Engagement Story > Part 4

So the beat goes on. We got back from Oregon and life was life, Nicole's wedding was in September and as we rolled into October we just enjoyed spending time together. The seasons were beginning to change and it was turning into my favorite season of the year. FALL! I love autumn/fall whatever you want to call it. The colors are the best, it's cold enough for a sweater but not cold enough for a jacket. There are any array of pumpkin flavored things to eat and drink, and well it just rocks. I don't really need to fluff the skirt of my fav season any more you get the idea.

One weekend morning I got up late which is unlike me. I was sitting around in grubby PJs and drinking coffee. Andrew asked me what I wanted for breakfast, he normally doesn't do that. I said ya know what I want French toast. It's my fav breakfast food for sure. He said why don't I go out and get what we need to make it. I said okay that would be great. So he ran out and was back in 30 minutes or so.

He comes in with 2 bouquets of flowers, so sweet. This wasn't that unusual, he used to buy me flowers a lot when we first started dating. I just thought how nice it was. He went about making breakfast and we talked about whatever was going in the news. We sat down to eat and enjoyed the hell out of our french toast. Andrew then says to me I have something for you, I'll be right back. I thought that was nice he must have seen a book or something I would like.

He comes back down the hall from the bedroom, I wasn't even facing him I was watching the television. I turned to say something to him about what I saw and there he was down on one knee. I burst immediately into tears. He started to cry too and said I love you, will you marry me. I'm not sure if I said yes or not but I hugged him and got down on the floor with him and put the ring on. I guess he knew I was saying yes.

So here I was in grubby worn out pajamas. I hadn't brushed my teeth, or washed my face. My hair looked like death and it is very possible I smelled and he had just asked me one of if not the most important question of my life. It was perfect!

The rest of the day was spent telling people. Well almost everyone, we were going to see my parents soon so I held out on telling them and just said I had some important news. We did call Nicole and Quincy. I told Nicole I had something to ask her...she got all quiet and I said will you be my maid of honor...she just started screaming into the phone. I took that as a yes. So it all makes sense right. I mended my relationship with my best friend (and both our hopes were going to happen and we were going to maid of honors in both our weddings), my then boyfriend dove for the garter at their wedding because he already had the ring and I dove for the bouquet because I wanted him to ask.

Wedding story to come next. Not sure when might be a bit before I share that one. It will be more picture heavy for sure. In the mean time check out some of our engagement photos they are pretty fun!

Holy shit he is a tall mo fo right?? No picture shows our height difference better than that one!

Side note.... when I went home to tell my parents. We got there after they had gone to sleep so I woke up and told them in the morning. Andrew was still asleep. I said mom and dad I have something to tell you...we're engaged. My mother breathes a sigh of relief and says thank god I thought you were pregnant. That's my mom folks.

Engagement Story > Part 3

Well things are about to get interesting people. I had packed my bags and planned out my trip to Oregon and Andrew was coming too. We originally weren't sure we could afford it but I really wanted him to be there. If for no other reason than Nicole hadn't met Andrew yet and I felt they needed to meet. I felt Nicole would understand my decision to move to Virginia more if she met Andrew (let's just say I was right).

We get to Oregon and it takes everything I have not to burst into to tears run into Nicole's arms and apologize until I lose my voice. I do run an hug her but I also manage to hold it together.

I'm sure at this point you are wondering what this is and how this has anything to do with me getting engaged, but I promise it all has a point and we are getting to it. It starts to get juicy right about now....

We are in Portland and I am spending time talking with my best friend. The girl I used to run up the hill with when we were kids. Who used to play nintendo all night and drink lots of this cranberry juice drink. We used to bake a cake and decorate it with hideous icing for our birthdays. We had a peg board full of funny photos. Oh I could go on and on with what we did and now it was like no time had ever passed. We laughed...she stressed...I kept her focused and we had a wonderful time post wedding.

The big day arrived and it was a whirl wind, we had to travel an hour or so to get to the wedding location and we got to talking. We talked about a lot of things, we apologized about things. It was wonderful.

Okay so on the big day I cried, it was beautiful.

Wasn't she an incredible bride. She was so gorgeous. I never saw her look so beautiful in my life. I mean most of my memories haver her with underwear on her head and hot pink sweat pants. All of that would sound less weird if you knew the girl.

The ceremony was incredible. I cried...no shock there. It was hotter than balls too. Man sweat was dripping down my legs and face but I didn't care. That dress too it was one of those materials that holds in smell. So by the end of the night it smelled like BO... I rememeber getting home and my whole suitcase stunk...major side note there folks but funny.

