Day for a Princess

I have already posted about this on Facebook...but I felt like giving a more in-depth account here.

The process began last month - Steve and I started to talk about the possibility of getting married. We decided that we would like to do it before we started our grad school classes this fall, and the target was early August. That was exciting...but I still was pessimistic, because I had tried planning to get married before and it hadn't worked out. This situation is, of course, MUCH different, but my heart still hesitated to go all-out.

This past weekend we were supposed to participate in a premarital seminar, but it got canceled due to snow. We were disappointed because it had taken a lot of effort to clear the weekend in order to go, and now we couldn't go. We took it in stride and spent most of the weekend together, anyways...we hung out at a friend's house on Friday, then drove up to Tannersville and walked around the outlet mall up there, then had dinner and a movie night with our pastor and his wife, along with the friends we had spent time with the night before. It was a lot of fun, and I didn't want the weekend to end. It's not very often that Steve and I get that much time to spend together, and I was loving it!

Saturday night, James had a little talk with Steve and I. He asked what our timeline was for the wedding, and we said we were aiming for August-ish. Then he said, "Well, engaged or not, you have to start planning NOW." He then proceeded to outline the events that would need to start taking place immediately...and we were blown away. I knew it was coming, but I didn't realize how important it was that we start planning immediately. Steve and I talked a little bit that night and decided we wanted to go for July instead, because my out-of-state family members would be in Michigan at that time. Sunday came around and Steve started acting really weird...we had lunch together after church at the Waffle House just to have a couple minutes to talk over wedding stuff. I kept saying how weird it felt...like we were "half engaged". Were we still going to bother with an engagement ring? I pressed, but he never answered the question. I gave up trying to figure him out, because I didn't want to ruin the surprise if there was one.

All day he was odd. He was zoning out a lot, not smiling a whole lot, going to the bathroom constantly, and could barely focus on his homework that afternoon. He IMed me in the afternoon and asked if we could take a walk after church, just to talk over some more stuff. This was weird because generally after the evening service we will go straight from church to the dorm, where our pastor and his wife will feed the college students dinner since we miss it at the cafeteria. The fact that Steve wanted to stop on our way and take a walk was odd because we eat right away. I was suspicious, and a little nervous. What could he want to talk about? Is he acting weird because he wants to push the wedding date back, and he doesn't want to hurt my feelings? I don't know...

After church, people were joking around and pointing out that we hadn't even gone ring shopping yet. Steve kept up the conversation by saying things like, "Are you kidding me? I don't even have money for a ring yet!" At this point I'm getting pretty discouraged. I reminded him about our walk, and we left church.

We stopped at South Abington Park and got out of the car. We started talking about the premarital counseling that we were starting that week - we needed to find a couple and have a mini Q&A session with them to get started. We were brainstorming about questions to ask them as we approached the bridge at the beginning of the walking trail...my favorite spot. We stopped and looked over the water, with clumps of snow floating along the stream. Steve said, "This is a nice spot."
"Yeah," I replied, "It's my favorite."
"I know," he said, and turned as if to keep walking.
"So," he continued,"more questions to think of...like - " in an instant he was on his knee in front of me, "WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, "I can't...I can't believe you! Oh, my gosh!" (You know as a little kid, when you practice your engagement reactions? Yeah, all that went out the window. I had no idea how to react!)
"Well?..." he just knelt there, grinning at me and opening a ring box with my engagement ring nestled inside.
I finally smiled and said, "Yes."

That's our engagement story. I'm still floating a little bit, wondering when I'll wake up from the fairytale dream. But every time I open my eyes, I see a piece of that fairytale dream sitting right on my finger...and it's never going away. I love him so much, and I cannot wait to be his wife and serve alongside him for the rest of our lives. The date is set: July 3, 2010 - exactly 4 months from today.

Steve - I love you so much, and I'm so glad God placed you in my life. I don't know what I would do without you, and I'm ecstatic that you would love me enough to want to be with me, too. I can't wait to start this journey with you!