Today was a Fairy Tale…

I’ve always dreamt of the day the man of my dreams would ask me to marry him. I dreamed up all the extravagant ways he would pamper and sweeten me up… all the ways he would tell me how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. White horses and billowing royal capes always seemed to be the accessories of choice for this tall dark and handsome prince…. He could sing and dance to make all the ladies swoon. His mind would challenge and sharpen my own…. and his strength of character would be his name. All these things, and more, laced my dreams and hopes for that special someone… but, for some reason, I never thought this day would come.

Then I met Christopher. It scared me at first, how deeply we connected that first day. Here’s an excerpt from a 2008 blog post I wrote about just that:

“Christopher and I actually JUST met for coffee because he wanted to hear about my YWAM experience before he took off in June for his two year long excursion to Venezuela and Honduras….and we ended up talking for 7 hours. (Wonderful God….way to just show up out of nowhere.) We spent all of April and May JUST hanging out… and being freaked out that it felt like God had put us in each other’s lives for specific reasons….reasons we didn’t understand or care to understand because we both had PLANS. Then we gave in. And we kept giving in because…well…we had both separately made pacts to make room for Jesus in our lives…and the room that we had both made seemed to be the perfect size and shape for each other. What the HECK God?! So we threw our plans out the window, and, as scared as we were, we started taking steps down the same path…together…and it’s been crazy as God has opened our eyes periodically to the “reasons” He put us together…a beautiful thing to witness together. It’s been 7 months now and we both agree that we have a bone to pick with God when we get to Heaven for stomping on our plans…. But…Christopher has probably been the most awakening thing that’s happened to me since coffee…I hope you all get to meet him someday.”

Yesterday, September 23rd 2010, Christopher asked me to be his wife. (CRAZZZZYYYY!!) He’d spent the past few months perfecting his genius plan to sweep me off my feet and propose…. without me figuring it out. I have to admit, He did good…. Real Good.

There were several conspirators involved…. a mock photo shoot with one said conspirator, Betsy Lackey. There was a baguette…. some wine… a picnic basket… some vintage books…. some flowers…. and a wooden box containing the story of a boy with a dream.

As the sun set behind us, illuminating the trees and park behind us in a golden glow, he read me this story of a boy who dreamed of a girl. It was a heart felt story written with the upmost care in an antiqued Paperblanks journal.

The story was long… and told of how this young boy waited and prayed, through the many experiences and stages of his life, for the day he’d meet the girl of his dreams. He held out, though he could have had the pick of the land…. and he ended the narration in a real life continuation of his story….

He got on one knee and said,

“You’re the girl I’ve been dreaming of and I want to live the rest of my story with you by my side.”

And with a huge smile, he asked,

“Will You Marry Me?”

I said YES.

It doesn’t feel real yet. I keep looking around, trying to find something to help me grasp the reality of it all… but it feels like a dream… like we’re playing pretend. It doesn’t compute that my dreams have shifted into reality…. and my real life prince charming has asked for my hand in marriage. UNREAL! I suppose I’ll take the advice I give all my engaged couples… take a few weeks to let it really marinate in your being…. to enjoy being in this stage of life… and to document this time well. I’m engaged to the man of my dreams… Prince Awesome McHandsome Pants. INSANE!!!

And before I leave you, know that there’s so many more details and intricate beauty in the story and the whole proposal that I’d love to share…. I’m just trying to piece it all together in my heart at the moment. I can’t wait to share this chapter of my adventures with you all… and I’m so thankful for your encouragements and congratulations so far…. you guys rock my engaged world. 😉

P.S. A huge shoutout goes to Betsy Lackey for taking these amazing proposal pictures…. I will be forever grateful for your sneakiness. I’m your biggest fan and I feel so blessed to have you as a bestie.