Last weekend Brandon popped the question...and I said "YES!"
Now for the story...(sorry it has taken so long to post, I have been working since I got home from Arizona)
I flew into Arizona last Friday February 18, to spend the weekend with my sweetheart, and with my parents who had flown in two days earlier to meet Brandon! On Wednesday and Thursday my parents and Brandon hung out, went out to dinner, watched TV together, and got to know each other for two days without me!!! I was so jealous! My parents were staying at his house, and going out to dinner with him while I was still here in Missouri!! But it all worked out good, because they got to bond a little before I went out, and by the time I got there on Friday, Brandon and my dad were best friends! Plus, on Thursday night Brandon was able to ask my dads permission for my hand in marriage without me knowing!!
Brandon picked me up from the airport, and we went to the parking garage to get in his car, and standing there were his parents! No pressure!!! I was so nervous! I have never had to meet future in-laws! (In case you forgot, I grew up with my X, so I just always knew my last in-laws). Well, they were warm, and polite, but I think it was definitely awkward...at least for me. We headed straight to 'PF Changs' for dinner, and met up with my parents there too. Brandon had called ahead earlier that day to reserve seating for all 6 of us (I love how he is always prepared and thinks ahead). So when we got there we were immediately seated in a nice round booth in the corner of the restaurant.
At this point I kept thinking, 'he's going to propose, he's going to do it!!' I really thought that because he had called ahead, had both parents there, and were in a nice romantic setting, he would propose. Yes, I knew he was going to sometime that weekend. We had already picked out the ring, and I knew he had ordered it, I just wasn't sure when that weekend it would happen.
Well, dinner came and went. Conversation was great. The two families got along great. But yet, NO RING! Sheesh! I felt like I was on pins and needles!!! When was he going to do it???
After dinner we all headed back to Brandon's house to hang out, and to get to know each other better. We sat around having conversations about family, politics (of course), and the gospel. It was very surreal to see the two families getting along so good, and to know that this was my future. My future family...my future husband, my parents, and my future in-laws.
After my parents headed to bed in the guest bedroom, Brandon's parents left to go sleep his Uncles house, & Brandon and I snuggled for a bit, and then headed to our separate rooms too. By the time I went to bed, I had only had 3.5 hours of sleep in 41 hours, because I worked the night before I came, and then only got a nap before I had to leave for the airport! So I was exhausted!!
On Saturday we headed to Brandon's soccer game. He coaches little tot soccer for age 6-7 year olds. It was fun to see him coach and to see him in his element. But what was even better was to meet some of his friends! He coaches soccer with his best friend of over 20 years! I got to sit on the sidelines with his friends' wife & kids, and we got to chat it up about Brandon!! She was so sweet! She raved about how great Brandon is and about how great he is with kids...and she would know, because she is pregnant with #6, and he is hangs out with them a lot and helps out!
After the soccer game we headed back to his house for lunch, and I called the kids to check up on them. Noah's first question was, "did you get your ring yet?" I told him, no, and he sounded really disappointed. He loves Brandon, and he is always asking when we are all going to be together as a family. I got off the phone, came into the living room where Brandon and my dad were watching NASCAR together...like two peas in a pod, and told Brandon about my conversation with Noah. All he said to me was, "your ring didn't come in, but it will be in on Monday, so we can quickly pick it up on the way to the airport. You won't get your surprise proposal, but then you can at least have your ring before you go home." What a bummer!!! Yes, I would have my ring, but I wanted a cute surprise proposal!! He totally had me convinced that the ring wasn't in yet, and so tried to quit thinking about it.
After lunch we went to go and look at house with my parents. SO MUCH FUN!! I love to look at houses! We went through 8 model homes, and shared all of our opinions about the different layouts, floor plans, and amenities. I think it is also just fun to see how they decorate the houses. Well, about the 3rd house, I was sold! It was my dream home! It had a fabulous layout, and although I think we would never build, because you can get a better deal by buying a pre-owned house, I was still sold on this one! My mom asked Brandon what he thought about the house, and he just replied, that he doesn't really care, he just wants to make me happy. HOW SWEET! I love that boy!
After house hunting, we headed to his house for dinner, watched part of the movie 'The Blindside' (LOVE that movie), and then we headed to Brandon's aunt and uncles house for desserts and games. He has two uncles in the Mesa area (& their wives), one cousin & his wife, and his grandma. So everyone was meeting there for game night. Everyone hugged everyone, and I introduced my parents to all if his family. There was a chocolate fountain and TONS of food!! Everyone just got plates of food, and sat around chatting for a bit.
