The Proposal

In October, I linked up for 31 days with The Nester to talk about my wedding journey, so I thought I would share these posts now that we have Wedding Wednesday!  Thanks for hosting us, Jordan and Meredith!!  Today's post is all about the proposal, the true starting point of our wedding journey. :)

Mr. G has a great many gifts, but secret-keeping is not among them, so I had a little bit of an inkling that a big question was about to be asked when I went over to his house for our date on Saturday, August 18, 2012.  We had been discussing marriage and plans in a serious way and I was so ecstatic at the thought of spending the rest of my life with the man I loved.  However, I think you must never be quite ready for what the actual moment will be like.

With all of the over-the-top proposal stories you hear floating around, I think G was a little stressed about proposing in a way that would meet my expectations -- bless him!  I assured him over and over when he would tell me his concerns about the proposal that I knew whatever he did or said would be just right.  My parents' proposal story was sweet and simple, so I was quite sure Mr. G would find just the right way to ask and he did.

I remember parking my car and walking up to his adorable Tudor cottage with the rounded front door.  He opened the door and for the first time, rather than stepping back and granting me entrance, he closed the door behind him and stood outside with me.  I had never seen him quite so nervous!  Then, he asked me to close my eyes and he led me inside to his dining room.  When he said I could open my eyes, there before me  on the table was a beautiful vase of long-stemmed pink roses.  Then, Mr. G said the sweetest words about me and our relationship and then I remember him saying, "and now for the big question".  Before I knew it, he was on one knee asking me to marry him with a beautiful ring in his hand.  Of course, I immediately said yes.  Part of me was amazed that this was really happening while the other part could think of nothing more right all at once!  I was engaged!  After all those years of wondering, God has provided the right man and we were going to get married!  It was really happening!!!

Of course, I took some time to look at my ring and noticed it was different than the ones we had looked at together and it was just right.  It was so special to me that he chose it on his own and I loved watching it sparkle!

Next, I had to call some very special people and share our exciting news!!  It was so fun because some of my family were all eating at a restaurant together, so I was able to convey our happy tidings all at once. :)

Then, the rest of Mr. G's plan unfolded.  He took me to one of our favorite restaurants, the same one where he took me on our first Valentine's Day before surprising me with tickets to see Christ Botti in concert.  My mind was in a whirl trying to take in this wonderful event.

After a delicious dinner, he had one more surprise up his sleeve.  Now, a funny thing about this evening, too, is that a veritable monsoon began pouring outside while we were at dinner and in the excitement of the event, neither of us thought to grab an umbrella.  G wanted us to get a dessert that would truly bring the evening full circle from the first time we met, so we went to Chick Fil A to get milkshakes.  You see, when we met at the Baylor basketball game on January 14th, the fact that the Chick Fil A stand nearest his seats was out of milkshakes is truly the only reason he had to walk to the other side of the concourse and happen to meet me.  With the rain pouring that evening, an easy solution would be to go through the drive through, but G's car had just had its windows tinted, so we couldn't roll down the windows!  Poor thing was yet again undeterred in his milkshake quest, so we parked as close to the restaurant as we could and he ran inside, returning completely soaked to the bone, but with two beautiful milkshakes.

We enjoyed our milkshakes with the rain pattering outside the window, savoring all the fun in store for our future.

Day 1: Journey to the Altar