Yesterday, my life changed forever. Yesterday, I said "yes" (and some other things that we'll review in a bit) to marrying the love of my life and my best friend. Yesterday was without a doubt one of the best days of my life, and it all started out so routinely...
On any given Sunday, Ryan and I usually go out to lunch right after church, and like every other Sunday, that was our plan this weekend. Early Sunday morning, he sent me a text saying that he was exhausted and since we had to be at my sister's house at 2 for a Father's Day celebration, could we do dinner instead. More specifically, he said "I have a proposal to make. Can we not do lunch after church and then I will take you to a nice dinner?" He told me flat out that he had a proposal to make, guess I should have caught on!
Church and the family gathering and even dinner were all very routine, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I didn't even question the fact that he kept getting up at dinner to use the restroom...turns out that he had the ring in his left pocket and at dinner, I sat directly on his left side and kept putting my hand on his leg. Worried that I would feel it and start asking questions, he went to the restroom to change it to his right pocket safely out of my reach, and then had to switch it back to his left before we got in the car so that I wouldn't find it on the ride home. Poor guy must have been so stressed, but he played it incredibly cool.
Once home, at the bottom of my steps, he stopped me and said, "Heidi, I need you to put your purse down and close your eyes...your mom and dad and I all have a surprise for you." At that point, I was beyond confused...why would all 3 of them have a surprise? Why did I have to leave my purse? What could be happening? I quickly remembered that I LOVE surprises and stopped the line of questioning so as to figure out what awaited me at the top of the steps. He held my hand and walked me up what felt like 300 steps. At approximately step #289 (or 11, it's hard to say), he told me to wait right there with my eyes closed for just a second. After a brief pause, I heard his voice say, "Okay, keep your eyes closed, but you can keep walking." Umm, hello? I'm on steps in heels with my eyes closed...this is an accident waiting to happen! I reminded him that I was temporarily blind and not sure where I was on the staircase, and he rushed back to help me up the final few steps.
On level ground again, he walked me into the loft area, and told me to open my eyes. Standing in front of me and holding my hands, he brought me to tears with the sweet words he spoke about our life, our love, and our future, dropped to one knee, and asked me to marry him. I was so overwhelmed with surprise and joy that I didn't respond as eloquently or as gracefully as I had hoped that I would. I think I screamed "YES! Of course!!", asked him "Really honey?! No, seriously...REALLY?!!" about 5 times, and then, in a moment that I'm sure I will never live down, "Thank you!" Yes, I said "thank you" after he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I spent $30,000 on a Communications degree and I came up with "thank you." What? It's the polite thing to say!
Not having any grasp on my bearings, I hadn't noticed that my mom and dad were standing witness to the whole thing (and snapping photos), nor had I even looked at the ring. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to take it out of the box and remind me that there was another step to this process.
After saying 'yes' (and 'really', and 'thank you') and putting my stunning ring on (it was EXACTLY what I would have picked!!), I turned to my left and saw that he (or more specifically, my mom and dad, at his request) had turned my kitchen island into a cinammon proposal with my all time favorite candy, Hot Tamales.
Then the groom-to-be stepped in and took a few shots of me with my folks, his trusted accomplices. They had known about this since he took them to breakfast last Friday (where dad proceeded to warn him that he was getting a "hard-headed woman"...thanks, papa...), and while they said it nearly killed them, they managed to keep it a secret from everyone until the big moment.
Color mostly returned to my face, heart still racing, and shock somewhat present, we took our very first self-shot picture as an engaged couple:
I'm overwhelmed with emotion still today as I write this. A year ago, I didn't think that I'd ever get married. Partly because I was so independent, but mostly because I didn't believe that a man and a love this great really existed. I'm brought to tears every time I think about the fact that he could have any woman in the world, and for reasons unknown, he chose me. He has completely transformed my world for the better, and for someone who never thought she'd get married, I can't wait to be called his wife.
And while I may get teased for it for the rest of our lives, I'll say it again. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you for loving me, for making me laugh every day, for all of the ways that you show me how much you care, for being my best friend in the entire world, and for choosing me. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to be the woman you deserve. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone, and I couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of my life being yours.
