Engagement Story

So... I guess I should start by saying I'M ENGAGED!! Every time I think about it I get a giddy rush of excitement that very much reminds me of when I was six years old living in Gunnison, Colorado and a my family adopted three of our neighbor's kittens. When they arrived I was overcome with elation and let out a scream so loud that one of the kittens, my kitten, was terrified, scrambled from the neighbor's arms, and cowered under our deck. That giddy yelp? That is what I feel in my chest every time I look down at my left hand and realize that this happened to me.

PS - Neighbor boy retrieved the kitty and I named her Tip Toes.

On with the mushy love-ness!

To set the stage I need to say that I had been out of town for work for ELEVEN DAYS. Yes, that needed to be capitalized. It's ominous. And looming. And was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Haigen and I had never been apart that long, and to fall asleep at night I'd have to imagine Bologna Head was curled up under the covers by my belly, and that Haigen was next to me.

Aside to stow away for later engagement mush relevance: When I had been gone for about five days, the bf was completely MIA with the text messages/returning of phone calls. Later that evening when he finally called me I got way annoyed about it and scolded him for being a lame boyfriend.

Anywho, The day finally arrived when the girl I was with (Adrienne is her name and I love her ever so much) and I are heading home, and that day just so happens to be two days before Haigen and my three-year anniversary. Our plane lands and Adrienne is all antsy to disembark, and so am I because I MISSED MY LOOOOVE. So, I'm walking off the jet way and pull out my phone to text Haigen that I'm heading to baggage claim when I hear, "Psst!"

People, I looked to my left and he is AT THE GATE.

With luggage.

I believe my exact words were, "How the..? What the hell?!?" Because, in case you don't recall, you can't meet people at their gate anymore.

Because of terrorism.

He stood up, gave me a kiss, and said, "You and I are getting on a plane to San Francisco in about an hour. Adrienne is picking up your bag from baggage claim and taking it home with her, Bologna Head is staying with friends, and I've worked it out so you don't have to go back through security. Happy Anniversary."

I look at Adrienne, and she goes, "Oh, I knew all about it. I've been dying for the past two days."

You guys, right about here? My head exploded.

Everywhere.

Eventually, after recovering my brain spatter from the surrounding area, I regained composure and we walked to our gate. The whole time my heart and mind are both still racing and I'm gushing to my love about how he's the best schemer of all schemers.

I had absolutely zero suspicion about anything more than a romantic anniversary getaway.

None.

And Haigen didn't let on a thing. He was all, "I'm so glad that everything worked out with the flights and I can finally relax." And he was relaxed. There was no weird nervousness that would give anything away... he was chillin' people.

We landed in San Francisco at about 10:30 PM and headed to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt at Union Square Park. We have a friend who works there so we got a really nice upgraded room, and when we got up to the room I was just cruisin' around, checking everything out, and sat down on the bed to flip through the room service menu.

Then Haigen walked up to me and explained that he had ulterior motives for bringing me to San Francisco. That I’m the most amazing thing to ever happen to him. And then he said, "The real reason your here, in San Francisco, is because there's a Tiffany & Co. about 200 ft. from the door to this hotel, and you need to get this sized."

As he said it he pulled the ring box from his pocket, opened it, and asked me to marry him.

I fell backwards on the bed, in complete shock, and pretty much screamed, "Of COURSE I will marry you!"

And then he had to sit down because he was going to pass out.

For those of you who don't know, there isn't a Tiffany & Co. in Salt Lake. That weekend when I got mad at him for being incommunicado? He and one of his friends had flown to Vegas to buy my ring.

And he wasn't joking about getting the ring sized. Tiffany's usually takes 3-5 days to size a ring, and expedited sizing takes 24 hours. Haigen had it arranged that we were to show up at the San Francisco store when they opened, at 10 AM, and they would size my ring in four hours.

When we got there they were expecting us, everyone knew who we were, and true to their word my ring was sized and back on my finger in four hours.

And I've been wearing this ever since:

I have never been into marriage.

It has never been something I thought about as a little girl, planning over and over again in my little fairytale-addled mind. Even as an adult I've repeatedly railed against marriage. But Haigen, meeting you, and being in the most loving, effortless, supportive, and fulfilling relationship of my entire life changed all of that.

And I cannot wait to be your wife.