Thursday, November 13, 2008

All the Nitty Gritty Details!

For those of you who are interested, here is the extended version of our engagement story...



At the beginning of the week of October 20th, Mike suggested to me that we do something fun together on the following Saturday. Since I bought my house we have been on very few actual dates (unless you count trips to Lowes & Menards) & it has been a long time since we had done anything that wasn't family related. I readily agreed. Later that week my brother & his family decided they would come up from Kentucky for the weekend. Friday night was quickly planned full with a backyard campfire cookout for my dad's birthday (2 weeks late). A good time was had by all, but I was wondering how I could get some extra visiting time in with my niece & nephew & still do something fun with Mike that next day. I got up early (Mike doesn't usually so that worked in my favor) & went to a homecoming parade with my family. After that I picked Mike up & we went to Nashville for a few hours. It's a wonderful little town that has street after street of artsy gift shops. We had a really nice time just wandering around, looking, & even doing a little buying. I was very suspicious that he was going to take a moment somewhere during the day & ask me. We were in several really nice picturesque places but nothing happened. Hmmm....

As the afternoon wore on we were in a bit of a rush to get back to town for dinner at Olive Garden with the family. I know, I know...my family gets together so much it's probably damaging. Anyway - no proposal on Saturday.

Fast forward to Monday, October 27th. Mike had asked me if I would come over to his apartment for dinner in between my packing & getting ready for the Vienna trip craziness. I agreed with my suspicions once again fully aroused. That day was the one year anniversary of our first date. About 4:30 he called & said that his afternoon had not gone according to plan & he didn't have a plan for what to cook for dinner so would I please pick up a pizza on my way to his place? Once again, I'm confused. Pizza is not a very special dinner. In fact, we've had pizza a bizillion times since we've been dating. I was a bit disappointed. So I ordered pizza & headed out to his place. When I got there I noticed that his little kitchen table for two had been moved. Normally it sets in the wide doorway between the tiny kitchen & tiny living room. I walked into the kitchen & this is what I saw:

He's so funny! He was all nervous. He had gotten 2 dozen beautiful red roses & he had worked really hard to get his new candles to look all drippy. What a guy. He asked, I said yes, we ate pizza, took some bad pics that I will probably never post b/c we look so tired & goofy, & then we went to my parents house to show off my beautiful ring.

It was perfectly Michael. He's not one for big showy, fancy things & I loved the way he proposed b/c it was simple & beautiful.

Anybody else want to share their engagement story?

6 comments:

Beth said...

that is a beautiful story. It's your own story and it's perfect! Jason proposed to me on a bridge in Chattanooga, TN (my home town). It was just right too!

Adele said...

I'm sure every time you look at your finger you smile your beautiful Mare smile! Every engagement story is perfect b/c it is unique, special, and yours! We got engaged at Buckingham Fountain in Chicago on New Year's Day, 2000.

Congratulations to both of you once again!

Unknown said...

What a sweet sweet engagement story! Lovely and romantic and just right. :) Congrats! And thanks for spilling the beans. :)

We got engaged in Matt's apt. in Milwaukee. It didn't work out as he had planned it but we were jubilant none-the-less!

Michele said...

I swear I decided to open up your blog because I had a feeling you were engaged! Weird! I must be psychic! Oh, I forgot, I'm confusing my adjectives, that's psycho...LOL Anyway..congratuations! Jake's proposal was lame, yet sweet. It was more along the lines of, "you are going to marry me right?" But, I was shocked when he said it, and it's kind of nice to be surpised. :)

Karis said...

Thanks for sharing your engagement story. I loved hearing the details including the details around the times when he didn't ask and you suspected it could be coming that day.

Dan asked me to marry him in the balcony loft of a nice restaurant after a very nice dinner. Looking back, my "oh, we're the only ones up here-- isn't that neat" comment should've got me to thinking but I had thought he would probably ask me a few months later when he came to my house over Spring Break so I was completely surprised!

SO happy for you.

Thanks for your sweet comment on my post about the adjustment process. I can tell your friendship with your friend in Vienna has given you a lot of insight into my life.

Heidi said...

Thanks for sharing your engagement details. How sweet! It's so funny how nervous guys get. I am so very happy for you.

Brent proposed to me at work. Not very romantic. My boss and co-workers knew what he was up to, so they left the room. The bad thing is, the phone rang, and I had to answer it. Brent was impatiently pacing in front of the desk, until he couldn't stand it anymore more. He got down in front of the desk and opened a ring box. My first thought when I saw the ring box was, "What is he doing buying me another ring?" I didn't think it was THE ring, because he had just told me the night before that he still had more to pay on it. I thought it would be a while. Anyway, when he opened the box and I saw what it was, my mouthed dropped open. Remember, I was still on the phone. I had to get my bearings and ask them if I could put them on hold. Then, Brent asked me and I happily said, "YES!!" (I did eventually go back to the call that I had put on hold.) It may not be romantic, but I'll never forget it.