Nathan went on a trip to see his brother on the East coast so I hadn't seen him for about a week and a half and I was excited to go over to his mom's house. His mom was visiting his sister, so it was just him and me in the house. It was also crazy hot, in the low nineties for May and so I tried to dress for the weather wearing a random pair of shorts and an Ariel t-shirt with some tennis shoes for the walk he promised we could go on. Basically - I wasn't feeling dressed up or anything to go see him. I dressed to be comfortable and looked forward to seeing him and getting some snuggles while watching a movie or something. I brought down a half and half Papa Murphy pizza with both our favorites (cheese and veggie ultimate) and some cinnamon breadsticks. Then after our walk to burn off our pizza calories we could curl up to watch a movie.
When I got there I was so excited to see him I ended up talking his ear off (he knew it was coming!) so we curled up on the couch and I just started telling him about my week. Then he said, "Oh! A friend of mine sent me something and I printed it off to show it to you." So I said okay and he handed me a stack of stapled pages, about 34, titled "True Love" by Robert McKanney. It began by saying "Since the beginning of time, there have been many great couples in this world," and the following pages had a pictures of couples from the Jane Austen films, Disney couples, couples from musicals and Westley and Buttercup, and last of all my 2 favorites Aragorn and Arwen, and Sam and Rosie from Lord of the Rings. (Meanwhile, I wasn't catching on to what was going on until halfway through the Disney characters, roughly half way through the couples!) Then the next page said there was one couple not as well known in the world, but loved by some and followed with pictures of me and Nate. By now what was happening was obvious and my heart was definitely pounding. Then the booklet stated, "all but one of these couples lived happily ever after, The one couple can change all that....." then with 4 pages of hearts to extend my suspense I got to the final page that said, "Natalie, I have a question to ask you." Nathan had been sitting right next to me as I turned the pages and commented on the couples as I read their names, but now he moved to grab a hidden box on the side table right next to where he sat on the couch and moved to bend on one knee and presented me with a beautiful sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds and asked me to be his wife! I was not expecting this today! In a daze, I told him yes and he put the ring on my finger and I kissed him. I just stood there letting him hold me and kiss my head while I absorbed what just happened. It was the sweetest, and perfect moment that he planned so wonderfully for us. We snapped the cutest photo showing my joy and surprise and Nathan's happiness. We're so stinking adorable.
At the same time. I was definitely overwhelmed and asked him if we could take our walk then. I needed time for processing, time to talk about what next! We walked for an hour on a trail close to his mom's house before coming back to the house to start cooking pizza and letting family members know the good news! Telling people was actually causing me anxiety too, because in your 30's people tend to get more excited when these things happen then when it happens in your 20's, so I had him call his family first. They were very happy and his sister-in-law Nicole squealed and requested to be my Facebook friend immediately. Then we called my family and my niece Aubrey (who is 3) did not understand what was going on, but on the video chat when I showed my ring she made her mom show me hers. haha! My sister Becki didn't answer immediately but she called me right back saying she was so sorry she missed my call because she was pooping... what can you do?! hahahaha. I also made sure I called my best friend Alisa who I've missed seeing during quarantine. Last of all, I asked Nathan if we could wait to post the announcement online until the next day so I could also tell my friend Ashley in person since we had already planned a safe social distancing lunch. Ashley Garrett had the best reaction of all and was worth the wait. The minute she walked in the office door to meet me I said hi and then held up my hand and promptly announced, "I got engaged last night!" She nearly screamed, "WHAT?!?" and didn't believe me until I showed her the ring up close and told her all about how he proposed! She was very glad she met me at the office and not the restaurant so that she didn't embarrass herself in front of a bunch of people. She also took it upon herself to then email my co-workers to announce the news while I made the announcement live on Facebook.
Needless to say, people are really excited for us!! Between Nathan's and my friends, we've had over 140 comments and 300+ likes between the post with photos and the "life event" status change. It's been great to see such an outpouring of love during such trying times. (Not only have we had the COVID-19 virus affecting our lives since March, but just a day after our engagement an upsetting event from racist police actions happened spurring riots around the country.) Life has been hard, emotional, and financially straining. But there is still good in the world. And it's worth fighting for. (Sam Gamgee)
Meanwhile, I'm going to sit here and continue to stare in awe at Nathan's perfect choice for my vintage-styled and gorgeously unique ring. It reminds me of Kate Middleton's so I really am a princess now.
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