wait for it...wait for it...

The 3.2 people that read this thing are already aware of this news, but just humor me. okay? thanks.

A couple of Saturdays ago (September 25th at 5:30, to be exact)  Tyson asked me to be his wife. That's right. After 7 years of me driving him crazy, he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. What?!? I'm sorry, but that's a huge deal and I still don't think it has really hit me yet. Sometimes I feel like we're already married since we've been together for so long, but this is a whole different ball game and I can't wait to play! (you liked that one-didn't you?)

I've known for a long time that Tyson was the man I wanted to marry. And in one way or another, we both knew that we would end up together...forever. But it is still crazy to think that it is official and that we are ENGAGED. As in, I have a diamond on my left hand ring finger. As in, I'm going to have a husband and we're going to live in the same house and our laundry will be put in the same washing machine. As in, we're going to have the same bank account and go grocery shopping together. Seriously? Is this really happening?

Needless to say, I am super excited and maybe just a little bit still in shock. I walk around like nothing is different about me, but I'm a fiancé. I'm getting married. Sometimes that's really hard for me to wrap my head around.

So here is how the whole "day of engagement" went from my point of view. This might take a while, so you might want to grab a snack and brace yourself...

Let me give you some background before I start. I am pretty much impossible to surprise. This is not a quality that I am proud of. I am nosy and sneaky and I over analyze things until I figure them out. I can count on one hand the times that I've been surprised in my life. With that being said, Tyson is not a very good surpriser. He gets really excited about things and can't keep them a secret. As much as I had dreamed about my proposal being completely out of the blue, I was convinced that I would know about it. I had NO IDEA this was coming. I mean, I was hoping that it would happen eventually, but I certainly wasn't expecting anything this particular weekend. Tyson worked so hard to make it a perfect and complete surprise for me!

The Friday night before Tyson proposed, we met some friends Birmingham to go hear my Aunt Rachel's band play. Unbeknownst to me, Tyson had also come to Birmingham to pick up my ring. We had a great time listening to Flying Jenny and hanging out with my family and Stanley and Charity. Our plan for Saturday was to drive down to Magnolia Springs, AL to pick up a canoe that Tyson found for a really good deal. I was thinking it was kind of crazy to drive all that way for a canoe, but Tyson has really been wanting one, so I decided to go along for the ride. We woke up on Saturday morning, ate breakfast at Tip Top Grill with Stanley and Charity, hung out a little bit at 'lover's leap.'

At this point, these two boys knew exactly was going down in a few hours. Sneaky, sneaky.

 After that, we went to go eat with one of my bestest girls, Meghan. Newk's, where we ate lunch, was RIGHT BESIDE the store Tyson got my ring from. We even had a whole conversation about a man who was outside the store looking at a ring in natural light with a policeman. Tyson even said something like, "do you want to go in there and pick out a ring?" He knew how opposed I was to picking out my own engagement ring, so he was pretty confident that I wouldn't say "yes." But what if I had....oh man!! Anyway, we had a great lunch with Meghan. When Tyson went to the restroom, she came out and asked me, "when are you two getting engaged?" I gave her the whole speal about how I'm not stressing about it and that I know it will all happen when it's supposed to-in God's perfect timing.

Just for the record, I hadn't taken a shower...

 After we left Newk's, we hit the road towards Millbrook so I could drop my car off and we could drive down to Magnolia Springs so he could purchase this illeged canoe. I was going to change clothes and put my overnight bag in my apartment, but Tyson convinced me to just put the bag in his truck so I would have everything I needed. So, we were off on our little road trip. I slept...a lot (typical) while Tyson drove and took care of the details He later told me that he was thankful that I slept for so long because it meant he talked less, which meant he was less likely to spill the beans :) When we finally made it close to our destination, Tyson called "Mr. Anderson" so he could meet him to pick up the canoe. He had this whole conversation with this man that was actually Tyson's brother, Jaron. When he got off the phone, Tyson told me that "Mr. Anderson" wouldn't be at his house for a while, so we had some time to kill. I proceeded to go off about this Mr. Anderson character. What kind of person would tell you to wait another couple of hours after he knew you drove such a long way? In the words of one of my heroes, Bon Qui Qui....rude. We just so happened to be just a few minutes from the beach, so Tyson suggested we take a walk until it was time to go pick up the canoe. Because the beach is one of my most favorite places in the world, there was no argument from me. Before long, we were out of Tyson's truck and on the beach. We walked and talked...no big deal. We saw some jellies, sea gulls, and crabs, and we even had a little foot race that was too close to even announce the winner :)

Still, no idea...


Tyson's brother was hiding (I have no clue where. I guess in some sand dunes) taking pictures. So this was us beginng our little walk down the beach. I'm still clueless at this point.

This was on our way back from our walk. Getting closer to the proposal sight :)

On our way back, I became enthralled with a little baby sea gull who was going back and forth when the waves would come in and go out. Because I was so focused on this thing, I didn't notice THIS until I was right up on it...

That's right. This man cut out letters and glued pictures of us on them.

While I was looking at the pictures and beginning to realize what was going on, Tyson was doing THIS behind me...

So, pretty much after this, he asked me to marry him. I said some form of "yes" and for some reason, said "holy cow" for about 5 minutes straight.

looking at the t-man's masterpiece

Probably saying, "holy cow...how did you do this?"

I think he was trying to explain everything to me. I was still in shock.

 looking at all the pictures...7 years worth!

CRAZY!

the bling...

So, let's review...

I got engaged.

on the beach.

to a pretty sweet, thoughtful, and wonderful dude. 

who is now my fiance 

and we're getting married.

on june 11th.

that's 236 days from now.