Once Upon A Time...

I was single, lonely, lost, and convinced that I would remain so for the rest of my life.  Then, one day, there was Blake.

And after surviving nearly two years of my constant stressing, overscheduling, nagging, and the general mayhem that is my life,  Blake proposed.

And I accepted.

Which is a really nice way of saying he shocked me into silence for one of the few times of my life, I cried, and managed to squeak out a "YES!" before running around to every person I could find screaming "I'm engaged!!!!!"

And for those of you who haven't already heard, here's how it happened:

Since last year we had been planning a vacation with my parents to Hawaii (yes, I'm a very lucky girl, and yes, I have tried endlessly to thank them).  Since Blake had taken me ring shopping in February, I suspected that a proposal might be in the works, but Blake kept insisting that the ring wasn't ready and Hawaii just wasn't the right time or place.  Blake is, generally speaking, a terrible liar and if Christmas is anything to judge him by, he has a hard time holding on to presents and not just throwing them at me once he's gotten them.  The girls at work kept telling me, "Oh, come on.  Hawaii is the perfect place for a proposal."  But I knew Blake, and I knew it wasn't happening.

Blake had made one request on the vacation, and that was for us to have one evening all to ourselves.  He planned the whole thing-oceanside dining for two with a private waiter and a 7 course meal during sunset.  When the waiter brought out dessert, a selection of sorbets, I saw perched on top a Ring Pop, and I started laughing.  I had always joked with Blake that I didn't really need a diamond, he could propose to me with a Ring Pop and I would say yes-I just wanted to marry him!!  Well, that served me right.  Blake took my hand and said, "I really wanted to propose here in Hawaii, but the ring just wasn't ready.  I promise that I will upgrade that Ring Pop soon."  I laughed (only a little disappointed) and kissed him, telling him of course I knew he would and I didn't care, as long as he wanted to marry me.  He smiled at me and we talked a little more as we ate our dessert.  When we were as full as we could be the talk turned again to marriage and Blake looked at me and said, "You know, I don't think I can wait."  He got up and walked around our table, pulling something out of his pocket.  "I think I need to upgrade that ring right now."  Then he fell to one knee and proposed...

and I said nothing!!  For once I was completely shocked into silence, tears streaming down my face.  He slid the ring on my finger as I nodded vigorously, and then finally managed to squeak out a surprised "YES!"

Well of course the rest is engagement history.  We celebrated that night and haven't really stopped celebrating since.  Here's the best part-he really did completely fool me!  He took my parents out MONTHS ago for dinner to ask their blessing, and arranged the whole proposal with my dad.  My father, who has as big a mouth as I do, managed not to tell me or my mother what was going on (although he did manage to tell just about everyone at the convention were with in Hawaii).  He had faked emails to our insurance person about the ring in case I saw anything, and the ring was in the fireproof safe under our bed for quite some time.  He even got it to Hawaii in his carry-on...the one we had stashed all our food in!  The day of the proposal he accidentally showed me a picture of the ring on his iPhone as we were flipping through shots of Hawaii-but I was so convinced that the ring was still at the store that I just wrote it off as the picture he took when we went shopping in February.

So the point is...I'm getting married ya'll!!!  Bring on the wedding plans, the dresses, the stresses, and the I Do's-I'm ready for my happily ever after =)