04.10.11 - ENGAGEMENT!

This is the story of the best day of my life (so far).

*I should start by saying that the best part of it all is that it was a COMPLETE surprise! I had no idea what was coming until the very moment it happened.*

April 10, 2011 began as any normal Sunday would. My parents were in town for Parents' Weekend for my sorority (Raider Sisters for Christ aka RSC) and planned to leave early Monday morning to go to the lakehouse and check on the remodel. We went to church together Sunday morning then went to the park for the last event of Parents' Weekend, a picnic lunch. It wasn't until I saw Alyssa (the RSC President) at the park that I remembered the plans we had made to have an officers' dinner at a fancy restaurant that night. At our officers' meeting the week before, Alyssa had suggested we get all dolled up and go to eat to celebrate the past school year and reminisce about our officership. Of course, I was excited about the chance to dress up and hang out with my girls!

So at the picnic lunch, I saw Alyssa and remembered the dinner plans we had made. I had completely forgotten about our plans until I saw her that afternoon! I got so excited once I remembered and told my parents and Joel of my plans. I may have tried to rub it in their faces a bit because they were having pizza and I would be having steak!

The girls and I planned to meet at Alyssa's apartment at 6:30pm to take pictures and all ride together. I told my mom I didn't want to go all the way to Alyssa's on 4th only to turn around and drive to the restaurant on 114th since I live right in the middle on 84th. My mom somehow convinced me to go meet at Alyssa's anyways without making me suspicious. I'm telling you, I was completely oblivious to any and every could-be giveaway!

I started getting ready for dinner at 3:30pm because I was so excited. I got my parents and Joel to help me decide on my outfit and shoes, then I never changed back into my jeans and tshirt. I was sitting on the couch trying out my new nail polish when my dad looked over and said, "Why are you painting your nails purple? It looks like Easter." to which I replied, "It's supposed to look like Easter! That's why I bought it!" My dad came back with, "I don't think you should wear it. It doesn't look good with your dress."

My dress was black. EVERYTHING looks good with black. Again, oblivious. He told me later that he didn't want me to have "immature" purple nails when I got a very sophisticated piece of jewelry. Thanks, Dad :)

I touched up my makeup and drove out to Alyssa's apartment at 6:15pm. I got there right at 6:30pm and saw that nobody else was there yet. I didn't even see the car of another officer (Hannah) who lives with Alyssa. I thought that was fishy and I started getting excited thinking maybe Joel had somehow beat me over there and was waiting to propose. It was the most ridiculous thought ever! I'm still not sure why that occurred to me. I quickly realized how absurd that was and went inside. The other officers, Morgan and Kristin, arrived within five minutes.

Alyssa told me Hannah was going to meet us there because she was at her parents' house on 105th and didn't want to drive back to their apartment just to ride with us. That kind of ticked me off because I didn't want to drive out there either! (In reality, Hannah was out of town for a school function.)

We all went outside to take some pictures since we were all dressed up cute in dresses and heels, then came back inside to get our purses.

When we got inside, Alyssa told me they had a surprise for me since I was the only senior officer and they wanted to do something special to celebrate my graduation. She gave me a "present" - a sunglasses case that had a sleep mask inside with a note that said I had to do whatever they told me to without asking any questions.

 







My first instinct was that I was about to be embarrassed big time. I didn't know what they were going to make me do, but I was nervous. Morgan grabbed my purse and camera (I'm SO glad I had it with me!) and started snapping pictures of Alyssa leading me (blindfolded) to her car. They put me in the car while repeating over and over, "You're going to love it! Don't be nervous. This is a GOOD surprise!"

They drove me around for about half an hour to make sure I was nice and confused. I figured out where we were specifically one time because it was the route I take home every day! I told them I knew where we were, but they said I was wrong. They lied; I was right! They drove around longer to try to confuse me more, then we stopped.

The entire ride, my stomach was in knots. The thought of a proposal crossed my mind, but I kept convincing myself that it wasn't happening tonight. Besides, I had only told Joel about our dinner plans earlier that day; there was no way he could have pulled something together in that short of a time! I didn't want to get excited about the slight possibility that Joel could be proposing because it would be such a disappointment if I anticipated a proposal and it wasn't. I also didn't want to hurt the other officers' feelings if they really had a present for me and I seemed disappointed in it.

