Engagement Celebrations

Now that you've heard our engagement story, it's time to inform you about the rest of our amazing day!

After embracing the moment at the Arboretum, we headed back to take showers and get ready for family time! The Franklin's drove over from Georgia as a wonderful surprise! We met them back at the Arboretum to reenact the moment. Katie took fantastic pictures of us (check out the previous post to see them). She is SO talented!

Matt's Family

I will have 4 new sisters!! : )

We also enjoyed lunch at McAlister's before I headed to work for a few hours. After the swimming and diving meet, Matt and I drove to Pratville to meet my family for dinner at Outback.

My Family

My (little) Brother

It was such a sweet time of many laughs, retelling the story and hearing my dad retell the story of Matt asking for my hand in marriage. Here is a picture from that day (October 28, 2011):

Matt and I have been taking ballroom dancing lessons for the past few months. So far, we know the waltz, the rumba and the swing. When we got back from Pratville, we attended a Halloween (and our first) Ball. We dressed as Woody and Jesse from Toy Story.

(I know, he's so darn cute!!)

Matt and I are blessed with such wonderful friends who threw an engagement party for us on Monday night. Thank you to the Sisco's for hosting this party and to everyone else who graciously made delicious soups and sides!!

Some of the most wonderful girls you will ever meet!

The whole group

At work today, my wonderful interns, Caitlin and Aimee surprised me with my first wedding presents!! I was SO excited! You girls are FANTASTIC!

To everyone who has celebrated with us thus far, thank you for your support and love during this very exciting time in our lives. We love all of you!!

Matt Put a Ring on It! : )

Oh my goodness. How do I even begin to describe what happened yesterday? Let’s start with the story:

Matt and I planned to go running at the Arboretum on Saturday (yesterday- October 29 to be exact)) at 7 a.m. I set my alarm clock for 6:40 to have time to change into my running clothes, brush my teeth and be ready for a great workout with my Mr. Wonderful. At 6:15 a.m. my phone rings, and Matt informs me he is at my door and about to cook me chocolate chip pancakes (My FAV breakfast). I was so darn excited. He has surprised me a few times before with breakfast (I know ladies, he’s a stud!)

Side note: We have this thing where Matt asks me “Guess what?”. Of course I answer “What?”, and he replies with “I love you”. He did this several times over breakfast, so I started answering his “Guess what?” with “I love you!”. Remember this! It will play into the story later.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast, we headed to the Arboretum. We began running around the cross-country path, just chatting and making conversation. Matt then started telling me how he was reading about the fruits of the spirit in Galatians. He begins naming each fruit and telling me how I exemplify that trait. Now he always says such sweet things about me that I still had NO clue what was coming.

I see a lake to our right and suggest that we run around the lake. Little did I know that I was helping him, as this was his plan all along. By the time he was finished naming the fruits of the spirit, we made it to a landing by the lake. Matt stepped in front of me and “presented” himself, which is how a man asks a lady to dance in ballroom dancing, (He is SO darn cute when he presents himself. You should ask him to demonstrate J) I accept the invitation and we begin dancing. He spins me around and then says “Guess what?” (remember the side note?). I quickly answer “You love me!!”. At this point, he says “And….”, gets down on one knee and pops the questions “Will you marry me?”

My first words: “No! Are you kidding me?? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Are you serious??”. Of course, I quickly follow that with “Absolutely! Absolutely!” I believe at this point I have already bent down on my knees to squeeze him like crazy. We stand back up and he pulls the ring (aka ridiculously massive rock) out of his pocket.

Side note (again): I ALWAYS wear a ring on my left hand ring finger. Matt has always said that I better not have a ring on when he proposes. I always assured him that I would know when he was about to propose and would remove the current ring on my finger.

Well, my Mr. Wonderful surprised the heck out of me, and I was too in shock to even think about me having a ring on, much less that I should remove it. So Matt had to say “You better get that ring off your finger!”. Of course, I shockingly removed it from my hand, and he replaced it with my gorgeous engagement ring.

Now, the story of how he hid the ring. Conveniently I helped Matt out again with the proposal, unbeknownst to me. (Your welcome, Matt) It was freezing that morning, so I suggested he wear his white jacket running. Well, that is exactly where he hid the ring.

So now I am officially engaged to the love of my life. The wedding planning begins…..NOW!