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Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Engagement


I'm nearly positive that everyone who reads this knows all about how Pat and I got engaged but just in case, I thought I'd share. Fair warning this will be a long post.

Pat and I had planned to take a road trip the weekend before Valentine's day this year to Baker City, OR. Pat found this amazing hotel call the Geiser Grand Hotel and there is a brewery there that he really wanted to check out. You might recall from our ghost town road trip an adorable little school house in Friend, Oregon. We decided to stop there for a picnic on the way there since we loved it so much the first time. 

I kinda knew it was coming. Call it spidey sense or whatever you want but I had an inkling. And here is why I am a jerk- I went out the night before and got completely destroyed. I walked home over 4 miles by myself at 3 in the morning. Pat was so furious with me for not calling him for a ride. This was not the first time. I am completely forboden from walking home like that again. BUT I got up at 7 or whenever we had to get up to leave and pulled myself together. Pat kept looking at the sorry state I was in and shaking his head. Probably was rethinking the entire thing- do I really want to marry this mess?

Maybe I was imagining it but I could feel him getting nervous as we got closer to Friend. It's something like a four hour drive. When we pulled up Pat pulled out a beer and damn near chugged it. We walked around a bit and played with the dogs. The weather was really beautiful and we sat on the steps and had a cheese and cracker picnic like we did the first time. 

At one point Pat went to his car and grabbed a big red box. Here we go, I thought. So I opened the box, a bit nervous, and inside were two bottles of wonderful cider. I have a think for cider and one of them I had been dying to try. I was kinda rooting around in the box like...so is there a ring in here or? I was totally stoked on the cider, I was just confused. I started thinking maybe my spidey sense was broken and I totally misread the whole situation.

So we finished our picnic and were just sitting on the step watching the sunset and the dogs and the birds and the seriously beautiful scenery. We've tried to take good photos before but they really don't do it justice. 
At some point I start to get cold but Pat is clearly stalling. We are sitting on the steps and he somehow transitions so he is crouching in front of me below the steps, holding my hands. At this point, I'm pretty sure I know what's going to happen. But then it doesn't. We keep watching the sunset and the dogs and the birds. Then a few minutes later he transitions to the one knee. Again, I brace. But then we keep watching the sunset and the dogs and the birds. After probably 5-7 minutes of just hanging out, my hands in his and him on one knee, he starts trying to make his speech. He said some really lovely things but had the hardest time getting his words out and in the right order. It was pretty cute. Then he says "So I got you something" HA, and then he reaches into the wrong pocket, switches pockets, and pulls out my ring. He opens the box and shows it to me. I don't think he knew or could remember at that moment which hand/finger he needed from me. And since he hadn't yet asked me to marry him or any other variation of that phrase, I was hesitant. I was 99.99999999% sure I knew what he wanted but can you imagine the idea of handing someone your right finger only to realize that they were just being really dramatic about giving you jewelery? It would be the first jewelery I had received from him, so in my nervous brain this was a possibility. 

Either I bit the bullet or he remembered which appendage he was supposed to put the ring on and all of a sudden I was wearing an engagement ring. I kinda stared at him like "soooooooo did you have something you wanted to ask me?" Call me old fashioned but I wanted the question. Finally he asked, and I said yes.  I mean, it would have been pretty awkward if I said no after he put the ring on. 

It was pretty surreal. Even knowing it was coming and knowing that I would say yes, realizing that you straight up just promised to marry someone is jarring in a way that I didn't expect it to be- it's the cheesiest thing in the world but I felt floaty. We both just kept smiling silly smiles and of course I spent the whole weekend staring at my ring. 

We decided to take the weekend to adjust to the news ourselves before telling our loved ones. So we went to Barley Brown's that night for dinner and checked into our wonderful hotel and explored Baker City as a secretly newly engaged couple. There were a few people who had a good idea- I had told them my suspicions or Pat had been consulting friends about his plans- but it was really nice to have a weekend away to enjoy the newness and excitement of the whole thing. Our hotel was so beautiful- I would recommend it to anyone. It is a fully restored hotel built in 1889. The rooms have amazing high ceilings with chandeliers and a beautiful stained glass ceiling in the center of the hotel and it makes you feel like you've stepped into the past (or a movie set). Also, its pet friendly! 

On our way back home, we stopped at pFriem Brewing in Hood River to eat and I wanted to call my parents and tell them the news. I was so incredibly nervous and I have no idea why. But after I got off the phone, the server had overheard and asked us if we had just got engaged. We told her yes and I got to show off my ring and she gushed and it was so fun to have this stranger so happy for us. She sent us home with a growler and some glassware as a congratulations gift. Our first wedding gift, and very fitting. 

Now here we are almost 4 months later and it's old news. 

The ring: It's circa 1930, came from Gilt in Portland. I took pictures of it in the bathroom because for some reason the overhead light in there makes it sparkle like crazy. I had thought I didn't want a diamond. I wanted a colored stone. But once I saw this ring I knew it was perfect. He did an amazing job. The filigree includes some rose gold, which I love. It's so beautiful on its own I don't think I'll be adding a band or anything to it.

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