We're Engaged!

After over 2 years of a very blessed dating relationship, Jonathan and I are now officially engaged! :)

As a preface to "The Story", I've actually known for quite some time that this moment was coming, and frankly was growing anxious about why it had not occurred yet. That's just "me being a girl" for you! We picked out the ring in late January, and I knew it was ready for pickup at the store in mid-July...but July came and went, and the days and weeks kept creeping on. Jonathan assured me that he simply hadn't asked yet because he had some grandiose plan that had 'certain time constraints' which he could not explain without giving it away.

We experienced a bit of financial setback, and I began to wonder if perhaps he hadn't asked yet because of money, or because of his job...and eventually I began to just wonder "oh no! What if he's just not ready??? Am I pushing him???". In reality, Jonathan's big grandiose plan had actually fallen through, and the poor guy was just as ready to get engaged as I was, but was uncertain he could come up with a romantic Plan B for the proposal.

The Story:

Monday night, I went to my first grad school class (which was awesome, btw) and left feeling quite elated. I headed over to our church young couples fellowship group directly afterward, which happens to be hosted by the family that Jonathan is staying with temporarily. After Couples Group, I stayed to spend some time with him.

We played Guitar Hero for a bit (yes, my engagement shall forever be associated with Guitar Hero, ha ha) and then he could tell something was weighing on my mind. He eventually pried out my nervous thoughts concerning questions over why he had not proposed yet. He then paused and said "Well, maybe this will help....Close your eyes."

I closed my eyes and heard him rummaging around--at this point, I figured he was going to let me 'visit' my ring (which I have affectionately dubbed "My Sparkly") in an effort to tide over my pent up emotions for another few weeks until he actually went through with his big proposal plan.

Instead, he sat back down beside me and said "Imagine that I..." and proceeded to walk me through his original grandiose proposal plan, helping me to see each detail bit by bit. At the end of the story he said "now imagine that I get down on one knee, and ask you...". After his story was finished, he said regretfully that it cannot happen that way anymore (another long story, but let's just say there was a major component of the plan that recently became an impossibility). He then asked me to open my eyes. When I did, he opened the ring box and asked me for REAL. He said "Sarah, will you be my Queen?" which is special, because my name means Princess and he calls me that all the time :)

It took me a minute or two to catch on that he was actually asking, not just telling the story anymore, but then he said "I just couldn't wait any longer to ask you. I don't want to wait any more." and I was relieved, because I didn't want to wait any longer either! It was killing me! I said yes, and I will never, ever forget the precious look of joy and raw emotion on my future husband's face when he realized that, in his words "you are finally mine".

After the proposal, we left the house and drove into Percy Warner Park, which is a huge park with lots of hiking trails and a scenic drive. Jonathan took me up to a beautiful overlook of the foothills and the perfectly clear, starry night sky. As we were standing outside enjoying the moment, I saw the biggest shooting star I have ever seen in my life! It went all the way from one end of the sky to the other, and lasted for several seconds. It was amazing, and a perfect ending to our night.

So, there you have it--We're engaged!

He showed up to my workplace the next morning with a beautiful vase of roses, which was very sweet and thoughtful :) I really do feel like a princess--he's my hero!