2-15-03

Five years ago today, was such a happy day.  It was our engagement day!  After dating for about a year and a half, most of which was long distance, Ryan shocked the fire out of me.  We definitely knew we wanted to get married, but I was so convinced that he wasn't going to propose until after I graduated from college.  In fact, about a week or so before the proposal, I whined about how I was so sure that I was going to anticipate it.  I was completely convinced that he hadn't yet asked my parents or bought a ring,  he had long since done both.  He assured me that everything was under control, but to not ask too many questions about things.  So, I tried my best to hold my tongue.  Luckily I didn't have to wait too long.  Ryan always said how cheesy it is for people to propose on Valentine's Day.  So it completely threw me off for him to propose the day AFTER V-day.   Here's how the day went:  Ryan told me that we were going to go have lunch with some of our friends.  I was supposed to meet Ryan and our friends at the church where we met.  (It was also the church where our friend Cole still worked, so it didn't seem weird to me at all.)  Ryan called me on my to the church and said he wanted to show me something in the sanctuary when I got there.  (Again, didn't expect anything, because I knew the church had been building stuff.)  I arrived at the church late because I didn't realize we were on such an important schedule.  Ryan immediately whisked me into the sanctuary where it took me a few minutes to see what it was he wanted to show me.  My eyes were looking up rather than straight ahead.  Down the aisle in the sanctuary, Ryan had a runner with rose petals scattered on it.  At the end of the runner was a table with candles.  From the back of the aisle, we walked and along the way I picked up 5 letters he had written to me.  These letters were titled "Top Memories of Ryan and Haley".  The first letter described our first date and how much fun we had.  Then went through my 7 week trip to Africa a year into our relationship.  The very last letter said, "Memory 1: Our Engagement".  The whole time, I was thinking "Don't get your hopes up,"  over and over again.  But by the time I got to letter number 1, I was pretty confident that this was the moment I'd been waiting "patiently" for.  After I read the last letter,  Ryan dropped to his knee and asked if I would marry him.  I kept saying, "Are you serious?  Are you serious?"  Apparently, it took me a little while to say yes.

Well, I turned around and saw our friends that we'd planned to have lunch with.  I still thought we were going to lunch, but Ryan told me that they had someplace to be and so did we.  I wasn't thinking about anything other than, "I need a phone!"  So we got in Ryan's car and he told me we were going to his cousin's house because she was the closest family and she wanted to see us.  I spent most of the car ride calling or trying to call people, but no one seemed to be home.  We get to his cousin's house and the door opens and most of the people that I love were standing there.  I did a little dance and almost started crying again.  No one was answering their phones because no one wanted me to know where they were.  Everyone laughed that they knew when the proposal happened because a series of cell phones started ringing.  It was the greatest surprise!  And the ring was awesome!!  :)   The guy isn't so bad either.  Ryan, if you're reading this, know that 2-15-03 was one of my top memories ever.  Thank you for taking the time and energy to make it so special for me.  I won the greatest gift in you.  

I don't have any pictures to upload of that day, but just imagine a lot of smiling.  :)