She Asked Me

When I started this week, I thought I was ready for it.  After just a short time at work on Monday, I realized I was no longer ready.  The day was agonizingly long, but I got through it and stumbled my way home where I lazily went about the rest of my duties.  

When Tuesday hit, I was determined to make it a better day.  Most of that energy went into being productive at work.  So while I was much more productive during my work hours, by time I got home, that energy was gone again.  

No longer in the mood to take care of any kind of business, I began feeling slightly depressed as I made the drive home.  As usual, the traffic put me in a sour mood and I didn't feel like dispelling that bitterness before I walked inside.  So as I grumpily shuffled my feet toward the front door, you can imagine my less than stellar reaction to find this:

My first thought shot straight to the neighbors, maybe from the ward.  Close-knit neighborhoods are always doing some strange, secret pal kind of stuff.  Surely this was just another of those things.  

When I picked up the rock, I noticed the number “1” on the back.  Given that I did not understand the meaning of it, I placed the silly rock off to the side, but left it outside.  It really didn't deserve any more attention than that.

Once I came inside, my faithful friend Kiba came running to greet me.  I played her for a moment, unaware of anything else for the moment, the rock from the porch already forgotten.

After that moment, I continued my way through the house to greet my wife.  We talked nonchalantly as we normally do when I noticed another rock set up on top of our whiteboard.  Immediately, I realized this was not a gimmick from the neighbors.

With my attention peaked, I began exploring the rest of the house for these rocks, guessing as to what the final message might be.  Clearly it was an invitation of sorts, but to what?  I had no idea.

My wife was kind enough to give me a clue:

“They are all somewhere you would find them naturally.”

Suddenly I realized I had already missed one

It was actually on her collar, and she wouldn't hold still long enough to put it on her nose and take the picture

After that, the rest were fairly easy to find.  The last one, however, was the biggest of them all…

“WILL YOU ROCK MY WORLD AND GO TO _______ WITH ME?”

I had almost the entire puzzle before me, with that single word missing, and I had only one place left to look...the bedroom.

The clue was too obvious, the missing word HAD to be “BED!” Sure, it was a strange way to ask, but I wasn't about to complain.

You can imagine my surprise when I found a giant, ragged rock, hidden underneath my pillow, clearly in the hopes I would lay my head to rest before scouring the house.  

Here is the entire puzzle

The "Homecoming" referred to is for Utah Valley University...it's an actual Homecoming, not just a cute fantasy