December 20th 2005

I graduated from college, a semester early, in December of 2004, and had a six month internship in the spring. When that was finished, I had a big decision to make - accept the summer position I was offered at the place I did my internship, or move to South Carolina with my boyfriend of four and a half years as he prepared to attend golf school. I struggled with passing up an amazing opportunity that would probably never come again, but there was never a question in my mind what I would choose.

In August of 2005, we moved to Myrtle Beach after 4 years of a long distance relationship. We were really happy and excited. We were finally together and living on our own, in a very new and different place for us. We had talked about marriage many times, and had even looked at rings for fun, but I didn't think the proposal would come until after he graduated. Further more, I didn't think he'd ever be able to surprise me. He's not very good at hiding his excitement, and when he's planning something special, his face, words and voice are an instant giveaway. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting it, but he did surprise me!

Though we were enjoying our new life together, we both missed our family, and planned to fly home for Christmas. Since we were spending so much money on plane tickets, and because we were just starting out and didn't have much money to begin with, we decided not to go all out on Christmas gifts for each other and only do stocking stuffers instead. So a few days before we flew home, we decided to have our own little private Christmas celebration.

That morning, he had class early. When I got up, he was already gone. I wrapped all his stocking stuffers and neatly arranged them in his stocking before I left for work. He had a break between classes and went home for lunch, but since everything in his stocking was wrapped, I didn't worry about him sneaking a peek. He finished his classes and then went to work for a few hours himself. When I got home from work, he was still at work, and his stocking looked like he had been looking through it. The stuff I bought just barely fit in, so I had arranged it a few times to get it to fit just right and it did not look the same. I was MAD! I called him up and asked him if he had looked. He insisted that he hadn't, that it had fallen over, a few things fell out, and he just tried to put them back in. I don't know why, because it wasn't even a really good story, but I had a long day at work and I believed him.

When he got home from work, he still had to wrap my presents. I was excited for him to open the little things that I got for him, and waited anxiously as he filled my stocking in the bedroom. When he came out, he handed me a rose, which I thought was strange as part of my Christmas present, but still sweet. I really wanted to have him open his stocking first, but he insisted that I go first. Besides the rose, there was a candle and a DVD of the first movie we watched together. At this point, I was a little bit suspicious that something might be going on, but as I reached back into my stocking, the last gift inside was a stick of chapstick. That extremely tiny twinge of excitement and hope that any girl gets when something sweet and romantic is going on died, but I thought his gifts were sweet and I was still excited for him to open his stocking.

We had complete opposite ideas for our gifts. We had set a price limit, and he bought a few more expensive items, and I bought a bunch of little things to really fill his stocking up. He started opening all his gifts and seemed excited. When he got to the bottom, he said, "What's this??" with a big smile on his face. I thought he knew it was the box of Gobstoppers I bought for him by the shape of the box and was being sarcastic. But when he pulled it out, it was definitely not a box of Gobstoppers.

He pulled out a jewelry box, got on one knee, opened the box, and asked me to marry him. I was in shock for several reasons! First, he asked me to marry him! Second, somehow he successfully surprised me! Third, the ring was GORGEOUS! And finally, I handled all our finances and we had joint accounts, so I couldn't figure out how on earth he paid for it!

He said some other sweet things that I truthfully don't remember. The whole night is a very happy blur in my mind, but I vaguely remember saying yes. Right there on our couch, me in my sweats, he had just proposed!

Apparently, he had the ring hidden in his golf bag for 2 whole weeks and managed to keep it a secret! While I was at work that day, he had taken everything out of his stocking and hid the ring at the bottom.

Everyone is surprised when they ask who I called first and I say that I didn't call anyone. We were flying home in 2 days, and I thought it would make a much better announcement in person! It was extremely hard to keep it a secret!! My dad had just had back surgery, so only my mom came to pick us up at the airport. I hid the ring in my pocket for the hour and a half ride home, and slid it back on just before we walked in the door. There was so much excitement just with seeing everyone again and all I said was, "Well, we have an announcement..." and held up my hand. It was a perfect moment that I remember so clearly. The lights on the Christmas tree were sparkling, my parents' house smelled of spruce and fresh baked cookies, there were tears and hugs and lots of smiles.

It was a very special Christmas that year.

After a year and a half of planning, we tied the knot! And here we are 2 years later. There are a million things I could say about the man that is my husband, but if you read my blog regularly, you already know that he is my world. He is the most supportive, hard working, loving, funny husband in the world, and I am so blessed that he chose me to be his wife.

Happy Anniversary, my love! You are my everything!