The Proposal

Not the Sandra and Ryan movie. Although I do love that movie.

No, the proposal when B and S, decided to become B&S.

B asked if I wanted to go ice fishing at his parents lake house for the weekend.  I spent the drive down talking about how this guy at work just got engaged, and how some other woman had called B my husband that day I had to correct her and tell her he was my boyfriend.  He was being kind of quiet, but I didn't think much of it.

Once we trekked across the ice, in New England January temperatures, B suggested we take M outside to run around for a while before bed so that she would sleep better (she's always really hyper when we're down there).  Before we went outside, B asked his dad if the fire pit was on the point.  Which I thought was weird, because its usually right by the house.  We went outside and he loaded up my arms with logs and we took the quick walk down the trail to the point.  There were chairs set out, and it was all a little strange.

I rambled on about something random I'm sure and complained that I was cold, and tried to sit on his lap and get him to hug me.  After about a minute he told me to get up, I was hurting him (gee thanks...).  I sat in the other chair and he stood up.

"What are you doing?"  He reached into his pocket.

"What's wrong with you?"  He started to bend down... and I started laughing.

He then asked me to marry him, I punched him in the shoulder and told him he was a jerk.  And then said yes.

There were no tears - sorry - just an inappropriate amount of laughter from me.  He put the ring on my finger, we hugged, and decided we were way too cold and headed back inside to share the news with his parents.  And you know, where there was actual light so I could see the ring.

It was simple, out of the blue, and completely perfect.

There were three things that made it perfect for me. 1) He asked my parents permission. 2) I had no idea it was coming until seconds before.  3) He picked out the perfect ring.  And not in a materialistic way - but in the its something I would pick for myself way.

Also, please note, that when you are proposed to, you will have not adequately charged your cell phone.  I thought this was just me, but it's happened to two of my friends in the last few months as well.  For me, I got off a call to my parents, one friend, and a couple of text messages.

It's been two years, today, since that cold, amazing Friday night that cemented our future together.  I'm thankful everyday, even on the bad ones, that I get to spend the rest of my life with this man.

Happy Engagement Anniversary B. I love you.

Anniversary Adventure

We're not very traditional about some stuff.  We opted out of the common beach or island vacation for our honeymoon and went to Glacier National Park for a week, and then spent a week at a dude ranch, riding horses, hiking, etc. - and it was "wine week", so we drank *alot* of wine as well.

And it was awesome.

For our first anniversary, we decided not to go away or anything for the weekend, and stick around locally.  Our actual anniversary was Sunday the 5th, but Saturday we traveled about an hour away to the Nashoba Valley Winery.  For only seven bucks a piece, we got a tour, a souvenir glass, and 4 tastings during the tour, with two additional ones of our choice after.  If you're looking for a fun date, I suggest checking out a local winery.  We left only buying two bottles, but if it had been up to me, we would have bought a lot more :)

We finished up the day with dinner at a nice restaurant in our town (although we weren't overly impressed with service).

The next morning, on our actual anniversary, B woke up early, apparently to go finish up some shopping (men!). I was instructed I was not to leave the bedroom. Hmm...  eventually, I was able to exit the bedroom, and found this in the kitchen:

A dozen red roses, and yes, a Lightening McQueen toy car.

I won't call it our first date, but it was the first night we stayed up and talked until 3 in the morning, and Cars was on.  I always call it "our movie".  Life is a Highway (the Rascal Flatts version) from the movie was the song the wedding party walked into at our wedding.  So yea, it's like our thing.  Don't judge.  Anyway, on the back of Lightening McQueen was a note that instructed me to go to the basement and look under the stairs.

Now, I don't think I've shown you any recent pictures of our basement.  But let's just say, since the kitchen was redone, it quite literally looks like a bomb went off.  Wires, ceiling tiles, insulation, etc everywhere.  So, I wasn't thrilled to have to go in that room, but I did it.  Hiding down there under the stairs?

A brand spankin' new 32 inch flat screen LCD TV.

We've been talking about getting a TV for the bedroom for a long time.  So this was a very welcome surprise!  Which I'm lucky I even got.  See, Friday I was at work and went into the purse to grab something and pulled out a set of keys.  And then another one.  I had taken B's keys when I left for work.  Luckily he works from home on Fridays.  Unluckily, he had been planning to finish his shopping.  He ended getting to spend some quality time with my mom who took him to the store, so it all worked out :)

What did I get him, you ask?  Well, I'm a little more traditional - or at least tend to be more creative when I have a theme.  The traditional 1st wedding gift: paper.  The "modern" 1st wedding gift: clock.

I ordered custom made coasters with maps (paper!) of some important towns in our relationship: where we currently live, where we went to school (and met), where the wedding was held, and Glacier National Park where we went for the honeymoon.  I also got him a "hunting" watch that has things like sunrise and sunset, vital information for a hunter.

Eventually we hit the road and headed up north where we took a tram ride (kind of like a gondola, but bigger) up to the top of Canon Mountain - a place where we skied together in the first few months of our relationship.  It was early September but had still be summer-y out.  I had one a sweatshirt and shorts.  Well, it wasn't quite so summer-y at the top of the mountain.  More like something like 35 degrees.  And windy.

Oh well.  There was a great view, and it was a neat experience, as B had never been up the tram before.

We grabbed lunch at the top of the mountain - which was surprisingly tasty - and then headed to "The Flume" which is pretty much a big gorge with wooden walkways.  I can remember going when I was little, and reminded us of some of the incredible sights we saw in Glacier last year.  There was even a glacial boulder!

It was a fun little date day.  And course there was this giant moose in the gift shop area:

We got home mid afternoon and after taking a look at the corner of the bedroom, we decided it needed another addition.

So, we headed out to Lowe's, then Home Depot for some price comparisons, and ended purchasing ourselves a nice little electric fireplace for the corner of the bedroom.  A great way to spruce up the room while providing a better solution for the TV.  AND, its been really helpful in keeping the bedroom warm, without having to turn on the whole house heat.

We finished up the night with some, surprisingly really good, year old wedding cake and some delicious wine.

It was the perfect, not too expensive, first anniversary celebration.  The next day, which was Labor Day, we both had off and headed up to my grandparents lake house to see my Nana for her birthday which was a few days earlier, and help get the camp closed up for the summer.  When we got home, some friends stopped by for an impromptu BBQ.  I couldn't have imagined a better weekend.