Warning: Common Side Effects of Becoming Engaged

As the first couple weeks of becoming an engaged couple have passed, I've come to realize a few things have changed. I'm experiencing a few "side effects" over here and although I wish someone had warned me, I'm kind of enjoying discovering these things as they come. 

Inability to concentrate. Mainly at work. Sorry, I'm not sorry- I have other things on my mind.

Uncontrollable urge to stare at my hand. There's something sparkly there that wasn't there a couple weeks ago. And it's gorgeous.

Overuse of the word "fiance". "Oh hey, fiance!", "Good morning, fiance!", "How is my fiance doing?" Yep, it's nauseating. However, we only have a few months to call each other this so it's kind of fun.

Need to have nails painted at all times. You never know when someone may be asking to stare at your left hand. Plus, I need to make up for the ugly greige polish I was wearing when he proposed.

Extra daydreaming and extreme excitement when thinking about getting married. This goes along with the "inability to concentrate", however when I daydream I tend to show emotion on my face. So, I'm finding myself smiling like a goofball while driving, in between sessions, and pretty much anytime I think about getting married.

Desire to watch wedding shows, peruse Pinterest, and browse wedding websites. Let's be honest, I did the first two things before becoming engaged, but it's different now. It's real and I feel like I'm actually planning for an event instead of an idea.

Irritation at being asked, "Have you picked a date?". I'm trying to be patient and nice about this one. I understand it's a natural question that people don't even think about, but let's be serious. We literally just got engaged and although we have an idea of when we'd like to get married, we have done no planning and would just like to enjoy this engagement for a little while. 

I promise I'll post about something else... eventually. :)
Linking up with Shanna for Random Wednesday! 

Our Proposal Story

I'm so excited to share our proposal story today. I've tried to hit the highlights and already feel there are details I don't remember and some that I'd like to stay between the two of us. I'm sure Chris would have a different perspective and I'm going to see if I can get his side of the story up here in the near future. Enjoy!

October 26, 2013 was a beautiful, crisp, sunny Saturday. Chris suggested that we go on a hike to Sugarloaf Mountain, a nearby "mountain" (more like a hill, but the best that this side of Maryland has). We'd done this before and one of our favorite pictures together was taken there at the beginning of our relationship. We accidentally picked the harder trail, which I was fine with because I was in the mood for a work-out! Little did I know it would be much more than that.

We got to the top of the mountain and no one was around. Chris thought we should find the area we took the picture at before, and we agreed that we should take another picture just like it. I stood there peering out onto the beautiful land below, full of yellow and orange- a perfect October day. I turned around and Chris said a few words, unzipped his jacket pocket and pulled out a little black box. 

I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second. At first, I thought he was joking and then quickly realized this was real. He got down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me?" I was in shock. I realized I hadn't said anything, instead my eyes filled with tears, and I cried said "Yes!". In the moment, we weren't too sure which finger the ring went on which was hilarious, but we figured that out and of course I started crying more. 

After spending a few minutes at the top of the mountain taking everything in (and me shaking, crying and almost falling off a rock because that's how I roll), we decided to walk down the mountain. We must have had perfect timing because as we were leaving, tons of people started walking up. Chris knew that I didn't want to be proposed to in front of people, so having no one around during our special moment was perfect. I decided I should stop ugly crying so my face wouldn't look puffy for the rest of the day- a day that took a drastic turn I could have never expected. We made our way down the mountain and started making phone calls. 

Chris revealed that he'd been busy that week- although he had been looking for rings for months, if not a year, he finally found one earlier in the week. The jeweler happened to have everything in stock and was able to make the ring quickly. Chris picked up the ring on Friday and sneakily visited my dad to ask him permission to marry me. That part was so important to me and I couldn't be happier that Chris talked to my dad. I like "traditional" and my dad was so honored and happy.

After leaving the mountain, I decided my chipping, greige nail polish wasn't going to cut it (I would have gotten a manicure if I'd known, obviously!) so we went home to change clothes and my nail polish. We headed down to the jewelry store- Chris didn't get the ring sized because they can do it in a few minutes at the jeweler and wanted it to be the perfect size. The car ride consisted of more phone calls, at which point we'd called everyone we needed to. We stopped at Starbucks to get some much needed caffeine and then decided to update the inevitable Facebook status. We picked up the ring and headed over to see my parents- first, my Dad and Jake and then to my Mom. It was so much fun to share this excitement with them...I wouldn't trade those moments for the world and will remember them forever. Chris' parents then took us out to dinner to celebrate with lots of wine and Italian food. 

it's not really pink- that's the reflection of my phone case. I'll get better pictures soon!

I should also add that he picked a great location- not only can we go back to the mountain year after year, we can see the mountain from where we live. It was the perfect day. Neither of us slept that night... we were just so overwhelmed, excited and in a dream. I still feel like I'm in a dream and never want to wake up! Even though we've been dating almost 7 years, this just feels different. In an amazing way. I never would have understood this a couple weeks ago but if you're engaged/married, I'm sure you know what I mean. We're so excited to finally get married and can't wait for this new chapter to begin. 2014 is going to be a great year!

Engaged!

More details are coming soon, but I'm so excited to announce that Chris and I are engaged! 
I couldn't be happier and have been floating on a cloud the past couple days.

I can't wait to write out the full "story", I literally haven't even had time to sleep since Saturday. We are so excited for everything that's to come!

"You Don't Understand Yet"

Recently, someone asked if I was married. I replied, "No". Since this was someone I couldn't go into personal details with, I couldn't reply with my usual "No, but we've been dating almost 7 years, lived together 5 of those years" so I left it at that. To which the person tells me "you don't understand yet- you will when you get married".

Wait a minute. What don't I understand? It really got me thinking. Sure, we aren't married yet- I get that. There is a whole other level of commitment and I don't mean to devalue marriage in any way. But to assume I don't "understand it"? I'm not sure what that means. 

photo credit: Michael Maiatico

So, here's what I do understand.

I understand faithfulness and loyalty. 

I understand making my boyfriend a priority.

I understand the need for communication.

I understand compromise.

I understand caring for each other when one is sick.

I understand the balance of spending time together vs. spending time with others.

I understand the difficulties of managing several households on holidays.

I understand having inside jokes that no one else in the world would ever understand. 

I understand the desire to want to start a family with this person.

I understand wanting to be with this person for the rest of my life.

I understand being so mad at someone and loving them so much at the same time.

I understand what it's like to go through some of the most difficult times imaginable and have this person by my side, supporting me no matter what. I understand that I do the same for him.

I'm sure I (we) have a lot to learn. I know marriage will open up a whole new set of doors. 

But I would say that I think I understand pretty well.