<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="/feed.xsl"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><channel><title>Personal on jvalol</title><link>https://jva.lol/categories/personal/</link><description>Recent content in Personal on jvalol</description><generator>Hugo</generator><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:20:05 -0600</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://jva.lol/categories/personal/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>I got engaged</title><link>https://jva.lol/weblog/i-got-engaged/</link><pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:20:05 -0600</pubDate><guid>https://jva.lol/weblog/i-got-engaged/</guid><description>One night, I just popped the question. She said yes. Like 6 times.</description><content:encoded>&lt;p&gt;So, I had a girlfriend. There was this friend of mine, and she had a boyfriend. We knew each other for years, we had a lot of chemistry. So much that one of our friends said &amp;ldquo;Just get it over with already.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I didn&amp;rsquo;t know why I stopped seeing her around, when she was usually there in our regular spots. Later she told me she needed to not see me. She had a boyfriend after all. I had a girlfriend. Feelings between us were there, everyone saw it, but you just don&amp;rsquo;t cross that boundary.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It wasn&amp;rsquo;t planned between us at all, but one day her boyfriend broke up with her. I hadn&amp;rsquo;t seen her in months. And then one day, I broke up with my girlfriend.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It took another few months but eventually she heard about it. She called me. At first I think it was to check in and see if I was doing okay. We talked for an hour.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A few weeks later she called again. We talked for another hour.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A few weeks after that, she called again. We talked for 7 hours and 45 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;She said maybe she&amp;rsquo;d come visit me at my house, but only for an hour.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That turned into &lt;em&gt;hours&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Then it turned into &lt;em&gt;days, weeks, months&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We haven&amp;rsquo;t been apart since.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You get the picture.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When she first heard I started dating someone, years ago, she asked me &amp;ldquo;You don&amp;rsquo;t have to answer this, but are you &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; love with her?&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My gut reaction (which I always follow) was to say &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;re right. I don&amp;rsquo;t want to answer.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I think that gut reaction told me more than it told her.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, somewhere in those first days and weeks and months, the word love was uttered, at first specifically in lowercase (I actually said that. &amp;ldquo;I lowercase love you.&amp;rdquo;) and then it turned into uppercase, and then into &amp;ldquo;I am not just &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; love with you. I am &lt;em&gt;so in love with you&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;rdquo; Things that were, or should have been obvious to both of us, and our friends, for years, became real.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The other night we were sitting on my balcony, sharing a beer. I wasn&amp;rsquo;t planning it, it just felt like a natural, organic, gut feeling. I just popped the question. I had no ring. She didn&amp;rsquo;t care, she just kept saying yes. Like 6 times.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I bought a ring for her, it isn&amp;rsquo;t ready yet but I think it will be perfect.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We don&amp;rsquo;t exactly do things the traditional way. But I do want people to know she&amp;rsquo;s loved. And married.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;rsquo;t know if I&amp;rsquo;ll have a ring for myself, I probably should. I don&amp;rsquo;t really care. But we&amp;rsquo;re shooting from the hip here (Old-timey western cowboy style. We&amp;rsquo;re both from Utah, she from one of the smallest towns I&amp;rsquo;ve ever heard of, me from the biggest city in the state. It&amp;rsquo;s kind of our style, she and I.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Anyway we are &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; love with each other. And we&amp;rsquo;re going to get married. When? Probably soon, but see the above paragraph. Where? How? We&amp;rsquo;ll figure it out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;rsquo;m &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; love with you, &lt;a href="https://jenmedrano.com/"&gt;Jen&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</content:encoded></item></channel></rss>