On any given Sunday, Ryan and I usually go out to lunch right after church, and like every other Sunday, that was our plan this weekend. Early Sunday morning, he sent me a text saying that he was exhausted and since we had to be at my sister's house at 2 for a Father's Day celebration, could we do dinner instead. More specifically, he said "I have a proposal to make. Can we not do lunch after church and then I will take you to a nice dinner?" He told me flat out that he had a proposal to make, guess I should have caught on!
Church and the family gathering and even dinner were all very routine, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I didn't even question the fact that he kept getting up at dinner to use the restroom...turns out that he had the ring in his left pocket and at dinner, I sat directly on his left side and kept putting my hand on his leg. Worried that I would feel it and start asking questions, he went to the restroom to change it to his right pocket safely out of my reach, and then had to switch it back to his left before we got in the car so that I wouldn't find it on the ride home. Poor guy must have been so stressed, but he played it incredibly cool.
Once home, at the bottom of my steps, he stopped me and said, "Heidi, I need you to put your purse down and close your eyes...your mom and dad and I all have a surprise for you." At that point, I was beyond confused...why would all 3 of them have a surprise? Why did I have to leave my purse? What could be happening? I quickly remembered that I LOVE surprises and stopped the line of questioning so as to figure out what awaited me at the top of the steps. He held my hand and walked me up what felt like 300 steps. At approximately step #289 (or 11, it's hard to say), he told me to wait right there with my eyes closed for just a second. After a brief pause, I heard his voice say, "Okay, keep your eyes closed, but you can keep walking." Umm, hello? I'm on steps in heels with my eyes closed...this is an accident waiting to happen! I reminded him that I was temporarily blind and not sure where I was on the staircase, and he rushed back to help me up the final few steps.
On level ground again, he walked me into the loft area, and told me to open my eyes. Standing in front of me and holding my hands, he brought me to tears with the sweet words he spoke about our life, our love, and our future, dropped to one knee, and asked me to marry him. I was so overwhelmed with surprise and joy that I didn't respond as eloquently or as gracefully as I had hoped that I would. I think I screamed "YES! Of course!!", asked him "Really honey?! No, seriously...REALLY?!!" about 5 times, and then, in a moment that I'm sure I will never live down, "Thank you!" Yes, I said "thank you" after he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I spent $30,000 on a Communications degree and I came up with "thank you." What? It's the polite thing to say!
Not having any grasp on my bearings, I hadn't noticed that my mom and dad were standing witness to the whole thing (and snapping photos), nor had I even looked at the ring. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to take it out of the box and remind me that there was another step to this process.
After saying 'yes' (and 'really', and 'thank you') and putting my stunning ring on (it was EXACTLY what I would have picked!!), I turned to my left and saw that he (or more specifically, my mom and dad, at his request) had turned my kitchen island into a cinammon proposal with my all time favorite candy, Hot Tamales.
Crying tears of joy, sweating profusely (attractive, I know) because of the rush of emotion, and shaking uncontrollably from all of the excitement, we sat down and started making the slew of calls to family and friends. Mom diligently documented the whole process. I'm not exaggerating when I say she photographed nearly every call we made. I'll spare you the other 44 of them.
Then the groom-to-be stepped in and took a few shots of me with my folks, his trusted accomplices. They had known about this since he took them to breakfast last Friday (where dad proceeded to warn him that he was getting a "hard-headed woman"...thanks, papa...), and while they said it nearly killed them, they managed to keep it a secret from everyone until the big moment.
Color mostly returned to my face, heart still racing, and shock somewhat present, we took our very first self-shot picture as an engaged couple:
I'm overwhelmed with emotion still today as I write this. A year ago, I didn't think that I'd ever get married. Partly because I was so independent, but mostly because I didn't believe that a man and a love this great really existed. I'm brought to tears every time I think about the fact that he could have any woman in the world, and for reasons unknown, he chose me. He has completely transformed my world for the better, and for someone who never thought she'd get married, I can't wait to be called his wife.
And while I may get teased for it for the rest of our lives, I'll say it again. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you for loving me, for making me laugh every day, for all of the ways that you show me how much you care, for being my best friend in the entire world, and for choosing me. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to be the woman you deserve. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone, and I couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of my life being yours.
2 comments:
This is so incredible. This story proves your communications degree to not be a waste...I'm so happy for you two and I can't wait for your wedding!!!
I have tears in my eyes! Happy tears of course! Congrats you two!
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