He Proposed!

Tom and I had talked about getting married in depth before he proposed. This is the best way for any relationship so that you don't go into it blindsided or not knowing what each other's needs, desires, and dreams are. So although I knew one day it would probably happen, I wasn't sure of when or how!

On Saturday, April 10th, 2010, Tom proposed to me. It is a memory very sweet and genuine to me with all of our personal quirks involved. The one life lesson I learned from this is to stay true to your roots and try not to be such a perfectionist. IE: Don't make silly requirements like "I must be dressed up the day you proposed," and "It cannot be in front of people!" -- which I totally did...

I feel it is a very special memory for us that doesn't need to be explained in depth to every one, but here is the general gist of how it happened. We were planning to go to a church dinner so I was dressed up. Since Tom and I live an hour from each other and our church is in the middle, we made plans to meet there a few hours early to kill time. This is not unusual for us because as I have taken my conversion classes to become a Catholic, we have met early before just to spend time together. Well, I left my house and let Tom know I was on my way. Little did I know he was already in my town hidden around the corner from my house. We actually drove right past each other. He, of course, was freaking out that I might have saw him and he didn't know what he would do in that case. I, of course, am a typical blonde who was off in my own world and didn't even notice him! :) He went to my house, asked my mother if he could have my hand in marriage, and proceeded to set everything up. Then he called me and said he thought he could beat me to my house. I turned around, came inside the house, and was obviously surprised when he proposed!

The most special part to me was the fact he had a family friend photographer there to document the very first moments of us being engaged, including the first time he put the ring on my finger (as shown in the picture above.) There were even pictures of him setting up before he proposed. To me, these photos help ignite the butterflies inside of me. I can appreciate just how genuine, sweet, and thoughtful Tom was on this day. His vulnerability as he was on one knee with an open heart gives me such a special feeling that I now know it would not have of mattered how or where he proposed because in the long run it's just about us being together as one.

Since photography is precious to me, he arranged for us to go for a mini photo shoot in the city. Then, we hit up a delicious wine and steak house. Soon after that we headed directly to my cousin's house to ask her to be my Maid of Honor (I couldn't contain my excitement! Can you blame me?) and then celebrated the evening with champagne and some of Tom's fraternity friends.

Now we are happily engaged and eager to get the wedding planning process started.

Did your engagement proposal live up to your expectations? Did you know it was coming and previously discuss just how serious marriage is?