Here Comes The Bride

Y'all. So much has been happening here I haven't had a minute to sit down and tell you so much has been happening here.

So much has been happening here.

Is it okay to talk about Easter more than a week later? I'm going to say yes because Easter was a big day around here. For starters this happened-

If you've read here for any time at all you've likely seen pics of the boyfriend turned fiance on my blog. They've dated for 'a while', ahem, and on Easter Sunday he officially asked her to be his bride. We love them both so much and are so excited for this next new chapter in their lives.

Let's back up a bit because you know nothing is ever a straight line in our little corner of the world. Hubs drove over to Tennessee the Thursday before to collect his mama and bring her to the lake for Easter weekend. The boyfriend had spoken to hubs a couple weeks prior and mentioned it 'might' happen over the weekend but there was some sort of delay in the hardware department so it might not happen over the weekend.

I of course proceeded as if it were a done deal because how am I supposed to be an over the top excited mother of the bride if I live in a world of maybe? And I knew if it did happen I'd want to have a couple of fun little gifts for my daughter when they came back to the house. Personalized cookies wouldn't be too extravagant would they?

In my defense I told the baker it was all a maybe and she informed me I could freeze the cookies if need be.

Hubs texted the boyfriend Thursday afternoon and he said it was definitely not going to happen Easter weekend because he didn't have the ring back yet. I resisted interrogating him via hubs text messages and instead called Daughter1 and facetimed my grandson because he just makes every little thing in the world alright.

Here he is in the Evergreen State in all his Easter finery-

Have you ever seen a cuter baby boy?

Meanwhile in the Palmetto State...I had my sister and brother-in-law and my niece and her boyfriend, and my brother-in-law's brother and his girlfriend all coming for Easter dinner and I hadn't seen my sister since Christmas so I just made up my mind to celebrate this beautiful Easter day and know the engagement would happen someday sometime but not today.

Easter dawned bright and beautiful and church on Easter Sunday is always one of my favorite things so hubs, his mama, and I all had a nice morning. We came home and put lunch in the oven and then my sister and company arrived around 2 and we were all having a grand time.

Daughter2 had texted earlier saying they were hiking that afternoon but would be to our house sometime late afternoon. She texted again later saying they wouldn't be there now til closer to 5:30 because they were passing a pretty waterfall and decided to check it out.

A few minutes later she Facetimed me and with a great big smile on her face said, 'We're engaged!!' 

My first thought was to say, 'No you're not-the ring's not here', but I managed to catch myself. Pshew! Then I noticed she was wearing a ring, a very pretty ring that looked remarkably like an engagement ring.

Turns out her groom couldn't wait another day or week or minute so he asked and she said yes. We all find it hilarious that he managed to surprise his bride and both families because when two people date for a long time you feel like there's no way an engagement will be a surprise. Yet there we all were with our jaws dropped grinning from ear to ear at the loveliness of the surprise. He gave her a ring that belonged to his aunt and before that his great grandmother to wear as a placeholder until her ring arrives.

Sentimental stories are my favorite kind.

Daughter2 said they'd be to our house in a few minutes so I leapt from the table, ran to my closet to grab the goodies I'd purchased, and quickly set up an impromptu little celebration complete with an Erin Condren planner, bride bag, mug, and COOKIES!

Go big or go home, right?

Here's her grandmother and her aunt waiting not so patiently for the bride to arrive so they could give her a big hug.

I couldn't wait and had to give my hugs and kisses in the driveway.

Hubs popped the bubbly and made a wonderful champagne toast-

 ...and we all said Cheers to a lifetime of happiness for the most adorable couple we know.
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Love Story

Today's post is part 2 of a three part blog party hosted by Kim. In case you missed it you can read part one here. In part 2 we are supposed to tell the story of our proposal and let me just say up front that contrary to what my hubs likes to tell people I did not ask him to marry me.

I'd love to read your story too so spill it then link up at Kimberly's Korner for all the world to see. Here's mine-

As you may recall, ahem, my birthday is in September. Hubs and I had been dating about four years off and on but the last couple of years we were just on, no off. We had talked about marriage so you can imagine my excitement when he handed me my birthday gift and it appeared to be a ring box. You can also imagine my surprise when I opened it only to discover it was not an engagement ring. At least I was pretty sure it wasn't (it wasn't). It was in fact a beautiful ring that I did not appreciate in that moment because hello, I was expecting a diamond. What I got instead was his grandmothers topaz that he'd had a jeweler set into a pretty band for me. Nice birthday present but oh the disappointment. Yes I was disappointed to get a beautiful topaz instead of a diamond engagement ring. And I'm pretty sure only a 23 year old girl would say that.

We were living two hours apart at this point because he had taken a job in Knoxville so we only saw each other on weekends for the last few months we dated. Christmas was approaching and I was going home to NJ for the holidays. Our plan was to have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants before I left. We walked into the restaurant and were seated and then he immediately excused himself to go to the men's room which I thought was kind of annoying since the drive from his apt. had taken literally five minutes. Whatever. He returned to our table and we proceeded to look at the menu. I noticed a waitress working her way down the aisle carrying a tray with two glasses of champagne and a beautifully wrapped box with a balloon tied to the ribbon. I commented on this and said, 'Oh look, someone must be having a birthday.' My skills of observation are impressive, yes? Even when she stopped at our table it did not compute. There stood the waitress with her tray and champagne and the pretty box and a big beaming smile. There sat the future hubs kinda smiling, kinda sweating, and I think kinda not believing he was going to need to spell this out for me. And all around us sat our fellow diners who had quickly put it all together and had quieted down and were waiting for me to have the appropriate reaction. And I finally look at the waitress and say, "Oh this is for me?"

Ding Ding Ding...bells rang in my head, lights flashed, suddenly it all made sense. I snatched up that box and tore it open. He popped the question, I said yes and the rest, as they say, is history.

Oh, wait, the ring. I didn't pick it out and I don't even remember having a lot of conversation about what style I preferred. Hubs has always had excellent taste in jewelry which is one of the reasons I married him. Kidding! But I'm serious about his good taste. The ring was perfect and I loved it. Still do. Several years ago the diamond came out of the setting and hubs had it reset into a nicer band that I loved even more than the original.

Flash forward to today and if you read here, well, you know where that ring sits now. Right beside my wedding band which is also not on my finger but rather is resting in pieces in a hospital issued envelope. Rest assured we're still married but I had a bit of a mishap recently and my rings had to be cut off and are still awaiting repair.

Sometimes I'm a lot of trouble.

Hubs would not disagree.