the heavy picnic basket while I carried the light blankets.

I turned to Tyler with the pile of blankets, her engagement ring stuffed inside. “Here, you can carry this.”

As the realization hit me that the ring box could fall out at any moment, my heart beat faster than ever before in my life.

“You can walk ahead of me.” I said, knowing that if it did fall out, I had to be ready. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Just get there. Don’t fall out. Just get there. Don’t fall out.

After seemingly four years of walking up the steep trail we hiked up one year ago, we finally reached the pavilion a quarter-mile from the trailhead. As we approached the pavilion, Tyler looked confused.

“It looks like someone is having an event here. Do you know what’s going on?”

“No,” I responded. “Maybe someone is having a wedding here or something. It doesn’t look like anyone is here.”

“Look, there’s sunflowers!” Tyler exclaimed with a smile as we walked into the pavilion.

“Yeah, someone really set this up,” I responded, trying to hide any sign I was behind all of this. “Look, Tyler, I know someone else is using this pavilion. But it’s too perfect. We have to dance to our song. Then, we can leave and picnic somewhere else.”

I quickly turned on “Could I Love You Any More?” on the same speaker I surprised her with last year. With my adrenaline pumping, I grabbed her hand and danced with her to a song we have listened to so many times together.

“Oh, Tyler, there’s people coming, let’s go!” I said in the middle of the song to confuse her even more. Then, I quickly said, “Oh, never mind, there’s no one there.” Even until the last minute, I was acting to make this one hell of a surprise.

As the song came to a close, I gave a very deep sigh and turned off the speaker.

“Tyler I have a demand, a confession, and a question,” I said looking into her now very confused face. “The demand is that you stand right here.” I positioned her in the middle of the pavilion. “My confession is that I did this,” I said with a smirk.

“When did you do this?!” Tyler blurted out.

“And my question is…” I grabbed the ring from the blankets and knelt in front of her, “Will you marry me?”

I always try to plan everything in my life. Even the special things.

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Lifestyle, My Life, Relationship

Falling in love

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Photo taken by Jon Mauler Photography – Find more of his amazing work at https://www.jonmauler.com

It was your laugh that first captured my heart. It was one of those unique, true laughs, one that shook your entire body. Your smile was wide and genuine. Your hazel eyes were so bright they lit up your entire face. You made me laugh, too, the first authentic laugh I had experienced in a long time. I laughed more in that half hour with you than I had in the last year of my life. 

Nothing could have prepared me for what I felt when I first met you. It wasn’t the usual attraction of a crush or the awkward first greetings of two strangers. When I talked to you, it was as if the two of us had been friends for years. Our souls knew each other before our hearts or minds did. Your eyes met mine, and I just knew, deep in my being, that there was something special about you.

Falling in love with you felt different than anything I had ever experienced before. It was different from the shakiness and clamminess of a first date. It was deeper than the butterflies at the first spark of attraction. It was a warmth that touched my soul and filled me from head to toe. 

With you, I felt that on the second date. You and I drove around in your car, listening to music and talking about things people normally wait to share until far later in the relationship. I didn’t want the date to end. For the first time in my life, I was willing to be late to class, willing to skip school just to spend a few more minutes with you. I knew at that moment that I was going to marry you one day. 

I remember sitting on my couch a few weeks later, when you told me you loved me. The next morning, the two of us watched the sun rise over the water, listening the caw of seagulls and the crashing waves. The sky blushed pink as I leaned my head on your shoulder. With you, I felt safe and comfortable. 

I remember our first fight. I remember the yells, the tears of anguish, the sleepless night. It felt as if my heart had been wrenched out of my chest. I had not known before then that heartache is not just a metaphor – it is a physical pain when you are hurt by someone you love. 

