As most of you know...Paul proposed on 9/1! :)
I won't go into the sappy details of how excited we are...you assumed that...we're engaged.
What I will tell you is how he pulled off a really great surprise proposal!
{he did the ring shopping all on his own...no help from me...and I couldn't be happier with what he chose}
We were supposed to go on a double date with his friend Ryan Moore on Thursday night and then to the Cape with Laura, Andrew, and Ryan & Maura Lia. None of that happened. I got stuck in traffic that night and was complaining to him..basically went on a rant the entire drive home..so we had to push back the reservation - nice - complaining the night of my engagement. Then Ryan wound up "backing out" of the date as planned by Paul...and we were left with a reservation for just the two of us at Sonsie on Newbury St. - which is the location of our very first date in Boston almost 2 years ago.
We finished a completely normal dinner and walked down Newbury into the Boston Public Garden where he suggested we sit on an empty bench. As we looked over the pond in front of us, I began yapping about how I would never want to be a fish?!?! (don't know where I came up with that one)..all the while he had the ring in his back pocket and was about to propose! I eventually shut up and realzied there was a guy playing a guitar on the bridge..what nice background music I thought...and almost as if on cue... he pulled out a small, round, gold container... a pyx (pictured below - holds communion) that was given to him in college by a mentor. As soon as I saw the little "box" in front of me I had a hard time focusing on anything else...including what he was saying. I managed to hear that this was something he kept very special items in, including a gold necklace from his mom from Italy, and a silver dollar from his great grandmother... However, he told me that he actually had something much more special in it at the moment. He opened up the pyx and sitting inside was a beautiful ring! He slid down off the bench, got on one knee, and proposed...and I said Yes! :)
{I asked someone walking by to take our picture...}
{our very first pic after getting engaged - sent this to our close friends and family - although all of them already knew!}
Above is a picture of the park we were engaged in (as well as the pyx)... He wrote a note in it and signed it "your fiance" and had it waiting for us in our hotel room that he reserved for the night, along with flowers, champagne and flight tickets home to Atlanta for the Weekend!! He is planner if you can't tell.
{our amazing room at the Woodward at the Ames Hotel - our friend Uzay really hooked Paul up!}
{very dramatic windows}
{we celebrated back at the room with champagne and phone calls to our parents!}
As I mentioned above, he surprised me again by flying us home to ATL for the weekend. We were picked up by my brothers and cousins and drove to Auburn Friday night for the opening home game on Saturday! We spent the rest of the 3 day weekend in GA, which included church, wakeboarding, and a small BBQ engagement party at my house with my extended family and friends. They have all known for a few weeks!
{war eagle}
{my dog Shadow couldn't have been happier on this jeep ride with Paul and Evan}
{it was a little overcast but we managed to get out on the lake for a couple hours}
{he's getting pretty good!}
{on Monday we overindulged on Chick-fil-A breakfast!! - he had THREE chicken,egg,&cheese biscuits!}
Perfect proposal, perfect weekend, with the perfect man for me! We couldn't be happier and we are so thankful that our family and friends are just as happy - the support means so much to us!