June 22, 2013: The Loveliest of Days

I've struggled to write this post - I can't seem to get the words to sound right. How do you take this much happiness and fit it into a blogpost?

The answer is, you don't. But you try. Because it needs to be captured. It needs to be remembered. The story needs to be told. It deserves to be told. It's just too lovely to not be shared.

So, without further ado...

It all started about a month ago (May 27th), when we had this conversation on Facebook:

• The Boy: When do those coupons you have for that restaurant in Bentonville expire?
• Me: End of June. We should go soonish
• The Boy: How about June 22?  (or maybe the 21st, not sure, but that weekend). We might have a chance for a fancy date with some after dinner cocktails with some Washington big-wigs
• Me: Confused...
• The Boy: Matt will have some people he knows from work in and Mom offered her house for some cocktails and conversation that night...I figured it would be a good excuse to get fancy for the night...I plan on wearin' a suit so I look presentable
• Me: Ok, I have a fancy dress I haven't gotten to wear yet!

Fast-forward a month. On Friday, after an evening in with pizza and a movie, he suggested that we meet up at the Farmers' Market in Fayetteville the next morning - to kinda kick off our date day. Seeing as that's one of my favorite things in the world, I enthusiastically agreed.

And so began Saturday. We started at the market - Arsaga's coffee, fresh flowers, and popsicles. 

Then, we wandered campus for a bit searching for The Boy's name (it's not up yet) before heading back to my house. When lunchtime rolled around, we struggled to pick a place (as we always do), until he asked, "Where is your favorite place to eat in Fayetteville?"

Now, that should not have been an odd request, but, after a morning with my favorite things, lunch at my favorite place almost seemed like too much. I wondered for a minute, just a brief minute, if maybe he was planning something...special. I knew, however, that if he WERE planning something, that he'd invite Momma. So, just because I was curious, I decided to check Mom's Facebook to see what she was up to. One of her best friends had just tagged her at a restaurant in Memphis, so I realized I was probably reading into how nice he was being and he just wanted to make the day awesome. Typical. 

So, we had a lovely lunch followed by a little downtime at home until it was time to get ready for dinner. I got all spiffed up for date night and headed up to Bentonville to meet The Boy, who looked so nice in his suit. 

We had dinner at Petit Bistro in Bentonville (lovely, by the way), then headed over to his parents' place per the plan. When we got there, I noticed a few odd things (the old truck which never leaves the garage was outside, there was a beautifully decorated but oddly empty tent in the yard, and there wasn't a soul to be seen), but I put most of them off - assuming there were perfectly logical reasons for each one. The Boy parked the car and suggested we go check out this tent. 

When we got up there, I noticed that the table was laid out in an odd fashion for someone entertaining a bunch of strangers. There were flowers, and candles...and picture frames laying facedown. 

The Boy said something like "We should really put these frames up," and started to arrange them in a set. As he picked each one up, my brain began to register two different things:

1. These were photos of us. Just of us. That made no sense for the gathering I was still convinced we were attending. 
2. He was saying some really sweet things. Along the lines of "Remember all those times that you've asked me why I love you? And I didn't have just one answer? Well I still don't, and I know it's going to take time to show you. So, I was wondering, if you'd give me a lifetime to try"

Somewhere in there I realized what was going on, and I ended up crying and laughing and trying to listen all at the same time...and then I saw the ring and totally lost it. At some point (he assures me), I said yes, but all I remember was wanting to hug him and never let go. He put the ring on my finger, told me that it was from the 1890s and belonged to his grandmother, then he said, "and, if you'll turn around, there are a whole bunch of people back there who haven't gotten the chance to see it yet."

I remember squealing when I turned around - my parents were there, his parents were there, Little Brother & Sister (from Chattanooga) were there, his grandmother and my Papa and Tutu were there, and our pastor from church. Then I noticed his two best friends - one had a camera out already, the other was retrieving a video camera from where it was hidden (in a plant in the tent). 

The next few minutes all happened kinda fast - there were hugs, and tears, and laughs, and ooohs over the ring. Then there were champagne and toasts and the prettiest chocolate cake you've seen in a long time. 

We spent the next few hours just enjoying each other - sipping champagne and listening to the sweet playlist that he created for the event. It was such a blessing to have my whole family there and the evening was perfect. Everything I could have asked for and more. 

I'm so incredibly blessed to have this sweet man in my life. I don't know what convinced him to make that a permanent situation, but y'all, I'm kinda glad he did. 

I get to marry the man of my dreams, and I couldn't be happier.