Boise in The Fall

October 30, 2005

"John's flight came in on Friday night, so as soon as I picked him up we headed straight to Jason's house and got a group together to go to The Haunted World. It was fun walking through the haunted maze together. We went back to Jason's to carve pumpkins afterward and finished watching a movie. John stayed at Joe's apartment that night and I went back to mine. It's fun living with a bunch of roommates on campus. I'm paying rent for the first time in my life, I'm learning to live with three other girls, but I can get to my classes faster and it feels pretty good to be independent."

"The next day John and I went and did some shopping for our Halloween costumes. He needed something for his costume party at work, so he found a brown wig and some glasses and said he was going to dress up like his supervisor. Neither one of us had eaten breakfast yet, so we decided to go to IHOP. There was an old man and his wife that came in and sat down on the waiting bench next to John, so he slid closer to me to make more room for them. The old man looked over and said, 'I know why you slid over... 'cause you want to be closer to that pretty girl there.' We laughed and I said, 'Well, can you blame him?' and the old man replied, 'Of course not! Heck, I'd switch places with him if I could!' It was hilarious."

"Bill and Joe invited us out to Nampa to see them coach their football team against Nampa Christian High School. The weather was freezing cold! I took my gloves off to show Bill my engagement ring and my hands were still bright red. After the game we headed back to Mom and Dad's to get ready for the Institute Halloween party. I dressed up like a Doctor with my white lab coat and stethoscope, and we put gauze around John's head and used fake blood to make him look like he had a head wound. He used my old sling from when I broke my elbow, and we looked pretty good. The party turned out to be lame, but we saw Jason and Joe there."

"After the party we went back to Joe's apartment and watched the Best of SNL with Will Ferrell. It was pretty funny! Then John pulled out Joe's guitar and played a few songs for me. He started playing 'More Than Words' and I immediately started thinking about the night he told me he loved me for the first time. I love being able to make more memories when I'm with him, because those are the thoughts I hold on to when we are apart."

"We went to Mom and Dad's ward on Sunday so we could spend more time together before he left. The new bishop was my old seminary teacher, so when he got up to welcome everybody to Sacrament meeting he saw me in the middle of the congregation and said, 'Dana Bartschi, good to see you here today,' right from the pulpit! John thought that was funny. After Relief Society I asked John how Elder's Quorum went and he said, 'The bishop asked me to introduce myself so I said, 'My name is John Critchfield and I'm engaged to this guy's daughter (pointing to Dad).' Then Bishop Butterfield said, 'Oh really... you and I will have to have a talk later then. :) Are you a fisherman? 'Cause if you're not, we'll have to work on you.' He knows Dad is really into fishing, so he was just giving John a hard time. I thought it was hilarious."

"We ate dinner at Mom and Dad's, and then I sat down and played a few songs on the piano while John fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up he said, 'We're getting you a piano when we get married.' Ha ha! I asked mom to bake a birthday cake while we were looking at old pictures so we could surprise John. His birthday isn't until next week, but I won't get to be there so we're celebrating before he leaves. We got everybody together and sang 'Happy Birthday,' then I gave him his present. Back in February he gave me the book 'First Comes Love' for my birthday, so I knew exactly what I wanted to get him... the sequel entitled 'Then Comes Marriage.' I know, I'm so clever! He loved it of course, and I can't wait to listen to it with him."

"I took him to the airport and we said goodbye until Thanksgiving. We're so lucky to be able to experience all the seasons and holidays with each other before we get married. We're learning about each other's traditions and creating memories that will last forever."