Once we stopped, Alyssa told me to stay put and keep my eyes closed. I heard all the doors open and close, then I heard footsteps running around. I thought they were doing a Chinese fire drill! (They weren't.) Alyssa came and got me out of the car and led me down the sidewalk. I thought we were at the restaurant we had planned to go to. We were actually at a gazebo on the property of the church down the street from my house.

Alyssa led me to a stool and sat me down. I remember hearing music, which, in my mind, confirmed that we were at the restaurant. (I thought we were on the patio.) When they took off my sleep mask, I saw that the music was actually coming from Joel's guitar! He was sitting on another stool playing for me! Alyssa and the other officers ran back to the car and drove off.

It wasn't until I actually saw Joel that I realized what was happening. I was grinning like a fool as we made small talk. Then he told me he had written me a song! I have been asking him and hinting for him to write me a song for the entire two and a half years we've been dating, but he never has. He said he wasn't a good songwriter, he wasn't a good guitar player, etc. Bottom line: he never wrote me a song. Until today!

He played me the song he wrote, and I teared up twice (but never cried!) Joel even teared up once too! I don't remember all the words, because once he got through the chorus once, all I could think was, "Hurry up! Hurry up!" because at this point I knew what was happening and I was getting anxious! After the song was over, he turned around to put his guitar back in the case (and get the ring box out because it wouldn't fit in his pocket). He told me to close my eyes until he turned back around, then he grabbed my hands and stood me up.

He said some of the sweetest things I've ever heard, then he got down on one knee, opened the ring box, and asked me to marry him! I nodded spastically because I was too excited to make words come out of my mouth. He looked at me and said "Yes?" and I finally said "Yes! Yes!" He stood up and we hugged and kissed and giggled and laughed and screamed. Well, I screamed. Then I asked, "Can I have my ring now?" and he put it on my finger. It was a perfect fit!

After that, we walked back to Joel's car where he had three different bouquets of tulips waiting for me in the front seat! He had asked me earlier in the day what my favorite kind of flower was (again, I didn't think anything of this odd question), and I told him I liked anything that came in cool colors. I do remember mentioning tulips by name though! He got me white, pink with white tips, and yellow tulips.

And Stephanie was there the whole time taking pictures! I am so glad Joel asked her to be there; the pictures she captured of the proposal are fabulous and will always be a priceless gift to me.

We drove down the street to my house where my parents and lots of our friends were waiting for us. It was so special to be able to share my excitement with them right after it happened! Joel had asked my mom to get a cake, so she got an Italian cream cake. She had asked me a few days ago what my favorite kind of cake was and that's what I told her. AGAIN, why did that not raise any suspicion?!

It wasn't until we walked in the house that I realized I wasn't going to get my fancy dinner with the other RSC officers. Everyone thought it was funny when I asked if we were still going to Las Brisas, but I was just hungry and a little confused! That's when Alyssa told me that Las Brisas is actually closed on Sundays.

It turns out, Joel had planned the whole thing with Alyssa weeks ago. He knew if he asked me to do anything where I would get dressed up that I would see the proposal coming, so he had Alyssa suggest a fancy girls' dinner. It was the perfect plan because I didn't suspect anything! The fact that I forgot to mention the "dinner plans" to Joel actually worked out better because I convinced myself that nothing would happen since Joel didn't even know of these "dinner plans" until the day of. How wrong I was!

I had to keep the engagement a secret from all other RSC girls until Monday night because we do a special ceremony at our chapter meetings when someone gets engaged. It's supposed to be a surprise about who got engaged and everyone finds out when that girl blows out the candle. Most everyone was surprised; everyone who had been at the engagement party kept their mouths closed and nobody else in RSC found out until the ring ceremony! I got to retell the perfect proposal story and have all the attention on me, which was so fun :)

All in all, it was the most perfect proposal ever. It was better than anything I could have planned for myself! Everything about it spoke to how Joel and I are as a couple: simple, romantic, intimate, and personal.

We haven't set an official date yet, but hope to have one set by the end of the week! If you want to check out pictures of the proposal and engagement story, follow this link or just look on facebook!

Thank you everyone who has expressed their support and happiness for Joel and me! We are both very excited about this next stage in our lives :)