Wedding Wednesday - The Proposal (!!!)

Am I allowed to do this? Wedding Wednesday? I think so, right? Because I'm getting married? Still doesn't feel real! Well, I will do it and if I am wrong then someone tell me, please! 

Today I will tell the story of the proposal. 

The background
People always ask if I knew it was happening. I didn't KNOW it was happening but I knew it was coming. John, bless his heart, isn't sneaky. In fact, in the end of August 2013 he texted me to ask my ring size. Dead giveaway (enter: this video.) I was half expecting a proposal during our weekend up north for labor day, but that didn't happen. Instead, on Wednesday September 11th, 2013 (grim day), John took me to a park and asked if I wanted to get married to him.

The call
John had called me earlier in the day to tell me he got offered a job (yay!) and that we were going to the Bulldog at 7 p.m. The Bulldog is where we had our first date so long ago (January 2012). I came home from work kind of late but was lounging on the couch. 

The text
I received a text from my bestie, Lacey, with a picture of purple nail polish, asking if she could pull that color off. I said of course she could. Then she asked what my nails looked like and I said that she would never believe it but they were not painted at all (rare for me). Then she asked what I was up to that night I said going to Bulldog with John. She then told me that I better paint my nails. I always told John that I could not have ugly nails if he proposed. He told Lacey to check on my nails, and make sure they were cute. Nice, huh? 

The flowers
John came home and we chatted for a bit before heading out for the Bulldog. I got in to his car and he had a bouquet of roses. I asked what they were for, and he said they were for me because "he always gets me roses". (He never gets me roses) 

The drive
From our apartment to the Bulldog, the drive is probably 10 minutes. He found a parking spot and we walked through Mears Park. We were walking through Mears Park for a while before we sat down. And when I say a while, it must have only been 10 - 15 minutes. John was weirdly nervous. He was looking all around and his hands were shaking! John is not a nervous person, so something was out of order for him. 

The bench
We grabbed a bench on the east side of the park and sat. We were holding hands and talking. Again, he kept looking around and his cell phone's text alert kept buzzing. 

The question
After a bit (10 minutes?) of sitting, I mentioned we should head to Bulldog cause I was hungry. John stalled a little bit. Then, he says, "So, do you want to get married?" and I say, "well, yes!" and he says, "no, like right here!" and I say, "John we can't get married here, we haven't sent our save the dates (inside joke, will explain later)." Then he pulls a box out of his pocket and says, "No, I have this ring! And I want to know if you will marry me! I didn't watch a video on YouTube, I don't know how to do this!" I open the box and I don't know what I said or what I did at this point. I obviously told him that I will and I am pretty sure I asked if he was sure he wanted to marry me. He said something about my skin being as beautiful as on our first date (random) and that of course he wanted to marry me! SO there we were! John said, "Are you excited to be an engaged cat?" and I said, Yes! 

The Bulldog
Finally, after a bit of sitting and talking and kissing, we headed across the street to The Bulldog. I looked to my left and saw John's sister and her BF right away. We walked over to them and then I turned around and saw Lacey, Natalie and Michael behind me! We all sat down at the big table. I am not sure who all came next but John's parents were there, a couple of his college friends, Kelly and Matt.... not sure who else! We chatted, laughed and had drinks. (Here is Kelly's recap of how she found out she was supposed to come to the Bulldog. John pulled this all together around 4 p.m.???) 

Yes!

The funny thing! 
Remember how John was looking around the park all weirdly? Turns out, he was looking for Lacey! He thought she was going to be in the park, too! Then he said he thought she was going to start singing! (Lacey's an amazing singer) 

SO that is the engagement story!