You and I made up the following day. The two of us ran to each other from across a parking lot like a scene from a movie. You brought me flowers and promised you loved me, that you were going to make things right. I knew that fight was not going to be our last. There would be many more disagreements, and the two of us would be hurt many more times in the future. But I knew that day, whatever life threw at us, I could count on you to work through it with me. Together, the two of us would always make things right again. That day, “you and I” became “we,” ready to take on the world together. 

Skiing at WISP with Joseph’s family

Our first holiday season together was full of new experiences and an undeniable warmth, despite the chill of the outdoors. For you, the days were filled with new rituals that would become traditions. For me, there were the thrilling days spent in the mountains, gliding down the snow at an alarming rate, feeling the rush of adrenaline in my veins as I went skiing for the first time. Catching my breath at the bottom of the mountain, I realized that with you, I was the person I had always wanted to be. You made me brave and strong – you made me believe that I could do absolutely anything. And I knew together we would tackle many more mountains. 

February was bliss, and then came the dark month of March, when everyone in the entire world hid in their homes and watched the news with fear. In an instant, without me even realizing it was happening, we were separated, merely hours apart but with no way of being able to see one another. It was a month that should have tested us, but we only grew closer. Late night phone calls and vague plans about the future gave us hope. When we finally made the decision to risk seeing each other again, I held on to you as tight as I could and promised myself that I wouldn’t let you go for so long ever again.

April passed, and then May dwindled away as well. Before I knew it, I found myself in the warm days of summer, though it seemed the world was still stuck in the wintry blues. Jobs had been lost, rioters were destroying cities, and a looming pandemic had us all fearing what tomorrow would bring. But now I was experiencing all of the chaos with you, and somehow, that made everything feel okay. I had found my home away from home. 

It was my idea to have a staycation. It would be a little mental break from all the worrying and stress. We could still enjoy our summer without ever having to travel too far from your house. I planned a week of activities. I knew it was going to be a week full of memories. I had no idea just how memorable the week was going to be.

Catching the sunset at Sideling Hill

We relaxed at home, tried new foods, and near the end of the week, we traveled around the state of Maryland. I always knew life was about the journey, not the destination, but never did that sentiment feel so true as it did driving in the car with you. We listened to music, told stories, and laughed all day. It was just with minutes to spare that we actually reached our final destination, an overlook with a perfect view of the setting sun. Out of breath from running to catch the view before it disappeared, we embraced one another. Life is a beautiful journey, and I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of it chasing sunsets with you. 

Little did I know you had the same idea. It was your idea to have a fancy picnic on the final day of our staycation. We dressed up in our finest clothes, made fresh Italian food with ingredients from a farmer’s market, and drove to the pavilion where, just a year ago, you had asked me to dance for the first time. We hiked through the trees up a rocky hill, which led us to a meadow filled with tall grass and small, yellow flowers. The pavilion sat in the center, waiting for us with a hidden secret it only shared with you, just as it had a year ago. 

White flower petals led the way to the wooden beams adorned with bright sunflowers. Draped against the back of the pavilion was a white blanket. In flowing script against the backdrop, I read the words: “Of all the walks we have taken, this one is my favorite.” 

Photo by Jon Mauler Photography

It was too perfect. Too perfect to be true. Too perfect to be for me. You held out your hand and asked me to dance, and I, still hesitant to believe, agreed uncertainly. You played our song, the words of which still ringing as true as they did the day you first played it for me. 

Could I love you any more? 

Could I love you any more? It’s a question I have asked myself every day spent with you. Every day, it feels as if my heart will burst with how much love I have for you. Yet, somehow, every day my heart grows a little more. Every day, I find more reasons to adore you. Every day, I fall even more madly in love with you. 

Could I love you any more? Even as I write this, I don’t think it’s possible. But I know I love you more than I did yesterday, and yesterday I loved you even more than I did the day before. 

