He Said, "Will You?" and I Said, "Yes."...

Somehow, in the last seven months, my dreams have begun to come true.  Not my nighty-night sleep-tight dreams, but my hopes and dreams.  First, a friend of mine became more than a friend.  Second, we fell in love with each other.

And now, we are getting married.

You read correctly-- GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

Somehow God saw fit for this man

To love this woman

For the rest of our lives.  :)

I can hardly believe it!  It seems unreal, like a nighty-night sleep-tight dream!  After all the planning for others, watching most of my friends pair off in wedded bliss, it is now my turn, and I can hardly fathom it!

"The story!" you say?  Of course I'll oblige.

I'll start by admitting, I was very surprised.  I had thought it might happen this summer, perhaps when BF (wait... he's now fiance, but I'd rather not call him "F."  haha.  I'll have to think on this one-- any suggestions?) would come to visit Chicago.  With that being said, I had a few sneaking suspicions. 

1.  He said he had a skype appointment yesterday... I thought perhaps he was asking my parents for permission to marry me... but surely he wouldn't ask yet.

2.  He said he had bought me something I couldn't have yet while he was in Las Vegas.  But surely he wouldn't give me a ring yet.

3.  He did some mysterious texting that I thought could have been giving some select people heads' up, but I thought, not yet, not when he's leaving tomorrow!

But he still surprised me.  I love this story, because it's pretty funny to me.  I think things didn't go as he planned, and he panicked a little when he actually proposed, which is so cute.  We were at the driving range, practicing golf swings (let's just say I made him look really talented).  He had planned to "tie his shoe" and kneel and propose, but there were too many people around.  He said that as the bucket of golf balls dwindled, he began to panic!  We ended up in his car, ready to go to Rita's for some frozen custard (mmmm), when he handed me his glove and said, "You need one of these-- try this on so I can see what size to get you."  There was something lumpy in it.  I pulled out a red die with white dots and looked at him quizzically.  He said it was something from Las Vegas.  I said, "really?"  And he said, "no."  I was puzzled, but whatever.  He's been known to do/say stranger things. 

I peered over at whatever he was texting, and he insisted that I show him my texts.  I gave him my phone and he snatched it and stuck it in his pocket.  When I asked for it back, he rummaged around in his pocket, mumbling something about, "it will take a second," and I legitimately thought my phone was stuck in his pocket until he said:

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got you something else when I was in Las Vegas..." and he pulled out a ring and held it up.  That's right, sitting in the front seat of his Trans Am, he pulled out a ring.  I stared.  I mean really, I just stared for several seconds, then squeaked out, "really?!" a couple times.  I think I couldn't believe it was actually happening, and I was surprised at the way he did it-- though not displeased.

You need to know that when he is nervous, he literally loses the ability to speak how he would normally speak, like when he asked me out and there were lots of long pauses.  So he finally eeked out, "Will you?" just before I almost said, "Is there something you want to ask me?"  Of course I said yes. 

I was shaking.  I couldn't believe it, as I put that ring on my finger, that this was real, that this was my life!  We headed over to Rita's, and despite the fact that I was no longer hungry, I wolfed down my cone as we chatted, still reeling over what had just happened.

It turns out, he'd had a plan, but when it didn't work out, it threw him off, hence his "will you".  So when he relaxed a bit, he told me why he wants to marry me (for the record, he thinks I'm wonderful, and I don't think he's too bad himself), and back at my place he got down on one knee and said, "will you marry me," just to make sure I got to experience that.  It's hard to get down on one knee in the front seat of a Trans Am.  But I wouldn't have changed a thing.  It also turns out that the die is in reference to a comment a friend made at a wedding last week after I didn't catch the bouquet (on purpose, because I hate that).  She said, "I'm sorry, but the die is cast."  She knew I'd be next, and she was right!

So we set a tentative date in January.  He picked that so I could have one last Christmas with my family, which I thought was very caring, but every time I mention that, someone thinks it sounds like they're going to die or something.  That's nice.  Then began the phone calls.  I called my mom, then all my bridesmaids, then every one of the families in my extended family, then texted a select group of other friends. 

We went over to Bestie's house and Bestie Jr. and her husband came too.  We toasted to January, and to us, and we laughed and squealed and giggled... and that was just BF!  JK, the guys pretended to stab themselves with kitchen knives.

After skyping with my parents and brother, we had some alone time to just sit and soak in this big change.  It's really exciting, and so fun to bring such joy to others.  But part of me is still nervous, knowing that marriage is a huge commitment and a big responsibility, and it's for life.  I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else, but it's very overwhelming.

And telling my students was fun.  I had them play hangman and when they figured it out, their faces lit up.  I had students ask to be my ring bearers and flower girls, but my favorite was when a student ran into the hall shouting, "She got bling!"

I did.  But even more than the bling, I got HIM.  And my dreams are coming true.