A year later...he still did good :-)

Let us step back in time to one year ago today...

These are the stories as we wrote them last year :-)

Our Engagement...

Friday, February 11, 2011

His Story - This story began in September of 2010 on the long commute to and from the beach with my parents. We got on the topic and discussed how quickly our relationship had developed and our future. We talked about setting a date on our anniversary, which was June 25. We had talked about what type of wedding we would like to have, all the way down to the color scheme. We both shared a vision of what we wanted. As time went on, we discussed our ideas with family and friends. I considered proposing around Christmas time but there were circumstances that would not allow me to do such and feel right about it. After Christmas came and went, I had Valentine's Day set in my head. Things began to look as if they would time out perfectly. Out of the blue, Melissa's friend Heidi asked me about the ring. I told her the thoughts I had about proposing around Valentines. I had thought a lot about a special place to have a romantic proposal and the Springs Chuch (where we met the first time) became my pick. Over the course of a few weeks, everything seemed to arrange perfectly. Heidi met me one day just to show me a ring Melissa had tried on one day they were shopping and really liked. I went to look and ended up walking out of the store with it. I worked with Heidi, Donna Chalmers and Kira Armstrong to get everything arranged. Heidi was a master schemer and was integral in getting everything set up at the church while I distracted Melissa. I always wanted it to be a surprise and a few people were very important in making that happen. On Friday, February 11th, I woke up in the morning and snuck to Sam's Club to buy fresh roses and took them to Heidi's work. She had everything loaded as we finished out our scheme. We met Donna Chalmers for lunch to discuss set design for our upcoming Charlotte's Web performance where she was able to sneak me her key to the church. We met Heidi "to get the car seat"/drop off the key so she could set up after work. I told Melissa that I had her something made for Valentine's and that I would get a message and we'd have to go pick it up. When Heidi had everything set up, she texted me and so I took Melissa out and told her I'd have to blindfold her. I drove us out of the way so she wouldn't guess where we were going. Things take over from there on the video linked below...

Her Story - He blindfolded me. That's my story.  I knew Heidi (my maid of honor) knew when it was going down and she had kept telling me, "be patient, be patient."  So when Andy came to my house on Friday, February 11, 2011 in his plain t-shirt and jeans, I didn't think anything of it.  He told me early in the day that we'd have to make a stop to pick up a suprise he'd made me for Valentine's Day as soon as he got the call it was ready.  I protested because we weren't supposed to do anything big for each other in order to save for the wedding.  He said he'd already had it planned BEFORE we made that decision. 

Our day went on like normal.  We met Donna Chalmers for a meeting about Charlotte's Web and went paint and key shopping at Home Depot.  I noticed Andy and Donna disappear for a few minutes, and even mentioned it to the other lady with us that I knew Donna and her daughter also knew when "it" was going to happen.  I knew Donna knew because Kira knew....and Kira told half the people in our office!  Anyway, we had to pick up Kaden's car seat at Heidi's office because we were supposed to baby sit the boys later in the day.  I did think it was odd that she didn't leave the car seat for me at her mom's like she normally does.

Meanwhile, the torture continues as he keeps telling me, "It's not ready yet" when I asked if he'd gotten the call.  Finally, around 5:45PM he gets a text that my surprise is ready!  He asked if I wanted to change shirts before we left.  The pretense was that Heidi would be there as soon as we  got back to go bridesmaids dress shopping with my mom and me.  She'd already warned me to "wear something cute" because she'd be taking pictures.  I changed into a random, black sweater, stuck a necklace on, and got in the car.  Only to be greated with a red bandana blindfold!  He drove me all over Flowery Branch to keep me guessing about where we were going.  We pulled into somewhere that had loose gravel in the driveway, but the driveway was still paved.  At this point, he gets out and fiddles around in the trunk while I'm left to sit and think for what seems like forever!  He leads me in and as soon as we walk inside, I know where we are!  I know the smell of the place we'd spent so much time at over the past year and a half - The Springs Church.  And even though he'd told me all the way there that it wasn't what I thought it was (and HOPED it was), it really was the best night of my life...so far!  

Thank God for BFFs, too!  As it was Heidi that set it all up while Andy was with me so I wouldn't suspect anything!  She was also kind enough to video, bring make-up for fixing me after I cried so much, and take pictures afterwards!  We went home only to find that my mom had arranged a house full of family, cake, and strawberries!