Thursday, December 13, 2012

Engaged!

So, on November 8, 2012, this happened.
My boyfriend (I guess now fiance!) of 2 1/2 years asked me to marry him! I was beyond speechless — I always envisioned myself crying, throwing myself into his arms and, in between sobs, yelling out an enthralled "Yes!!!"

Well, I was speechless and couldn't even answer the poor guy. I emphatically shook my head and stared at the ring. I was just so surprised. I knew he was going to propose soon, but I guessed it would be at Christmas.

 Here's how it happened...

Another Christmas passed, then another Valentine’s Day. After my birthday, I gave up; I deleted my Pinterest wedding board and resigned myself to perpetually being “girlfriend.”

November 8 was Chase's 24th birthday. He was so excited because his best friend was coming to visit from the Dallas area. We planned to go to dinner and "hit up the town" to celebrate my man's birthday. I wanted to look extra hot, so I spent the entire day getting ready.

While getting ready, Chase called me in a panic because he needed to talk to my father right away. He told me that his mom had found a rifle at a flea market and he needed to ask my dad about it. My father is the sportsman of all sportsman, so I thought nothing about it. Like a good girlfriend, I called every member of my family trying to track down my dad. He finally called me and I practically hung up on him, telling him to call Chase. (Unbeknownst to me, Chase needed to ask my daddy to marry me.)

When I asked Chase if he talked to my dad, he nonchalantly replied, "Yes, he basically said the gun is  piece of crap. I'm pretty upset about it though, because I've been wanting a rifle and that was a good price."

What a good liar — I'm not sure if I should be impressed or worried!

Anyways, Chase, his friend Michael, my roommate Anna, and I headed to begin the festivities at Fuzzy's Taco Shop. While ordering food, Chase was acting strangely. Fuzzy's gives out free shirts on birthdays. I offered to take Chase's shirt and a jacket he was carrying to his truck, but he refused. I thought that was odd, but didn't think too much about it. While we were eating, Chase seemed so nervous about something. He kept going to the bathroom and only ate half his food; I felt sorry for him because I thought he was sick.

"Poor guy," I remarked to Anna. "I hate for him to be sick on his birthday."

After we had eaten, we just sat around and talked. I bought Chase some boots for his birthday and after we had finished eating, he turned to me and said, "The boots were nice, but you know what would have been a better gift?"

I glared at him and my roommate quickly came to my defense. “Those are some really nice boots, Chase!” 

I thought about how badly I wanted a ring for my birthday and said, “You know what would have been nice for mine?” 

My voice trailed off before I could say "a ring."

Undeterred, Chase continued. "If you told me you'd be mine for the rest of our lives."

Not understanding, I furrowed my brow and stammered, “I’ve told you that …”

Chase just smiled and reached into his coat pocket as he dropped to one knee. My hands instantly covered my mouth and I felt my eyes slightly moisten.

"This isn't happening," I thought to myself.

"Will you make this the best birthday ever and marry me?" he asked.

Everyone in the restaurant was staring and began clapping when I shook my head in an affirmative motion. Chase slipped the ring on my finger and sat back in his chair. A passerby handed Chase a $5 bill "for the happy couple."

"Are you going to say yes?" he asked while staring at me stare at the ring on my finger.

"Yes," I somehow managed to say as Chase grabbed my chin and kissed me.

It was perfect. People familiar with Fuzzy's laugh when I tell them the story of my proposal, but it was perfect for us. The rest of the evening was a dream and when I woke up, I had to gaze at the ring to make sure it was real.

I am beyond excited to marry my dark-haired, dark-eyed, tall Oklahoma boy. It has been over a month and I still stare at the ring. We're getting married on July 27, 2013, and I have so much to do! I'm trying to enjoy the wedding planning process, but am overwhelmed by the amount of work that goes into a wedding.

I keep telling myself that it's all about Chase and me, but I still want everyone to be happy! People are offering up wedding planning tips left and right, but I'm afraid they're not helping much. If it were up to me, we would head to Vegas and a Marilyn Monroe impersonator would be my bridesmaid (because I know my best friend Lindsey would be there) and an Elvis impersonator would marry us. But Chase wants a wedding, so I can deal. I think I'm more excited about dress shopping and the bachelorette party though!

I'm trying on dresses and March and need to get dress ready...ugh...more on that later!

— Brittany <3