W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 9-Special Edition!)

Welcome to another edition of Wayback Wednesday! This series is made up of old blog posts from a few years ago. If you'd like to, you can catch up by reading previous editions first. In honor of MusicMan's and my upcoming wedding anniversary, we're going to jump way ahead to May 25, 2007, for today's edition so that I can tell you about how we became engaged!

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Friday, May 25 (two days after my 29th birthday), had been a normal day.  When I got home, I started packing my weekend bag as I waited for MusicMan to call.  MusicMan had been a little "off" all week--tired, kind of preoccupied, etc.--so I hoped that he'd be in higher spirits because of the arrival of the long weekend...Finally time for him to rest and relax; work has been really busy/stressful for him.

MusicMan called at around 6.  We decided we'd head to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.  When I arrived at his place, I was super happy to see that he was in a much better mood than he had been the past couple days.  He greeted me by tackling me on the bed and giving me a giant hug.  I kissed him hello and we headed out to dinner.

After we ate, as MusicMan was signing the credit card receipt, he said, "I'm getting so sick of my signature today.  I spent all afternoon signing employee timecards!"  I don't know what possessed me to own up to it, but I told him that I had been bored in meetings earlier in the day and had entertained myself by practicing my signature with his last name.  He said, "What?  Really?  Why?"  I told him to forget about it; that I had just broken a major "girl code" by telling him what I’d done.

He said, "Gosh!!!  I'm getting pressure from my mom and my grandma, your mom and your grandma...even your TIVO!!!"  (The Tivo has been recording lots of wedding related shows lately, and I have no idea why.)  I said, "Well, you know, we've talked about it, and I know it's going to happen someday…I'm in no rush.  I just was bored and thought it would be fun to start 'practicing' my future signature."  We talked a little bit about what it would be like when we finally do get engaged--our moms will cry, people will be surprised/excited, etc.  We headed out of the restaurant and decided to go for a ride on the bike.  It had been so long since we'd ridden together, and it was really nice out, so I was super excited to be on the back of the bike.

MusicMan asked where we should go, and I told him to just go wherever he wanted. I had no particular destination in mind.  After riding for about twenty minutes, MusicMan took us to the parking lot of the mini golf course where we'd had our first date.  We got off the bike to have a cigarette.  MusicMan asked if I was going to take my helmet off, and I told him I didn't need to take it off since we were just going to be there for a few minutes.  We looked across the parking lot, and I pointed out where we'd both parked for our first date.  MusicMan said, "This parking lot always makes me nervous." 

We talked about how nervous we both had been on that first date a little over nine months ago and how great the date had turned out.  MusicMan asked me again if I was going to take my helmet off, and I told him that I had to pee and that, since we'd be leaving soon to go to the grocery store to get some desserts and for me to use the restroom, there was no reason to mess with taking the helmet off.

MusicMan got really serious as he looked at me and said, "Well, I did bring you here for a reason."  I don't know why I said it, probably because I'd been concerned about the way he'd been acting all week, but I said, "Oh my gosh!! Are you breaking up with me?!?"  MusicMan said, "No.  Actually..." and got down on one knee.  I was shocked!  My hands flew up to my face and I covered my mouth and screamed, "NO!!," as in "NO WAY!  Is this really happening?!?"  Seemingly out of nowhere, MusicMan produced an open ring box.  (I'd find out later that it had been concealed in his pocket the whole time.  We were both shocked that I hadn't felt it when I was holding on to him on the bike.)

MusicMan looked up at me and, with tears in his eyes, asked, "Will you marry me?  Will you be my wife?"  My hands still over my mouth, I jumped up and down and vigorously nodded my head up and down.  I'd started to cry.  I screamed, "YES!!  Of course!" and started to kiss him all over his face.  It was then that I realized I still had my helmet on!!    I fumbled with the strap to get the helmet off as I said, "Now I really wish I would've taken my helmet off!"  (We'd joke later that I was wearing my "promise ring helmet" when I got my engagement ring.  MusicMan would also tell people that he always knew I was "special.")  We laughed and kissed and hugged.

MusicMan looked at me with teary eyes and said, "August 23, 2008, is a Saturday." as I put the ring on.  I started crying again—Well, more—I’m not really sure if I'd stopped at that point.

Not only had he just proposed, but he also already had a date picked out.  Not just any date, but a tremendously meaningful one—it will be the two year anniversary of our first date.  How cool and special is that?!?!  I looked down to admire the ring, and I just gasped; it is absolutely GORGEOUS!  MusicMan asked if I liked it, and I told him I absolutely loved it.  It's perfect!  He was glad that it fit, because he hadn't known my size, but he'd fallen in love with the ring and decided to get it knowing that we could bring it in to be resized.

I told MusicMan that I had to call my mom.  He told me he'd tried to call her the night before to get her permission for him to ask me to marry him, but she hadn't answered her phone.  My mom screamed so loud when I told her that MusicMan could hear it through my cell phone.  He started laughing.  I told mom about the proposal and that MusicMan had tried to call to get her permission.  She was super excited and happy.  She asked to speak with MusicMan, so I handed him the phone and he talked to her for a bit.  After we got off the phone with mom, we hoped on the bike to head to the grocery store.

I asked MusicMan if this is why he hadn't been sleeping, and he said it was.  I asked him why, because he had to have known I was going to say yes.  He said that, while he was 99% sure I'd say yes, he didn't know if I'd think it was too soon, and deciding how to propose and worrying about whether or not I'd like the ring were very nerve-wracking.  When we got to the grocery store, my face hurt from smiling all the way there.  I went to use the restroom, suddenly realizing that I'd had to pee for quite a while now.  I couldn't stop staring at the ring...it is just so beautiful, and it was so surreal to have it on my hand.  MusicMan and I decided on lemon bars for dessert.

