I Am Going to Live with a Boy!

So I guess that I should start at the very beginning. Buckle your seat belt.

It all started last summer in the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Starkville. I was meeting my friend Katherine to pick up a present for another one of our friends wedding showers. About ten minutes after I left I got a text message from Katherine asking if I would be willing to be set up on a blind date. I was very hesitant at the time and thinking that it was not the greatest idea. I gave some excuse how school and work were really busy and I just did not have time for anything else in my schedule at the time. So Katherine waits. Talks with me about it again. I think that I was little more open to the idea at that time but still thinking that maybe I should not go and thinking there is no way that this was going actually going to work. I think that I kinda agreed to something but I can't really remember. Well she calls a third time and I agree to meet for "happy hour" after work one night. Katherine says that she and Jarrod will come too so that it won't be awkward. I think well I don't have anything to loose -- why not, right? Many of my long time Starkville friends had moved in the past six months so I was up for making a new friend (thinking that it would just be that, a friend).

It was a Wednesday afternoon on a hot July day. We all met at Bin 612 for drinks. That was the plan... only drinks. I first lay eyes on this boy and awkwardly introduce myself across the fence; we shake hands and he stands until I am seated (secretly impressed by his gentleman acts immediately). I order some white wine and thus begins the conversation. We chat about being from Sylacauga, my favorite university Auburn, life in the real world and I can't really remember what else. I am sure that we talked something about politics... oh yes, we compared notes from our summers in DC. Drinks were going so well that we ended up staying for dinner. Conversation was flowing and I think that it was like four hours later when it was time to leave. He walks me to my car and awkwardly asks for my number (it was awkward because he could not get his iPhone to work). So I give him my number and I leave town for a week the next day. I knew that he would call but I had no idea when.

So the next week I get a phone call from a random 601 number... it was The Boy. He asks me to dinner the next day. Our dinner date at Anthony's lasted 3-4 hours too. He drank white wine because that is what I wanted and he hates white wine (come to find out later). It was a pretty good first date.

Remember me blogging about Cooking School? Yes, he won my heart with some cooking in the Delta of Mississippi.

I think that it is about time that I get to the engagement :) If you had asked me on Sunday afternoon if I thought that Lee had talked with my Dad I would have told you no way. I was convinced that he had not talked to him because when would he have? I just did not see a time or place where they could have met. And I knew that he had not bought a ring. I knew that he had looked at some but I thought that he was just trying to get educated on diamonds because I knew nothing about diamonds. So I really would have made a large bet with you if you had made an offer.

We had spent the weekend in Memphis with some friends. It was a really chill and fun weekend. On the way home Lee handed me a book that we had been going through together. It has 101 questions to ask and I always knew that we would be finished with the book before we got engaged. We were close to the end and Lee insisted that we finish it before we got home. I just thought that he was ready to finish the book because had spent three months working through it. So we finish the book and I ask so when are you going to propose. I was completely kidding (and he knew it) because I was convinced that he had some business to tend to (i.e. purchasing a ring but more importantly talking Dad) and his response was "today". I started laughing and told him to get to work then.

We pull up at my house and things are as normal as they can be. We unload my stuff and walk into the house. I notice a package from Mom sitting in the foyer, see that my roommates made a mess in the living and I was a little frustrated with that so I just start walking to my room. Lee asks were are you going and I responded to my room he says don't you want to look at the stuff in the living. I was thinking no not really because it's not my stuff and I left that room clean and now it is dirty. He drops his stuff and walks into the living room and I decide to follow.

When I walk in I notice that there are pictures of us and a screen printed picture of the Auburn and MS State University seals over lapping on the coffee table (INSERT BACKGROUND: it is Auburn tradition to not walk on the seal because you will either not marry an Auburn grad and/or your children will not go to Auburn; Lee knew the background and had said numerous times that if/when he proposed that he was going to do it on the seal and I told him that he would have to find another girl then). So when I saw that I realized what was going on and I whip around and ask what are you doing? And that point he is down on a knee and I sit down next to him because I am so shocked. Somehow I get out a yes before the tears come.

We then proceeded to call parents and friends. And then our sweet Starkville friends brought over champagne, strawberries, and dinner. For the rest of the night we got to spend it with friends and just rejoicing the fun event!

To fill in some gaps... Lee met my dad in Tuscaloosa the same day that I met my dad in Tuscaloosa. Lee told me that he was headed there for work (which was not completely out of the ordinary because he does some work with UAT). I guess that he showed up at work for about five minutes before he spent the next four hours getting drilled with questions by my dad. It was at that lunch meeting that my dad gave Lee my grandmothers diamond that was used in her engagement ring and told Lee that he would be honored if he used it but to not feel any pressure. He bought the ring the weekend that I went with my friends Karis and Sheri to Gulfport for Mardi Gras (more on that to come later). He told me that he and Drew needed to go home because Drew had left some stuff that he would need for job interviews (I completely bought it). Not only did he go home but he went to New Orleans to do some purchasing.

So there you have it. Our engagement story :) Save the date for October 8, 2011!!!