At one point someone asked how many kids we were going to have. I starting talking and said 5 or 6 total. So 2 or 3 more. I was sitting in front of Brandon on the floor, and he was on the couch behind me. During this conversation he got really quiet! Everyone was listening to me talk about the number of kids we were going and have, and he was just sitting there not making a sound! I turned around and smacked him on the knee and told him to quit being so quiet, because people we were going to think I was lying OR roping him into that number of kids. AHHH, all eyes were on me, and he was just silent! I was so scared that at this point his parents were hating me or thinking that I was just marrying him to make more babies. He finally just answered yes, that was the number we had decided on. But he wasn't very convincing!
After the awkward baby discussion, his aunt Cherie, thought we should play a game called 'The Noun Game.' She gave everyone three little slips of paper, and told us to write down a noun on each slip of paper. Then we would put them into a bowl, and take turns picking a few out on our turn, and we would act them out, or describing the nouns to everyone so that we the rest of the room could guess. The first couple of people went...there was Nauvoo, IL, Justin Beiber, Cancun, Mexico, etc. We each had 30 seconds to describe as many nouns as we could. Well, it was Brandon's turn. I pushed on his back for him to get up and go, and he went to the font of the room. Everyone was in a circle sitting on couches and on chairs, and we had all our eyes on him. He did two nouns, and people guessed them easily, then he got to the third slip of paper. He picked it up out of the bowl, and started to say, "this is something you put on Melissa finger when you want to get engaged." His aunt yelled out, "An engagement ring!!" And at that very second he pulled something out of his pocket and started to walk towards me. I screamed and covered my face!!! I was so shocked! I really had no idea it was coming! I was so involved in the game, and he had me so convinced from earlier that my ring wasn't in yet!!!
He was down on one knee, and he asked that wonderful question,
"Melissa, will you marry me?"
I wrapped my arm around his neck and buried my head into his chest because I was so embarrassed! I barely was able to muffle the words, "YES!"
He slipped the ring onto my finger, and then from there on the rest of the night was a blur! I was in a love fog! I just remember snuggling up with him on the couch and draping my legs across his, and just staring at my ring for the rest of the night!
At one point he whispered in my ear, "I am fine with 5-6 kids, that is what we talked about, and agreed to, I was just nervous about the noun game coming up, so I was quiet."
Now it made sense!! He was just quiet because he was nervous, and knew that within minutes he was going to be proposing!! Poor boy!
At the end of the night, I questioned everyone there to find out who knew he was going to propose, and who had a hand in it! It was fun to hear all the sides of the story, and what lead up to the proposal.
Before we left I hugged all my future family good bye, and went to hug his mom good bye. She teared up, and said that she feels so good about me, and about Brandon's choice to marry me, and that she was glad that I was going to be a part of their family!!! It felt so good to have my arms wrapped around my future mother-in-law, and to know that she was so supportive of our relationship! She is awesome!
On Sunday we went to church, where Brandon kept telling me how smokin' hot I looked (I love how he constantly compliments me), and I kept staring down at my ring!! Could this all be real!!?? I had only been talking to Brandon for 2 months, and had only been divorced for 3 months. But yet, it just felt right. It all felt so perfect! Like we were always meant to be together!! Who cares if it is fast! Just because it is fast, doesn't mean it isn't right!! And I think that because he is 33 and has never been married, and I just got out of a bad 13 year relationship, we both knew exactly what we wanted in a future spouse! So when we saw those qualities in each other, we just knew we should be together!
After church my mom and I made dinner for ourselves and his parents. Then we sat around to discuss our future wedding plans! Set the date, made a wedding invitation list, and talked about what our thoughts were as to that special weekend.
So, as of right now, we are aiming for June 25, in the Logan, UT temple. We'll see if we need to bump it, just because there are a lot of factors that play into that date, but that is the plan for right now!!
I still can't believe it!!!!!!!!!! I AM ENGAGED!!!!!
I feel blessed to have met Brandon! He is such an amazing guy, and treats me with nothing but respect! He gets along so well with my parents, the kids love him, he is driven, easy-going, he is honest, trustworthy, and perfect...for me!
Proposing...
Right after...the happy couple!
Look how smitten I am with my boy!
Him telling me what led up to it. Notice Grandma in the background clapping!!
My ring...although I have been told that this picture doesn't do the ring justice, and it doesn't!
