The Proposal...

The subject of getting married has come up quite a bit. After being together for quite some time, he would always tell me that he knew he wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together. So, I've known for a while now that "this was it". He has also always known that I would like for him to ask my dad for his blessing before he ever asks me to marry him. I've never been that "old fashioned", but I just feel like it's really respectful and I knew my daddy would appreciate the gesture. I knew that he would know that Chop was serious and that he wasn't taking it lightly, if he talked to him about it first. I told him that when the day comes, that I don't want to even have a CLUE that he is about to talk to dad, because I don't want to be a bundle of nerves the whole time they were having their talk. So, those were the only two things I ever asked of him.

In November, we decided to start our Christmas shopping. Our friend Rachel went with us. While we were at the mall, Chop asked if I wanted to go inside a jewelry store or two so that I could just show him what types of rings I liked. I was having all sorts of hot-flashes while trying a few on, because the thought of him ever spending that much money on a piece of jewelry, stressed me out. He kept asking me if I liked this and if I liked that...I just told him I didn't care; that they were all pretty and sparkly and that he didn't need to be spending an arm and a leg on me.

That was the last it was talked about. Fast forward to Christmas morning.

Chop got off work that morning and headed straight to my house. Our plans were to spend the first half of the day with my family and the second half with his. So, he got to my house and we did our exchanging and opening of the presents. Once we were done, I was the only person that hadn't had a shower yet and gotten ready to go to my Granny and Pop's house. Chop and my dad kept having to tell me to go get ready, because I was procrastinating and continued to just sit on the couch. Finally, I got up to get a shower. I got out and put my clothes on and walked to the living room and the only person I could see was mom. I asked her where Chop and dad were and she said that they were outside. As soon as she said that, I started freaking out in my head, wondering if he was having THE TALK with dad. I reacted exactly how I knew I would if I had known about it ahead of time and I almost started to cry in my room. About 10 minutes after that, I heard dad and Chop back in the house...so, I walked into the living room. I was looking around to see if I noticed anybody acting differently, because I was just SURE I would be able to tell. I didn't notice any awkward glances, nobody seeming uncomfortable, no tears, no black eyes...so, I figured that they were just outside helping put something together.

We spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon and my grandparent's house and then we head to his parent's house. Right before we opened presents, Chop and his brother Jason, had to run to Chop's house so he could grab his dad's last Christmas present that they hid there. They got back about 10 minutes later and we opened all the presents. After that, I was holding his baby niece Addyson so that Chelsea (his sister-in-law) could have her hands free and eat. Everybody kept telling me to get me something to eat, but I was just fine sitting there playing with Addy. I had my back to everyone else.

Well, Chelsea finished eating and came to get Addy from me and told me to get my butt in the kitchen and get some food. So, I stand up and I get to where the kitchen and living room meet and Chop says, "Ummm...I forgot to give you your last Christmas present." I just said, "Oh! Okay!" and didn't think anything of it. Next thing I know, he is saying something that makes NO SENSE...about our dogs being dysfunctional (One is deaf and the other has bad eye problems). I was thinking that he was going to surprise me with another pet...LOL! But, then his eyes started to tear up and he was choking up and he took a step back and took a deep breath and stopped what he was already saying. Then, he reaches into his pocket and gets down on his knee and, while smiling and crying at the same time, says, "I was wanting to know if you would marry me..." I put my hand over my mouth in shock and started bawling my eyes out and hugged him and said "well, YES!!" Then, for some stupid reason, I asked him if he was serious and what our dogs had to do with it. Then, he said that he had planned on saying that he wanted to OFFICIALLY give our dysfunctional dogs a mommy...but that he couldn't get it all out and just decided to stick to the basics. His whole family was crying (and his mom snapped pictures without me knowing it) and they all hugged me and welcomed me to the family and told me that they loved me.

I had never thought I would want to be asked in front of a bunch of people, because I get embarrassed crying in front of people. But, I'm actually glad that he asked me the way that he did. His family got to experience it with him and it kind of fit them into the puzzle. Bride's tend to get a lot of the attention because they are the one's that usually do most of the planning. So, it was nice for him and his family to have a little piece of it to remember...if that makes sense. I also liked that not even HE knew he was going to ask me to marry him...

You see, my feeling was right, when he was at my house. He WAS asking my dad for his blessing. He said that everything they talked about was between him and my dad, but that it went well and it was a lot easier than he had imagined it would be. Once their talk was over, dad shook his hand and welcomed him to the family. But, it went so well, that when I was looking for any clue that they had talked, nothing showed on their faces because nobody was upset. He said after he got asking my dad out of the way, that the ring felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket and that he just could wait another week, until we were on vacation, to do it. He said he had to do it THAT DAY. He didn't know, until he started saying the words outloud, that it was going to be even harder than talking to my dad was. When he and Jason had gone to get something from the house, that's when he told Jason that he thought he was going to just do it that night. So, Jason is the only one who had a clue it was going to happen when they got back. So, right before he asked me and I wasn't paying attention because I was focused on Addy...he winked at his brother and mouthed to him that he was about to do it. His mom caught on and mouthed back to him to hang on until she could grab the camera. All the while, I was totally oblivious to the fact that it was all going on behind my back. Then, the rest of the story...you know.

So, it makes me feel really good that he was so excited and nervous about it that he just couldn't wait. That might be my favorite part of all. That, and the fact that I have NEVER seen him cry. He isn't one of those "tough guys" that show no emotion at all, but he definitely doesn't cry. So, the fact that he did...showed me just how much it meant to him.