Cue sappy post here....
Many of you have known me for years and know that this happened in God's perfect timing. I believe that everyone has to walk their own journey and go through their own experiences to truly appreciate where the road might lead them in the future. Aaron and I found each other (at the dog park) exactly when we were supposed to.
THE ENGAGEMENT
I honestly had no idea this was coming. Sure we had conversations about the future and we both just knew. I knew in my heart it would happen when it was supposed to, so I wasn't stressed out about the when. I knew Aaron would do it when he was ready. We had long-standing plans to visit my family in California over Memorial Day weekend. We had the Clif Mountains to the Beach Half Marathon to run (more on that to come). This had been on our schedules for awhile, so I honestly didn't think much of it. We flew into LA Thursday evening.
Friday was a free day for us. We got up, chatted with my dad for a few and decided to explore. It was a million degrees cooler in California, so we decided to spend some time near the water. We went to the Ventura Harbor and walked around the shops for a bit. Ate lunch at Andria's Seafood (best clam chowder bowls) and made our way to the beach for a bit. By that time, it was time to go meet my mom to pick our race packets up. We headed that way, picked our packets up and drove the race course and were done for the day.
Saturday, Aaron and I made the drive up to Santa Barbara. He had never been- and everyone needs to experience Santa Barbara at least once in their lifetime. We walked around State Street and did some shopping for a large majority of the day, and grabbed a bite to eat at Paxty's Pizza before we left- so yummy! Then, we made the drive home to carb load with my family (grandma and uncle and cousin included) to prepare for the race the next day.
THE RACE
I'll go into more detail about this race in a different post. But long story short, it was a point to point half marathon and I got a PR. The weather and the views were gorgeous. You literally start the race (very very verrrrry early in the morning - but more on that later) in the mountains of Ojai and you run down to the beach. Gorgeous view and great run.
Needless to say, after a 4 a.m. wakeup call and 6:30 a.m. start time- I was exhausted. We got back to the house to nap!
THE PROPOSAL
My parents were grilling out for the last dinner before we flew back to Texas. It was delish, after dinner, I was still exhausted, but Aaron insisted on seeing the beach one last time before we headed back. I really didn't want to go (hello- I was tired), but I pulled it together and we headed out.
We went back to Ventura Beach and walked along the water for about an hour. We saw some
THE BLING
I mean, let's be honest, this girl loves her some bling. But this isn't just any old bling, this is THE bling, and Aaron did good. He was so sneaky. He took a few rings from my bedroom to take to the jeweler for sizing and had them in his possession for several days before returning them. I did not notice a single one was missing. for SEVERAL days. But that is neither here nor there, and I pay much better attention to my bling.
His friend referred him to his family jeweler several months ago, which is when the process started. Over the course of several months, Aaron showed him pictures of some of my go-to pieces so the jeweler would have an idea of my taste. Aaron also sketched a photo of what he had in mind, and they went from there.
They had several diamonds flown in from Antwerp, so Aaron could hand-pick which stone he wanted in the ring. The end result is perfect. It's special to me because he went through so much effort to make it perfect.
So, in case you haven't seen it already- here is picture of the goods:
THE BACK STORY
My parents had known he was going to propose since March- they just didn't know when. Aaron flew to California on a business trip and mentioned he might see my family if he had a chance. He said he talked to my dad before he flew out and he would try to make it up to see them if his flight got in early enough. That night, I called my mom and she said that Aaron was going over for dinner. I didn't think much of it, but that turned out to be the night he asked. So my parents were holding onto a pretty big secret for awhile.
Apparently there were other secret-keepers. He told Kim's brother David that he had the ring. Risky- since Kim is one of my besties. And he showed the ring to several other people. Turns out- since it was Memorial Day Weekend, Kim and David were both at their parent's house- and David mentioned Aaron had the ring...... quite a shocker for Kim I'm sure :) So when I called Kim at the airport Monday morning to spill the news- she wasn't surprised at all!
He didn't tell anyone he was going to do it- not any of our friends - or our parents- he didn't want to risk the word getting out.
WHAT'S NEXT?
We are both so excited and have enjoyed these past couple of months. We don't have a date picked out and are narrowing down a location - or two! The most important thing for the two of us is that we enjoy the process and that everyone around us enjoys the process. We don't want to get so caught up in the details - that we lose sight of the marriage (but the details will be fun as well). I'll check back in and more things are decided. Let the planning begin!
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