Because love is a choice. It’s not something that happens passively. It’s not the butterflies on a first date or the spark you feel the first time you hold hands. Love was what I found at the beginning of our relationship, when we both chose to take a chance to be vulnerable with another person. Love was what I found during our first fight, when we both decided to make the effort to make things right and to grow together. Love was what I found when you were willing to try new traditions and do the things that I loved, even if they weren’t the things you most wanted to do. Love was what I found when I went skiing down that mountain, even though my knees were shaking and my heart was pounding and I had never been more scared in my life, because it was something you loved to do. Love was what I found when the entire world was separated, yet we still chose to work on us, to keep growing stronger, even though the distance was threatening to pull us apart. Love was what I found during every trial we faced, when we chose to love each other despite any reason there was to turn away. 

Love is a choice. And I choose you. I will always choose you, every day, for the rest of my life. You are my home and my adventure all at once. No matter what each day brings, no matter if it is a day filled with laughter or tears, it is a joy to be spending my life with you. I choose us. I choose you. 

The proposal – Photo by Jon Mauler Photography

So when you bent down on one knee, it wasn’t even a question. As our song says, the question was practically rhetorical. Will I marry you? Could I possibly love you any more? The answer is, and will always be, yes…and I do. 

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Lifestyle, Relationship

Ratatouille date night

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Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product after clicking the associated link, I will gain a small commission off of that purchase.

Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus and stay-at-home order, date nights went from going out to dinner and a movie on a Friday night to cooking a nice meal at home and watching Netflix. At first, this was a welcome, intimate change, but after a while, the creativity seemed to run out. You can only eat the same meal and watch the same movie so many times before it starts to get old.

I have a solution for you. It’s still dinner and a movie, but with fun, inventive spin.

I love having themed date nights, when the activities, food, drinks, and movie all fit together for  one entertaining experience. My latest themed night was based on the Disney Pixar film, Ratatouille.

It is a fun, family-friendly movie that’s perfect for a family movie night, or for just a chill night with your significant other. The biggest plus for this movie is that it is definitely going to make you feel hungry, which is perfect because this date night is filled with lots of food. 

I hope you enjoy! If you try out this date night for yourself, please let me know how it goes. I would love to hear about your experience, and if you added any fun ideas of your own.

Drinks

As a little sneak preview to the night ahead, I made café au lait. This is a French coffee recipe that uses equal parts coffee and steamed milk. The recipe is just below.

I also recommend picking up a nice French wine, such as a tasty bottle of champagne or a Bordeaux to pair with dinner or dessert. 

Café au Lait

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 1 cup steamed milk (see Notes)
  • sweetener of choice, to taste (see Notes)

Directions:

  1. Steam milk with desired amount of sweetener. 
  2. Pour hot coffee into a mug and top with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Notes:

  • The best way I have found to steam any kind of milk (without a fancy milk steamer) is the following: Place milk in a food processor or blender and pulse for 30 seconds, or until the milk is frothy. Pour into a mug and heat in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds (until hot but not deflated). This yields the perfect consistency and temperature. It works best for whole milk, but any type of milk will still gain body through this process.
  • I personally like to drink my coffee dark, but Joseph likes a little sweetener. What I have found works best is to put the sugar right into the milk before pouring it into the food processor. It helps add even more body to the milk, and it gently sweetens the coffee without being too over-powering.

Music

No date night is complete without a proper musical selection. I really enjoyed the French Cafe Lounge playlist on Spotify. Joseph and I listened to it while we made dinner, which lead to much more dancing than cooking (which, I have to admit, was really the goal all along).

Activity

Well, this would be cooking, of course! You have it easy tonight. Get in the kitchen together to make all of your dishes. The dessert is “build-your-own” style, so it is even more fun for everyone to get their aprons on and spend time in the kitchen together. 

If this seems too simple, I recommend adding in a little extra dancing with your significant other. It’s incredible how just a little music can completely change the ambiance in the room. With the music playing in the background and each of us gazing into each other’s eyes, the kitchen turned into a delightful little café on the streets of Paris in moments.

Food

This is the fun part.

