Ben and I are engaged!
Of course we've been talking about marriage since our first date, and in mid-August he asked me, "So, hypothetically, if I proposed by the end of September, when do you think we could get married?" I told him probably like March (2013) because it was getting awfully close to the end of the year and I'd pretty much given up all hope of getting married in December (my original timeline). After further discussion I asked him when he thought we could get married and he said, "I want to get married this year." HELLO! He was also adamant about being married before Christmas (I'm now wondering if he wants to be sure to seal the deal before the world ends on Dec. 21...haha), so we had tentative plans for December 15th.
With a condensed time frame, we went home to Fairview on Thursday night before Labor Day so Ben could talk to my dad. Funny story - we left pretty late in the evening from Auburn to drive home (5 hour drive) and so it was 11:30 PM when we came cruising into Franklin. I got pulled over by one of the superfluous Franklin police officers patrolling Hwy. 96 (going 50 in a 45). This was the conversation:
Officer: Are you living here or just visiting?
Me: Just visiting
Officer: How long have you been visiting?
Me: I mean, we just got off the interstate, so about a minute.
Officer: Where are you headed?
Me: Fairview.
Officer: THAT'S an interesting place...population: nothing.
Don't worry, I did not get a ticket. We saw three more patrol cars before we got out of Franklin! Nuts.
Ok, so Ben talked to my dad for an hour and a half the next morning. I was definitely eavesdropping. He said yes! (of course) So then it was just a matter of time (precious time) before he proposed. I had put (too much) pressure on him from the beginning about wanting a good proposal story. After all, it is a story I will tell for the rest of my life! So poor guy was struggling to come up with something good, in a hurry.
His best idea was to propose during a Kids' Night Out (BigHouse respite event) since that's where we met. Unfortunately, the timing was bad because they are only once a month. And I was getting really nervous about the days slipping away. On Thursday night prior to the proposal he said, "We should plan our weekend so we don't end up wasting it. Actually, we should go ahead and plan all our weekends (through Dec. 15)." I said, "Ben! If we are are going to be planning all our weekends we NEED to get engaged this weekend!" (I'm so patient.)
On Saturday, my head was really bad (it woke me up at 3am! yuck.), and I was miserable because he had to go into work to finish a project that morning so I didn't get to see him until 2:30. Fortunately by that time my head had calmed down some. We went to the Overall Co. which is a super cool coffee shop in downtown Opelika. We hung out there for awhile and then went to his house. It was really nice outside so we decided to finish the book we were reading together (Things I Wish I'd Known Before We'd Gotten Married by Gary Chapman).
After we'd finished reading he started talking about our first date and how much I mean to him, and I knew it was coming! He got down on one knee in front of where I was sitting and said, "I would be honored if you would be mine forever." I said, "Absolutely!" He asked, "Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes sir!" He presented me with Bucky's engagement ring to wear as a placeholder until my ring (pictured) came in the next week. He had gone to Jewelry By Design to have a ring made similar to the other ring that Bucky had also bequeathed to me. My ring is made up of the same stones that were in her ring - I think that's neat!
Neither of us felt magically different that evening, but I can tell you that now I feel even more connected to him and secure in our relationship. I can't WAIT to marry this man! We'll be getting married on Dec. 15th at our church in Opelika. We've gotten a lot done so far, but still have things to check off the list. I'm sure you'll understand if I don't update the blog until January or so!
His best idea was to propose during a Kids' Night Out (BigHouse respite event) since that's where we met. Unfortunately, the timing was bad because they are only once a month. And I was getting really nervous about the days slipping away. On Thursday night prior to the proposal he said, "We should plan our weekend so we don't end up wasting it. Actually, we should go ahead and plan all our weekends (through Dec. 15)." I said, "Ben! If we are are going to be planning all our weekends we NEED to get engaged this weekend!" (I'm so patient.)
On Saturday, my head was really bad (it woke me up at 3am! yuck.), and I was miserable because he had to go into work to finish a project that morning so I didn't get to see him until 2:30. Fortunately by that time my head had calmed down some. We went to the Overall Co. which is a super cool coffee shop in downtown Opelika. We hung out there for awhile and then went to his house. It was really nice outside so we decided to finish the book we were reading together (Things I Wish I'd Known Before We'd Gotten Married by Gary Chapman).
After we'd finished reading he started talking about our first date and how much I mean to him, and I knew it was coming! He got down on one knee in front of where I was sitting and said, "I would be honored if you would be mine forever." I said, "Absolutely!" He asked, "Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes sir!" He presented me with Bucky's engagement ring to wear as a placeholder until my ring (pictured) came in the next week. He had gone to Jewelry By Design to have a ring made similar to the other ring that Bucky had also bequeathed to me. My ring is made up of the same stones that were in her ring - I think that's neat!
Neither of us felt magically different that evening, but I can tell you that now I feel even more connected to him and secure in our relationship. I can't WAIT to marry this man! We'll be getting married on Dec. 15th at our church in Opelika. We've gotten a lot done so far, but still have things to check off the list. I'm sure you'll understand if I don't update the blog until January or so!
