I'm Engaged!

How does that commercial go? "Life comes at you fast." It is so true. One day you're thinking you'll spend the rest of your life alone and watching reruns of The Simpson's while playing the latest installment of Halo (which isn't even close to a bad fate mind you), and the next your engaged to be married to the girl of your dreams. Amazing how that happens.

Let me back up a bit. Nearly 2 years ago I posted about the most amazing girl. Well, I didn't say exactly that at the time because I didn't want to get my hopes up. I was feeling down because she was moving to NYC, and I assumed I'd never see her again. Luckily for me, that wasn't the case. As you know, we dated long distance for 15 months, having all sorts of adventures up and down the east coast including trips to Maine, New Jersey, Philly, Florida (it counts as east coast right?), as well as a trips to Chicago, San Fransisco, and such exotic destinations as Des Moines, Omaha, and Wichita.

This past December she moved back to the Twin Cities and we finally had a chance to date locally. It was strange how similar it was in someways, and how different it was in others. Similar in that we were both the same people, and did and reacted to the stuff in the same way as before, but different in that we were actually able to spend time together! Yes, a novel concept. We started a 12 week pre-marital class at church to encourage conversation on various topics and call out issues we may not have seen previously, it proved to be very helpful in both getting us ready for the next step and setting more accurate expectations of each other.

Then, the proposal. That seems to be what everyone wants to know so I'll jump into that now. I had been planning to propose since the end of December, but due to the living hell that is known as ring shopping, I didn't have a ring in hand until April 12th. We were planning to celebrate the end of busy season for her and the end of the semester for me with a trip to Duluth on April 13th. Unfortunately, due to schedules out of our control, we had to reschedule for the next weekend. I played it as cool as I could, trying not to let on that I was planning the biggest moment of our lives for that date and it was killing me to reschedule.

I consulted with my uncle, a huge fan and frequent visitor of the north shore on Lake Superior, to see what options he could think of for an amazing scenic view. He recommended Corundum Point, a place he considered to be one of if not the best bluffs overlooking the lake.

We drove to the head of the trail and with lunch in our backpacks and a ring in my coat pocket started hiking. You can see our route here. It was already 12:30 when we started hiking, so we were a bit hungry. She offered to eat lunch a few minutes into our hike, but I insisted we wait until we reached the point. I think she found that a bit weird, but probably figured weird behavior was expected from me anyway. We reached the point after about 40 minutes and I pulled out of my backpack stuff to make a fire and the fixings for smores, and she pulled out the lunch she made for us. We had finished our lunch and smores up there and were enjoying the spectacular view (my uncle was right about the view!), when I started in on some "lovey-dovey" talk, got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. She was very surprised and the happiest I've ever seen her! It was a great moment. I pulled a bottle of champagne out of my backpack alone with some champagne flutes and we toasted to the start of our life together.

Here it is in her words:

"I got engaged! David proposed this weekend in Duluth. He had planned a weekend for us to go hiking and celebrate end of busy season/MBA semester. We had been hiking for about 40 mins, when we stopped for lunch at this point on these rocks high about lake Superior. We ate our lunch and he had stuff for a fire and smores. Then, he of course gave this beautiful wonderful cheesy talk and got on one knee and proposed with the ring. Of course I said yes and cried. I was very surprised. Then, he had brought a bottle of champagne and champagne flutes and we had a toast. It was perfect. The only thing was that it was a bit chilly and windy and so I was wearing a hood! I can't believe I was proposed to while wearing a hood. I know we'd been talking about getting married and it was just a matter of time, but I was still very surprised and it doesn't seem real yet. I can't believe I have to plan a wedding. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Not sure on a date, we'll keep you posted."

There you have it. My big news! Now I get to savor all the joys of wedding planning!

Finally, I've had a few requests to see the ring, so here it is: