How We Got Engaged -- "The Talk"

This Saturday marks our 5 year engagement anniversary.  Mom always says I should write these stories down so when I'm old and forgetful, I can look back on them and remember stuff.  

Looking back, I'm pretty sure Jason and I knew from the beginning we were going to get married.  Our journey to dating was a long one, but once we started dating, we just knew it was meant to be.

Three months in (yes, just three), I was ready for whenever he wanted to ask.  My first suspicion was on our 6-monthiversary.  We had been out to eat, and I had to wait in the truck while he went into his house to do something.  I kinda had a "Oh my goodness, is this it?" moment in the truck.  It turned out he was lighting candles and putting cheesecake slices from the fridge on plates.  Very romantic, but not our engagement story.

In July or August, I was at his house, and he started asking me "hypothetical" engagement ring questions.  Like, what would I want in a ring...  I tried to keep my voice calm, while the little bride inside of me was screaming "Whee!!!!!" and dancing around.  We were having "the talk," and I was super excited.

Me: "Well, I'd like it to be a silvery color, like white gold or something."
Jason: "Or platinum."

I had no idea that jewelry came in platinum.  Hmm, has he already been shopping around?

Me: "And I only want one stone, not a whole bunch."
Jason: "Solitaire."

Is it sad that this guy knows more about rings than I do?

Me: "Nothing too big, like half a carat or something."
Jason: "You get no say in that."

Um, ok...

Me: "And it has to fit under my [latex] gloves at work."

Jason later tells me this was the one thing he hadn't thought of.  I'm so glad I mentioned it, since I knew girls at work that dealt with their rings breaking their gloves all the time.  He ended up getting the perfect setting for it, called a cathedral setting, that slopes up around the stone, so no tiny prongs to rip gloves.


I tried not to think about our talk after that, but I called him one day, and he was really short with me on the phone.  That was weird.  He said he was out "buying things" and that he couldn't talk.  I don't know why, but when I got off the phone, a thought popped in my head.  Was he buying my ring?  Turns out he was!

Another day, Jason asked me if I wanted to go back to the mountains and visit the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I had never been, so I thought it would be fun.  The only strange thing was that our trip was just a few weeks before we were going to travel back that way for his sister's wedding.  A tiny thought in the back of my head wondered if we were going to get engaged on that trip...

Next Up: The big day...





As a sidenote, I loved how Jason handled things.  Everyone has their own personal opinion about this stuff, but I loved that he valued my opinion (though I'm sure he would have picked out something perfect even if he hadn't asked) but didn't want me to go ring shopping with him.  That just seems a little too involved to me.  Like, after you've bought the ring together and know for sure you're getting engaged, what stops the guy from just handing the ring over to you in the store?  So then every moment becomes a "Is he going to ask today?  Why didn't he ask today?  I'm so mad at him!" moment.  Like I said, everyone has their personal opinion.  This is just mine.