Engaged!!!

Ryan whisked me off for a surprise trip to NYC two weeks ago today and although the shock of the destination took about a year off my life, it was fabulous.  I knew the trip was coming up but I had no idea we were even getting on a plane.  My fabulous mother might have let it slip that Ryan was going to my parents' house one night in late March without me.  Oops.  Apparently the fact Ryan had called my parents to set up a time to go over and talk to my parents alone on a night I'm in class didn't cause her to think I might not know about the meeting and she should therefore not call me to find out if she should offer him dinner.  Naturally I immediately emailed several friends as visions of diamonds danced in my head.  One of those friends was in on the surprise, notified Ryan, and they began attempts at damage control.  Ryan finally told me we were going on a surprise trip and he went to talk to my parents because my little brother would be home from the Air Force Academy that weekend and he didn't want them to be upset he was taking me away from family activities.

I spent weeks trying to let it go, not think about it, and decided we were going to St. Augustine for the weekend.  You can imagine what I might have packed not knowing exactly what we were doing but thinking we were going to St. Augustine and I could bring as much as I wanted since we would just be in the car.  5:45 Friday afternoon I walk into my apartment and R is standing there with a carry-on that I was instructed to fit my stuff into.  Oh, and those toiletries that required a separate bag would need to be put into TSA compliant travel containers that fit into a quart size ziploc bag.  What was he talking about?  His mother's surprise party was in Lakeland and there's no reason to fly to St. Augustine, it's not that long of a drive.  Then he handed me a piece of paper with the weather for the weekend on it with all of the location information removed.  And that's when I learned that the high was going to be in the 60s, not the low.

Let me tell you, it is not easy to surprise me.  Most of that is because I will investigate a "surprise" until I pull the truth out of someone, find where my presents are hidden, or someone doesn't properly hide all evidence of what they've been planning.  This time, however, I decided to respect Ryan's desire to surprise me and I didn't check his email, even though I have the password.  I didn't go through his dresser drawers, closet, nightstand, or anything else in his house for a ring, receipt, or any evidence he was proposing or that might give me a clue about where we were going, even though I have a key to his place.  I didn't harass people or try and trick them into giving me clues.  I really let it go as much as I possibly could and tried really hard not to think about.  Still, it's pretty impressive he managed to shock me as much as he did.

Once the shock wore off, the color returned to my face, and the panic about not having the right outfits packed subsided, I settled into my seat on the plane and just let myself enjoy the ride.  We walked through the City and Grand Central on our way to Times Square, hopped a red double decker bus past the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty and took the ferry to see Lady Liberty herself.  Ryan had purchased tickets for the pedestal and we took the elevator up to the base of the statue (it's a few too many stairs for my left knee).  The view was incredible and I loved every minute of it.  Then we headed back down the stairs and outside but we weren't quite all the way down to ground level.  It was so peaceful with no one standing around, Ryan and I enjoyed a moment to ourselves.  Suddenly, he was pulling his keys out of his pocket and twisting something off his key ring.  Could it be?  No.  He isn't.  Is he?  Really?  The whole moment was so surreal.  As he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, I didn't even let him finish the question before I said, "Oh my goodness, YES!!!" and thrust my left hand out for him to slip the ring on my finger.  Classic me.

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying being alone, with no school or work to think about, and touring the city.  I'm so excited to spend the rest of our lives together.  I cannot wait until we finally move-in together, buy our first home, have our first children, and experience so many other firsts.  March 24th is the Big Day and while I want to enjoy our engagement and planning our wedding, I kind of wish it was tomorrow.