(A couple weeks after our engagement as we scouted wedding reception locations.)

I called Rockstarr (BFF) from the parking lot of the store to tell her the news.  She was very excited and was super happy for me.  She told me she'd do whatever I needed her to do, and that she was going to start honing her "I told you so dance," which she's looking forward to performing in lieu of a wedding speech.  I tried calling my middle sister, but she wasn't home, so I had to leave a message for her to call me back asap.  MusicMan and I headed back to his place.

When we got back to MusicMan's, we called his mom to tell her the news.  She already knew that it was going to be happening, because MusicMan had called her weeks ago (while she was in Hawaii visiting his sister) to tell her that he wanted to marry me and wanted her help picking out the ring.  MusicMan dialed his mom's number and handed me the phone.  When she answered, I said, "Joni?  This is Elle calling, or should I say you're soon to be daughter-in-law."  She was sooooooooooooooooooooooo happy.  "He did it tonight?!?!  OHMYGOSH!  Do you love the ring?!?!"

I told her I did love the ring and told her all about the proposal.  She welcomed me to the family and told me that they were absolutely delighted to have me become a member of the family.  I handed the phone to MusicMan so she could talk to him for a bit.  Then, I tried calling my sister again, but I got her answering machine, so I called her cell phone.  Within about ten minutes, she called me back.  I told her I wanted to give her plenty of advanced notice that on August 23, 2008, I'd need a wedding cake.  "Are you serious?!?" she said.  She said she knew something was up when I called her cell phone, because I never call her cell.  I told her MusicMan had proposed and told her the story of how he did it.  She cried, which made me tear up a little bit.  She was so genuinely happy for me (and MusicMan) and super excited to do the cake.  I decided to wait until the next day to ask her to be my maid of honor. I didn't want to overwhelm her!  

All the phone calls finally done, MusicMan and I sat on the couch to eat our lemon bars.  I was too excited/shocked/overwhelmed to eat mine, so I only had a little bit and put the rest away for later.  Folks, you know I've been shocked beyond belief and am gloriously happy if I ain't finishing dessert!!!!  

MusicMan told me the story of him making the decision to propose, calling his mom to tell her and ask for her help, the "lies" he told about going out shopping with his mom and going to help her with things around the house the past couple weeks when really they were ring shopping.  He told me about how he'd picked out the ring.  It's a custom-made white gold ring from a small family-owned jeweler in our city.  They literally broke the mold after they made this ring, so there will never be another one exactly like it in existence.

He said when he saw it he knew it was perfect.  Then it was time to pick out the diamond.  They showed him several, but the one that really caught his attention was called the Cross of Light diamond.  This diamond is a round cut, but it has more facets than a regular diamond cut into it.  There are 16 "mirror facets" that are arranged in the form of three crosses.  It was created last year by a Minneapolis diamond cutter and is still pretty rare.

As the jeweler went to put the diamond away after showing it to MusicMan, it popped out of the tweezers, hit MusicMan in the chest, and ended up on the floor.  MusicMan told the jeweler he'd think about the diamond and would get back to him in a couple days.  He and mom stood outside of the shop chatting for a bit about how incredible the ring was and how beautiful the diamond was.  MusicMan finished his cigarette, turned around and went back into the shop, and told the jeweler he'd take the diamond.  (It had chosen him, afterall.)

I couldn't believe all the time, thought, and effort he'd put into the ring and making sure it was just perfect.  It made it that much more special to me.  I'd asked how he'd known my size, and at first he joked that he'd taken a picture of my hand next to a dollar bill while I'd been sleeping one time.  Then, he told me that he didn't know my size; the ring was just the size they made it to be.  It fits almost perfectly.  My fingers swell up a lot when the weather gets hot, so I think we could probably have it sized up just a bit, but we'll have the jeweler give us an opinion on that sometime this week.

We were both way too excited to sleep anytime soon, so we decided to head out for a few celebratory drinks.  We went to a local bar/restaurant.  I stared at the ring the whole night as we sat at the bar and discussed the wedding.  MusicMan told me that he wants to be a very active participant in the planning, which I think is awesome.  When we finally went to bed quite late, we kissed and he said, "Goodnight my future wife."  I said goodnight to my future husband and thanked him for making me the happiest girl in the whole entire world by asking me to be his wife. I told him that it's an honor and that I'm super excited to plan our wedding together.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of activity.  We went to my mom's on Saturday, where my youngest sister had decided to throw an impromptu birthday celebration for my twin brother and I and a welcome to the family celebration for MusicMan.  Saturday night, we went out with MusicMan's friend from work, Ty, and his partner, Chayse; we met them for drinks at Houlihan's, and we had a ball.  These two are the gay version of MusicMan and I; they're so great together and are fantastic people to be around.  Sunday we had brunch with our moms, just MusicMan, his mom, my mom, and me.  It was a little more stressful than I'd anticipated, but overall it was okay.  Sunday afternoon/evening MusicMan and I babysat Li’l D at mom's house.  Monday we finally got the day to ourselves to run a few errands and just spend time with each other, which was super nice.

Let the wedding planning begin!!!!!  I am soooooooooooo tremendously excited to marry my soul mate, the man of my dreams, on August 23 of next year.  It can't come fast enough!!!!  And yet, I know it will probably come way sooner than either of us expects.