Engagement story, the long version

Ben and I celebrate the day we went on our first date every month, on the 12th. Usually we dress up and go out to dinner somewhere special, but sometimes we stay home and make dinner there. It's not too important what we do, we just do something together and don't let any distractions in. This month he asked if I'd like to go to Galveston and have a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done since Hurricane Ike.

This sounded like an awesome idea to me! We packed up his mini grill, my set of lawnchairs my sister gave to me for my birthday last year, some food, some drinks and some sunscreen and drove down.

After searching several beaches, we found one that was clear and deserted and had convenient bushes nearby to make up for the lack of restrooms. We unpacked the lawnchairs and started the grill and poured the drinks.


The grill went out, blown out by the wind. We started it again, and it went out again. And again. And again. But after repositioning the car to block the wind and using nearly an entire bottle of lighter fluid, we had hot coals! The night before, I'd wrapped chopped chicken, red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms and lots of italian salad dressing up in foil packets. Somewhat nervous that the coals wouldn't stay hot and we'd have to eat at Taco Bell, we threw them on the grill and ate deviled eggs while we waited. And waited.

Roughly a million years later and after dark had fallen, we opened a packet and I cut into the chicken. It was cooked! It worked! Ben laughed at how wide my eyes got when I realized it had worked, I had really thought we'd have to end our day at a fast-food joint.

As we ate chicken and then delicious s'mores, the stars came out, much brighter than you can see in Houston. It was getting late and we still had a long drive home, so we packed up the car and got ready. Unwilling to leave, though, we held each other close and admired the beautiful view.

All of a sudden he went down on one knee and said,

You're everything I want.
You're everything I need.
(My full name),
Will you marry me?

By the time he got the last words out we were both shaking and crying and laughing at the same time, and I was hugging him so tightly I could barely say yes!


But I got the words out! Eventually we calmed down enough that he could actually put the ring on my finger. We stood there a while longer, admiring the ring and telling each other how much we loved each other, and looking at the stars.

The stars which are thousands of light years away, so the light we saw had been traveling through empty space for thousands of years just to fall down to Earth on that night, the night we were engaged to be married. I thought that was very awesome.

Eeeee!

21 months ago tonight Ben and I went on our first date. Tonight we went on another, to Galveston Beach. We sat in lawnchairs and drank screwdrivers and grilled dinner and s'mores for dessert. We stayed until the stars came out, then cleaned up and prepared to leave. As we stood looking at the stars, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said yes!

May!

It's May already! And it actually has been for a while! Here's a May list of what I haven't been writing about.

1. My mom came to visit me! In, you know, April, but whatever. It was so much fun! B.'s mom and aunt were coming down to see him, and his mom asked if my mom could come down too, so they could meet. I asked my mom and she said of course she could come! Apparently this is where me and Stephie get it from. I took her around to some quilting shops and a tea shop for lunch before B's fam got here, it was very nice. B was worried about what to do to entertain them, but I told him, they will want to sit and eat and talk, they'll be fine. And they did! B.'s aunt said she felt like she'd known my mom for years after talking to her for a few hours. My mom is so nice, everyone loves her. It was an awesome visit, and too short of course.

2. I'm done my finals! My other class goes until Wednesday, but I don't have a final for it, so it will be easy. Then I'm off for about a month! Yay! My summer class will run June 9th to July 11th, and I'll be in class Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, ick. But it should go fast, it's only 5 weeks. I have 1.0 more years of school!

3. Steph and I visited Heather in North Carolina this weekend! It was an awesome trip, we had so much fun. The kids are so cute and so much fun to play with, I can't get enough of them. Heather and Ed's new house is gorgeous, huge, and looks so nice with all the painting they've done. NC was so pretty, everything is green and lush from the rain. It was about 5 degrees cooler than here. It was funny, Heather said she couldn't believe how humid it was, she couldn't stand it, and I didn't even notice it! It was almost dry compared to Houston! We played with the kids and toured their mountain and went to a National Forest and a winery and shopped for pottery. I spent most of Saturday afternoon snoozing on the deck in an anti-gravity chair while the kids splashed in the wading pool and Ed grilled out. Sunshine filtered through leaves above me, a nice breeze, a cool drink, family next to me and happy kids running around, it was perfect.

4. Well, it would have been perfect if B. was there. We missed each other, it's very rare that we don't see each other for at least a few minutes every day. I don't know what I'm going to do for the million years he's going to be in England. My apartment might get very clean.

5. Tomorrow is our 21 monthiversary! We celebrate each month together. He had the brilliant idea of having a bonfire on the beach, which we haven't done in ages. I'm going to bring the telescope and beach chairs, and we'll cook out down there. I'm thinking about wrapping up cut-up chicken with peppers, onions, mushrooms and italian dressing in foil and throwing it on the mini grill he got for Christmas, it sounds good and won't be too messy. I can't wait! I haven't been to the beach in forever.