Back to the ceremony....it was one of the best expressions of love I have ever seen. They are and were so in love specifically in that moment.  So then the party started. We laughed, I told a speech about hotdogs and ketchup....don't try to understand just go with it. Then there was the bouquet and garter toss. As you might have guessed by now...

We caught them....both of them. Now I know that most people step away from the flying bouqet and garter but not this pair. We lunged for it and as you can tell. I was pretty stoked to have caught the thing.

God look at that face. I am such a cheese sometimes. So the wedding ended, we had an incredible time and bright and early the next day we caught a plane to go back home and back to our lives. Part 4 the final part is coming up and it will all come together soon. I promise it will all make sense in the grand scheme of the story.

Engagement Story > Part 2

So we had moved to Virginia, but prior to this big move I had to break the news to my very best friend of all time that I would not be going to Oregon with her. So one day I emailed her and told her. I was so scared that I couldn't even pick up the phone and tell her. I was so afraid I might lose her and felt so horrible to disappoint her. Let's just say she didn't take it well and she was upset that I would do it in an email rather than call. So every which way I had screwed it up. I won't go into details but she pretty much told me to stay out of her life. I was heartbroken but knew I had to be with Andrew. I just knew that being with him was where I was supposed to be and that I loved him. I knew he was the boy for me.

I accepted that I had lost the most important woman in my life and my dearest friend. I didn't accept it easily but I did learn to live with it. She had written me a very hurtful letter after I had broken the news to her. Something that had hurt so badly. I didn't respond to her letter as she had asked me not to, but I accepted that I had hurt her and she was saying things in turn to hurt me and I needed to sit with that.

Time went by. We got into a groove in Richmond, had made a few friends but not dear ones and life was just moving right along. Then one day I got a call. A call from my Nicole (this dear friend that I had lost) out of the blue. She had sent me an email at random, it had maybe been 6 or so months since we had spoken I can't really remember. The email was sweet ( I still have it) and she said she had a dream. A dream about me and she realized how much she missed me. I missed her terribly. If you are lucky like me to find that one person that you are 100% yourself with and that knows and gets you, then you know how hard losing that person can be.

Well, I got the email but I didn't respond to the email I didn't have anything to say. I missed her but she had hurt me deeply and I wasn't sure I was ready to move on. Shortly after that email she called. She called and we spoke. I don't think we cried but we spoke. Then she said to me. Would you be my maid of honor??? I'm getting married. I was in shock. I knew she had been seeing a red headed boy for quit some time (I really knew him as fire crotch side note, felt we were getting a little too serious gotta break that up) but I had missed the part where they had gotten this serious. I of course said yes and let the past drop away. She was getting married and she had asked me to be her #1 gal on her special day. The past didn't matter this was about her future and I wanted to be a part of it.

So here we were, I was preparing to go to Oregon to see my best friend get married (She still moved to Portland and her then boyfriend who became her fiance went with her). Andrew was debating about going with me as we weren't sure we could afford it and life was going at a constant pace.

The most exciting and another one of those "not uh that didn't happen moments" is about to happen folks.

Engagement Story > Part 1

So now we know how I met and fell in love with my handsome man, and that I was planning to go to Richmond Virginia with him when he graduated so he could take that job.

Well, all that happened. In May of 2006 we packed up both of our apartments, some stuff from my parents house and traveled to West Virginia to get some things from his mothers house. It was the most interesting and whirl wind move of my life. I was traveling with my beloved cat for the first time (not the Moby but my first kitty cat Stinky) and moving the farthest from my home I had ever lived.

We arrived at our first apartment together in Richmond and were thrilled with what he had gotten online. I mean we had never seen the apartment and signed the lease based on photos alone. Alas, I do not have any photos of the front of that building to share with you.

Shortly after moving into this apartment Andrew began his first real adult job.

That really is Andrew on his very first day of work. He rode his bike because we had sold his car before moving to Virginia. Now your probably wondering what job I had...well I didn't have a job kids. I was applying like it was breathing but I couldn't get many hits. Until a month into being in Richmond and someone called about a sales position. At the time I didn't know that was what it was. I went for the interview, found that out and said..."I don't want to do sales, but do you have anything in administrative." It jus so happened they did. I had 2 interviews and 2 weeks later I had a job. The pay was decent and the benefits were great. The job was, well let's just say it was a job. Not a dream but a job.

Now Andrew and I were real adults. We had our own place, real jobs, and all that non sense and we both desperately wanted to go back to college. Yep I said it. We wanted to go back to the ease of college, obviously that wasn't a choice, but I needed to make it known. So this was life as a couple in a city we didn't know, where we had no friends but that would all change soon. Stay tuned.