Engage-a-Versary

Today marks 2 years since the day my wonderful HB asked me to marry him. That’s right, it’s our Engage-a-versary!! I don’t think I’ve ever shared the whole story behind our engagement, so, in honor of today, without further ado, I bring to you: Our Engagement Tale.

From very early on in our relationship, we knew that HB was going to be deployed. I’m pretty sure he told me on one of our first dates. Neither of us was looking to get into a long term relationship. We just enjoyed each others company and decided to see where life took us. Well, it didn’t take us very long to realize that no matter how many times we tried to tell ourselves that we didn’t want to get serious, we were. Finally, around Christmas, we began to acknowledge that, at the very least, we would try to make it work. Then came our Mini-Vacay in March and getting Bear in April. By then it was clear, HB was stuck with me ;-)

We threw around the marriage word a few times, but I had many reservations. We hadn’t known each other that long and I had this odd notion that you should know someone at least a year before getting that serious. I’ve learned you can’t really put a schedule on love! I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to get engaged before HB deployed, because I was afraid that he was basing this decision on the impending deployment. I didn’t want to rush into things simply because the military was giving a us a deadline. Also, my family wasn’t super supportive of us at the time {but that’s a story for another day} However, we still discussed it and I realized in my heart that if he asked, I would say yes. Sometimes you just have to follow your heart!

What I didn’t know was that HB was already plotting. He took two of my best friends to every jewelry store in the area in search of the perfect ring. My friend explained that he looked lost in the first store, but by the time they made it to the last, he marched in there and told the saleslady exactly what he was looking for, like a jewelry pro. He continued plotting with my friends to make the moment he popped the question extra special, going as far as staging a practice run one day while I was at work.

Before the practice Run

So, back to the actual day. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and as usual we took our sweet Bear cub for a walk. He was so little wee then! At the time I lived in a house with a few of my good friends right across the street from the university I graduated from, so we would take the pup for walks around the campus. We walked to the quad where we often times would let Bear off the leash to romp a little. Back then Bear still needed lots of training so we would use the big green space and spread out to call Bear to come back and forth between us. We stopped and picked a spot. I started walking away and turned around to call Bear after I was a sufficient distance away. I could see HB rustling behind a tree with Bear and all I could think was, what a goof!

Finally, I called Bear to me and he came galloping his awkward, adorable puppy run. After a little ways, he started to veer and bite his back. Now, Bear has a history of tail chasing, so this behavior didn’t seem odd, but HB came running towards him corralling him to come my way. As they got closer I exclaimed, “What did you put on Bears back?” as the realization of what Bear was biting at sunk in. A box, just the right size for a ring!

Soon they caught up to me, HB grabbed the ring box, got down on one knee and proposed. He was so disappointed, because apparently the practice run had gone perfectly, but in the end I always feel like this proposal was so much more us. Adorable, with a little bump along the way, but still works out in the end J
When we got home my friends were waiting with cake, champagne and an adorable sign congratulating us.

Walking back - My friends were our paparazzi

Whew. I got a little carried away, kudos if you read that all. So there you have it. Our Engagement Story!

Cheesin!