4th Engagementversary

I was still struggling to wake up yesterday morning when Ryan whispered in my ear, "Happy Engagementversary."

All the points, right there. He remembered even before I was coherent!

Four years ago yesterday, Ryan proposed to me in one of the most well-coordinated surprises of my life. I love reliving the moments of that day. I was blissfully on the air, unaware that literally ten feet away, Ryan was crawling underneath a window to get into place without me seeing him.

Now that is love, right there.

And at the appointed time {or rather, several minutes past it, because apparently I talked too much}, he burst through the studio door and got down on one knee to ask me to be his:

He brought with him the exact kind of ring I had told him less than a week earlier I'd love to have. I didn't know his own design of that ring was purchased and sitting in his room at his house, waiting to be given to me.

He said a whole treasure trove of beautiful things to me and then he asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes!

So that was four years ago. I had bad roots, questionable nail polish, and a smile that wouldn't quit. My office threw us a party, complete with a cake I was too excited to eat, and Lynne shooed us out the front door for lunch at an Italian restaurant in downtown Fort Wayne.

Yesterday I was battling a cold, complete with sniffing, sneezing, and coughing, and when Ryan came home for lunch, I served him healthy Hot Pocket leftovers. He spent the day at work and I spent the day in my home office, writing and cleaning up before company came for dinner. It wasn't the same dazzling sort of day, but it was still a beautiful day.

On the day of our engagement, we just wanted to be married. We wanted to savor the joys that come with being engaged, but mostly we just wanted to get through that phase so we could be together every single day. Wake up together, do life together, and come home together without parting to separate towns before it was time to sleep.

And now we have that. I love the comfort level that comes with it, but I don't ever want to lose sight of the days when we longed for that more than anything. I may have been Sneezy, Coughy, and Sniffly all rolled into one, and I may have been in ratty workout clothes when he came home for lunch, but we were right there together doing life. And sometimes life is colds and leftovers and questionable hair.

I watched {more than once, I confess} our proposal video and paused to be thankful all over again that Ryan saw something good and worthy in me and that he chose me to be his. I'm grateful he took a risk. I'm grateful for this life we share. It's by no means perfect, but it's filled with gratitude and much laughter. Yesterday, in all its lack of purposeful celebratory splendor, was still a day of much celebration because it represented another milestone in the story of us.

And the story of us took a giggly turn yesterday. Wanna hear?

While we ate lunch, I pulled out the proposal video and had Ryan watch it. I was listening to his words while he watched, and I heard him get to the part about how he thought I was so beautiful and amazing, and right about then, he piped up with, "Who's THAT girl?"

My head shot up so fast, and I said, "WHAT!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

He looked genuinely confused, pointed at the video and said, "You don't look anything like this anymore."

I laughed SO HARD. I said, "Well did you hear what you were saying when you said that?" He paused for a minute, realized the timing and cracked up.

Later that afternoon, he texted me, Thanks for being the woman I proposed to at half the size. 

Oh, he makes me laugh.