DEFINITIONS:
Fiancé- a man who is engaged to be married
Fiancée- a woman who is engaged to be married
Betrothed- pledged to be married, enter into a formal agreement to marry
What does it mean to be engaged? What does it mean to be betrothed? To have a fiancé?
According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, it means that we have entered into a formal agreement to marry. How lame. It means so much more than just a formal agreement to me. I will never forget the words he said to me, I will never forget the nervous energy he had when he was trying to sneakily grab the ring without me seeing. I will never forget the place, the time, his face, my emotions, the beautiful ring. I will never forget.
Valentine's Day, the day of lovers, was never intended to be "our day". We do not care about Valentine's Day. That day we were going to have his son for the evening, I was going to make dinner, and we were going to enjoy each other's company... just like any other day. I don't want to eat out with the other hundreds of people. I don't want Ryan to spend hundreds of dollars for flowers and chocolates. I want Ryan. Luckily, I already have him, so Valentine's Day is a mute point for me.
Anyway, Valentine's Day went as planned, nothing outrageous and nothing inappropriate. (I swear this has a point.) So here's the basic dialogue we had post-Valentine's Day:
Ryan - "You and I still need to celebrate Valentine's Day!"
Me - "But, baby, I told you we don't have to. I'm not really into that kind of stuff."
Ryan - "Sweetheart, I WANT to take you out to dinner. I just want to spend the day with you."
Me - "Awwww! How can I say no to that?!?!"
So, we hop in the car and I ask him where we're going. He says "the beach", like it's totally normal. Well, if you know me, you know that I can't do anything when I'm not prepared so I start having a mini-mental breakdown because I didn't bring snacks, towels, my bathing suit, chairs, my hair was down (which will be a gigantic mess once we hit the humidity). He looks at me and says, "Babe, it's freezing outside... we won't even get in the water. Don't worry, I've got this." siiiigh. Judge me if you want to, but THAT'S HOT!
So we're driving the California freeways (euw) perusing through the nice areas of Southern California, dreaming of the days we can afford to live there. That's one of my favorite things to do (drive around the nicer areas and day dream of what our lives could be together). We finally get down to the beach and we hit PCH! Instantly, my nerves calm and I feel so happy and blessed (the beach does that to me). We keep driving through Malibu and we come up on Gladstone's Restaurant right on the coast. I looked at Ryan and said, "Oh my gosh! Remember our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend? We went here!" He says to me, "Oh really? No, I didn't know we ever went to this restaurant before...." Gotta love his sarcasm! I said, "Wait... are we going here? Are we going to Gladstone's?? It's my favorite!!!"
He doesn't answer me. Instead, he lets me figure it out when, 15 seconds later, we pull into the parking lot and valet takes the car off our hands. We go in and he checks in with the hostess. He made reservations for the window booth but it wasn't quite ready yet so we sit at the bar. Oh my goodness, I had THE MOST delicious martini ever! Once the booth was ready, we relocated to the booth right in the center of the large windows and RIGHT at sunset! We sit on the same side of the booth staring at the water as the sun goes down. California really seems so much more beautiful from this angle. He starts fussing with his sweater and I ask him if everything was okay. He says, "Yeah, I just don't want to lose the valet ticket." Me, being such a genius, go to grab my purse and tell him to just put the ticket in my bag. He stops and says, "Oh no, no. It's fine. Don't worry about it." Well, that was weird.
So I turn my attention back to the sunset and then back to Ryan. I said to him, "Ryan, this is so perfect. I love you so much!" He looks at me, tells me he loves me, and starts scooting out of the booth.
Wait, where are you going? He was so tense and so fidgety, I thought... oh man, something's wrong. Not really sure what I should do but I've never seen him so strange (I conclude later it was not strange, it was nerves).
He kneels on one knee.... "YOU are perfect. You are my best friend, my soulmate. You let me be who I am and I love who you are. I love you more than anything! You're amazing with Kaleb and he loves you, too. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
Tears pouring down my face, I shout "Absolutely!!!!" He lets out a sigh of relief and with his charming smile he puts the ring on my finger.
BOOM! Ring on my finger and I can't stop kissing him! No wait, I should be more honest.... I didn't want to stop kissing him but I was too excited and kept staring at the ring and texting all my family and friends! We continue smiling, and talking, and crying, and calling, and staring at how perfect the ring looks on my finger (my man did VERY good!). He then tells me that we are going to Las Vegas to celebrate the engagement! He made reservations for The Blue Man Group, too! Wow. Lucky girl I am!
And now the fun part begins.... the wedding planning!
Sorry, ladies! HE'S OFF THE MARKET!