For dinner, the choice was obvious: Ratatouille. I am currently on a low-FODMAP diet, so I used the recipe from Wholesome Yum for inspiration, but tweaked the ingredients slightly to fit my diet. If you are free from any low-FODMAP restraints, feel free to head over to the Wholesome Yum website to follow that recipe. Otherwise, look below for my little notes and edits.

Low-FODMAP Ratatouille

Makes: 2 generous servings, or 4 to 6 smaller side dish-sized servings

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

  • 1 14.5oz can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp Herbs de Provence (see Notes)
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste

For the vegetables:

  • 3 medium roma tomatoes, sliced
  • 2 medium (about 12oz) zucchini, sliced
  • 1 small (about 1 pound) eggplant, sliced (see Notes)
  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Combine all the sauce ingredients in the bowl of a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
  3. Spread the sauce in a thin layer in a 1.5-quart round or oval casserole dish.
  4. Arrange tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant in a spiral, alternating them. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
  5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the sauce is bubbly at the edges.

Notes:

  • Herbs de Provence is a blend of thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano, and bay leaf. We did not currently have this in our cupboard, but what we did have was Italian seasoning, which is a blend of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, and coriander (if you are on a low-FODMAP diet, check your Italian seasoning blend closely – some like to sneak in a little garlic). So, we used Italian seasoning and marjoram, and it turned out fine. 
  • Eggplants tend to be much bigger than zucchini and tomatoes, so you may need to cut your slices into halves or quarters to make them similar in size. My eggplant was rather small, so I was able to leave my slices whole.

For a little extra protein, we ate some shrimp with our ratatouille, but truly, the ratatouille was our main dish. 

We paused the movie halfway through to eat dessert. I chose to do crepes. I also considered making macarons, but they are rather finicky to make. So, I decided to do something a little easier and more interactive for anyone who is not the main baker. 

It may surprise you, but most crepe recipes are a little heavy in the carbs. Because they are so thin, I thought they would be healthier than pancakes, but no such luck occurred. So, I searched for a healthy crepe recipe and fell in love with the one posted on A Sweet Pea Chef. It is tasty and light, which is exactly what everyone wants their crepe to be. 

Feel free to head over to A Sweet Pea Chef for the original recipe, or look below for a low-FODMAP version with my personal notes.

Low-FODMAP Crepes

Makes: 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk of choice (I like to use unsweetened almond milk)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
  • 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend (I used King Arthur Flour’s all-purpose gluten-free flour blend)
  • fillings and/or toppings of choice (see Notes)

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.
  2. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and lightly grease with cooking spray. 
  3. Ladle about 1/4-cup of the batter into the skillet and gently rotate the pan to spread it evenly over the base of the skillet (the thickness should be similar to that of a tortilla).
  4. Cook on low to medium heat, flipping as needed until cooked (see Notes).
  5. Place the cooked crepe on a plate, add your favorite fillings, and fold or roll up. Add toppings of choice.

Notes:

  • There are so many delicious ways to fill and top crepes. I chose a traditional French version – I folded my crepes and then squeezed lemon juice on top and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Joseph went for the more American version, with chocolate chips, powdered sugar and peanut butter. Other delicious filling and topping ideas include fresh fruit (such as berries or banana slices), Nutella, or whipped cream. Feel free to get creative with whatever you have in your pantry!
  • I always find that when I am making crepes, the first few are a disaster. When I was making these, I tried to flip them as little as possible. I waited until the last possible second, when it was starting to get rather brown, and then flipped the crepe, and they turned out perfectly. The crepes I flipped sooner were under-done in the middle and fell apart. It may take a few tries to get yours just right, but don’t worry! Ugly crepes are still delicious crepes.

Movie

At the end of your date, or just after dinner to strengthen your appetite for dessert, snuggle up on the couch and turn on the cartoon favorite, Ratatouille. It’s a fun way to end your French-themed day, and the movie is surprisingly moving at any age. 

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