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| Engagement Shot |
I thought something was weird when Brian was incredibly nervous about giving me my Valentine’s Day gift. He's so not that guy. Saturday was cute though. Katie, Rachel, Jamie, and Haley were all there. We got up in the morning and all went for a 3.5 mile walk. Each of us had our own afternoon plans. Brian and I had dinner reservations at P.F. Changs and plans to watch the UK vs. UT game afterward at BWWs (which we won, of course - Go Blue!), but he had not told me the pre-dinner plans. Of course, I asked Brian my most consistent question in life: "What should I wear?" Usually he couldn't care less, so his job is to inform me what the activity will be, and then I get to decide the proper attire. Unfortunately, he didn't KNOW the activity. He kept saying that my gift would decide what we do. I kept thinking, "But YOU know what the gift IS!" Intrigued by the mysterious gift, I threw on sweats - my go-to outfit. During this time, Brian mentioned more than once that his gift was homemade. He wanted to open it in my room – because he was nervous about displaying his creative abilities for my roommate and Katie. I could tell he was slightly uncomfortable, but he also stated he thought he did well this time. You can imagine how intrigued I was; and fairly disappointed that I had chosen to buy him books about poop. He opened his poop books: What's Your Poop Tellin You? and What's My Pee Tellin Me?. Then I got to open my gifts! In the bag was a brand-new UK shirt. I knew I was getting it. It was the bribe for giving up my "Valentine's date night" to watch UK basketball with the boys. What he didn't know is that, to me, that's the perfect ending to an evening. I love B-Dubs during a good game. As I looked back in the bag, I found a jar and a card. Brian had me open the card first. Inside the card was a folded piece of computer paper. I could feel Brian hovering nervously as I read it. It kinda made ME nervous that he was so obviously nervous. The top of the note was a paragraph of sweet-nothings. I'm a lucky one, girls. Following was an explanation of the Idea Jar - Brian's gift to me.
See, recently we had read a book called 52 Projects. I love it and would recommend it to all of you! It's a book of random and creative things to do. Most of them take less that a day - maybe just and hour or two. We had read the book on a road trip to St. Louis and decided we would work through the book together. In the note, Brian explained that as we read the book, he got the idea for our own idea jar. On the label to my jar is a inside joke/favorite quote from our relationship: "Hey, I've got an idea..." He went on to explain that together, as we came up with random things we'd someday like to do, we would drop them into the idea jar. Then, we would pull them out as we have time. He had started us out by filling the jar with possibilities for the day. No wonder he couldn't tell me what to wear. The choices for the day were all things we [would] love to do or had discussed before: dog park, sidewalk chalk masterpiece, hand & foot, red box, make a crazy dessert, print pictures for an album of us, invent our own board game, go to Mardi Growl parade, and map out cities to someday visit in the USA. Even now I think about how well he knows me and how much I would LOVE to do any of those things.
I was so impressed at the thoughtfulness of the jar, and REALLY excited to pull it out and do a random activity for the day! He ended the note with, "I hope you pick the one you really, really want!!!" Well, I did pick the one I really, really want. I was already jittery with anticipation over our afternoon activity. I squirmed and giggled as I reached into the jar to decide our next step. I pulled out a piece of paper and IMMEDIATELY FLIPPED OUT. I don't think the words, "Get Engaged" even had time to fully register in my head before I was ATTACKING Brian on the floor. It's all a little fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure he was on his knee with the ring out. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh Oh my gosh. I was shaaaaaking from head to toe. OH MY GOSH! I can still hear myself squealing in between kisses. Poor guy. Wonder if I hurt him? Anyway, as I continued to attack, full force, he goes, "Well, can I ask you first?" Well of COURSE! So I convince myself to crawl off of him. HA. That didn't last long. He still didn't have time to ask before I started kissing him again. More squealing. Then I remember trying to stand up and telling him I had to call my mom before I realized that he STILL had not asked the question. Ok. Caaaalm down Denise. I sat on the kitchen floor - well kinda. I was more like bouncing on my butt on the kitchen floor - as he gave what I'm sure was a very wonderful little speech. I totally wasn't concentrating. I do remember watching my hands shake as he slipped my ROCK onto me left finger. This was the first time I'd slowed down enough to look at it. Perfect. It was PERFECT. I'm pretty sure I said that - in a few select, high-pitched words.
As soon as I had my ring, I ran through the house and jumped up and down. More squealing. I'm engaged! I'm going to marry my best friend. Holy cow, I can't breathe. My first phone call was to my mom. Of course she didn't answer the phone. I remember being REALLY frustrated. How could you NOT answer the phone after I just got ENGAGED! Ha. Eventually I got ahold of her and made a few more important calls. Just a few - so if you didn't get one - it's not cuz I don't totally love you. As I made calls, I jetted around the house, dancing and squealing and jumping and kissing. More squealing. I'm engaged! I'm gonna marry BRIAN!!!
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| The next day at our church Sweetheart Banquet |
