I promise we are actually getting married someday. I just happen to like talking about food a whole lot more than talking about the wedding prep. That might be because, for the time being, there is not much to discuss. After going back and forth on the date for a while, my sister Melissa made it clear we needed to make a real decisions because she was planning her study abroad experience and, as my Maid of Honor, it’s kinda important that she be in the country on the wedding date.

With a little (aka a lot) of pushing from my dear friend Ross, Labor Day weekend 2013 was suggested to keep the summer theme Will had requested and make our very classic and kinda dark colors more appropriate. So that’s our date and we’re sticking to it!

Engaged!

I wish I had taken pictures on the day. There were a few times when it crossed my mind to grab the camera but, apparently, I never did.

I’ll start the story by saying that I figured out what was happening about an hour into the morning. We woke up on Saturday, June 18th and I was not in the best mood. I suspect there might have been a mild hangover but it’s not like we’re wild party animals anymore so that can’t really have been the reason. But Will was bouncing off the walls.

“I’m going to make you breakfast! In bed! No, no, no…you stay here!” Off he runs to the kitchen.

For those of you who know Will, he is not a cook aside from anything deep fried or having to do with chicken wings (more on that later). Nor is he a breakfast person. So being told he was going to make me breakfast in bed was basically unheard of.

He rushes off to the kitchen and not too long later bounces back with coffee, toast and an omelet that actually looked like he had some experience with the matter. I know my first omelet sure didn’t look like that!

We had previously made plans to take Anni to the dog beach. She loves the dog beach and I can’t really say why since she doesn’t really love other dogs and she sure doesn’t like getting her paws wet.

To me, the dog beach is usually an informal affair but on that particular Saturday Will was not in his usual causal mood. He bounced into the shower, shaved his beard and then solicited my advice on what to wear. The button up or the polo?

“I was going to wear sweatpants,” I shrugged. This didn’t deter him from the polo and jeans combo.

At this point I had a hunch and once we got into his car, I knew. The car was clean. Spotless. Not only was all the trash picked up but the carpet had been vacuumed and the windows had even been whipped down. Let’s just put it this way – the clean car is even more unheard of than breakfast.

First he wanted to take me to the coffee house where we had our first date – The Chapman Coffee House. It’s a cute little shop right next to Chapman that I had not been to in the two+ years we had been together. We each got our coffee and took it to the inclosed porch where we could let Anni hang out. Not long after we had settled in, a women poked her head out the door and asked if she could sit at one of the other tables.

“Can I take one of these tables? You’re not going to propose or anything, right?” I swear this actually happened. She had no idea, of course but it’s funny how those things go. I went to the bathroom later and apparently Will showed her the ring and let her in on the plan, which she thought was ironic as well.

At this point, I was feeling really nervous. Almost as if it were I who was going to have to propose. I’m still not sure why I was so nervous but it was almost so much that I couldn’t finish my coffee. I mean, I had known for a while that we were going to get engaged after I graduated and I had known that I was going to say yes but for some reason this moment still struck me as overwhelming.

We arrived at the Huntington Dog Beach (great place, BTW) and Will got Anni all harnessed up even though they request that your dog be off leash while on the beach. We walked along the sand, both very quiet. I’m sure he was nervous, too.  Not too far along the beach, Anni ran up into the rocky area and we followed. We sat on a rock and watched her run about and sniff and play. Will asked me if I had seen Anni’s new dog tag yet.

This is it, I thought as I reached down to her collar. He has put the ring on her collar and I’m going to grab it right no…

But there was no ring on the collar. There was actually a new dog tag, though.

Damn, I’ve got this all wrong. He really did just get her a new tag. I’m not getting engaged today. Then I looked down at the tag. It read “Will you marry me?” with the date on the other side. I turned back up to him and he was holding out a box with the ring.

Of course I said yes. Just like I had known I would. And then the nerves went away and the excitement took over. We’re engaged!

So many moments that should have been captured on camera but will always just live in my mind. I’m glad I wrote it out, though, finally because I’m sure these details will fade someday.

Haha wait, I found two photos from my iPhone. One of the ring and one of Will enjoying his meat feast from the Brazillion steak house where we dined that night.