The Story of How I Got Engaged

Once Upon A Time...
Okay, I'm going to skip part about how our first date was on Valentine's Day...and how he was perfect for me...and all those others things. Skipping.

As a foreword, I suck at surprises. I absolutely love them, but if I get wind of them, imma try my absolute hardest to figure out. I'm relentless. (You can talk to me about my patience issues later.)

Monday. Mistake #1: Ben was telling me that he had yet to do his homework like he said he was going to do. He let it slip out, "If it makes you feel any better, I was doing something important!" This meant one of two things. He either A) paid for the ring or B) picked up the ring. Mistake #2: He informed me that he went ring shopping without me after we went. I obviously assumed that this meant he was picking up the ring. (I was wrong.) Mistake #3: I couldn't find my phone, so I used Ben's phone to call it. And look at that, he'd talked to my dad that day (AKA he had already asked permission).



Tuesday. Ben was busy with homework. Saw him briefly.

Wednesday. Ben had school and his internship. Didn't get home until 9. I knew tonight was not the night.

Thursday. The greatly anticipated Thursday. I thought he didn't have work, and I really thought he had the ring (which, apparently, he did at this point--but he had only picked it up on his way back from work). However, come 7:00, he messages me telling me that he was going to be busy writing a paper. Was this a trick? No, It's not his style. He REALLY wasn't going to see me. Okay, when you're dealing with a girl, her assuming she's going to see the guy she cares about and then realizing she's not going to is usually enough to piss her off. Now let's just add on top of that hoped expectations of a proposal. AKA I was livid. Ironic, right? I'm mad at Ben for being busy writing a paper (and thus not being able to see me) on the day he picked up the ring. But bless his heart, he ended up coming over anyway to appease me. Mistake #4: As I went into my room to get something, he HAD to show my roommate the picture of the ring and give her an idea as to when he was going to propose. He leaves, I was pacified UNTIL I decide I'm angry that he hasn't proposed yet. I was getting restless. My roommate, trying to pacify me, explains to me that he already has the ring and is planning on proposing soon. This makes it worse.

Friday. I wake up again thinking, "Today could be the day, but it's probably going to be Saturday because he has most of the day free." I get to spend lots of time with him Friday night, but no proposal. You guys don't understand. I'm not a patient person. At this point, I really didn't give a hoot's holler if it was fancy shmancy. I WANTED HIM TO PROPOSE, DANG IT. So I again was complaining about my grievances to my roommate. Again, trying to console me, she finally gives in and tells me she thinks he's going to propose on Sunday. I. Was. Livid. Why? Because I had been dead set on Saturday...since about Thursday night. "Why Sunday?" I asked repeatedly. It didn't make sense in my head. WHO GETS ENGAGED ON A SUNDAY?!? The only thing that helped was my other roommate telling me, "Well, in my head, it makes sense, because that's when you guys first met." (Actually, we had talked briefly on other occasions, but that was the first REAL time...that I remember. Not that I'm admitting to the fact that I can't remember my first long conversation that took place between us in my apt in December. That would be rude.)

Saturday. Ben comes over, and he knows something is off. I had been trying to keep the whole I've-been-angry-with-you-since-Thursday-because-you-haven't-proposed-yet thing to myself. You know, because it's a little bit in the irrational arena. But I decided to tell him. And MAN it made me feel better to get that off my chest. And he also was relieved because he realized that the reason why it seemed like he couldn't do anything right that morning wasn't because he'd unknowingly done something wrong. It was just...me being impatient. That night, we went on a walk. He stopped for a second. He told me of a scene from The Office where (around the time that Jim is going to propose to Pam) he gets on one knee. However, he asks Pam to hold something while he ties his shoe. He reassures me that had he not been wearing sandals, he would have done the same thing to me. -_-
Mistake #5--this time it was my bad. ALLLLL week (and when I say all week, really just since Thursday) I'd been keeping my schedule clear in case he wanted to propose. But then I got the reminder on my phone that Sunday was my friend Caleb's homecoming talk.

Sunday. We get up and go to Caleb's church at 11:00. Except we sort of got lost and were late. But we didn't miss his talk, dang it! Anyway, about 1:00 we go to Caleb's house for food because I'm hungry. We chat, wait for the food to be ready...and man, have you guys ever had British...never-mind, I can't remember the name. Lesson learned: British people cook yummy foods that promote gorging yourself. Around 4:30, Ben asks me if I'm hungry. And of course I'm not. Here's where mistake #5 comes into play: Ben's idea was to have his roommates set up a picnic for us at a park that we often walk to. Congratulations to me for ruining his plans. He debated whether he should wait to do it, seeing as he already had gotten all the stuff for it...including these beautiful flowers:

However, he decided he wanted to do it that day. So he nonchalantly directs us to an empty park. Being the classy lady I am, I inform him that I have to pee. I enter the not-so-kept-up bathroom while I hear Ben asking me, "Is it dirty?" "Do you have soap?" Little did I know, he was just making sure I'd actually decide it was ok enough for me to use so that he could run back to his car and grab the ring. And so that I wouldn't see the box shape bulge in his pocket, he kept his hand in there, too. Which, I totally didn't notice. So we walk around and tells me how amazing I am. Which, you'd think I'd realize that meant he was going to propose. But it's hard telling, because Ben's the kind of guy who isn't afraid to be honest and sweet to me. Not because he's try to woo me, but because he really means it and wants to share it with me.

However, at a certain point, as he hugged me, I could have sworn his heartbeat accelerated. But I thought, "Well, maybe I'm imagining things." But then, he begins his sentence with this, "So, that being said...I have a question for you."

He gets down on one knee.

Me: Are you pretending to tie your shoe?!?!?!?

Ben: Will you marry me?

Me: I'm pretty sure I said yes. But I DO remember that I started crying. Me. I felt like such a retard. I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm crying." But I was.

So it was great. Just me and Ben. By ourselves. No phones, cameras, people. Just us.

:)