Soon to be Mrs. Ashenfelter!

May 7^th 2010, Garrick and I were celebrating our one year anniversary (for the third time). We had a beautiful hotel room at The Vintage in Portland and a delicious dinner at The Macaroni Grill. (I love Italian food!) After our dinner the sun was almost completely down and we decided to go for a walk down the waterfront. He told me he wanted to see the boats go by.  I was oblivious to how nervous he was that whole walk after our dinner. He kept looking at the benches trying to find the perfect spot to sit or stand. To me I assumed he just wanted a romantic setting for our night. Well after we settled at a bench he began telling me about how wonderful I am which still wasn’t a clue to a proposal for me. He’s told me things like that many times. He makes it a point to remind me of how much he loves me so it just seemed appropriate on our anniversary. We cuddled and exchanged our sappy emotions of how wonderfully happy we are with each other and with our kids. Eventually Garrick got very cold which I now sum up to his nerves. He wanted to say something but couldn’t get it out and with his chills it seemed appropriate to walk back.


On our walk to our room I had a suspicion that maybe he wanted to propose but then I pushed the idea away. I was afraid of getting my hopes up for it and I didn’t want to ruin whatever it was that he did have planned. I sat at the foot of the bed and he sat next to me while I cuddled up to help warm him. Next thing I know he takes a deep breath and slides off the bed onto one knee in front of me. What exactly did I say at that point?

First was “Oh my god” then I looked away crying instantly. I’m not sure why but I had to look away. I think to grasp reality. I look back with blurry eyes and he’s holding a black box with my ring in it. Princess cut diamonds, my favorite! Then I realize I hadn’t said an answer and told him of course yes. I believe several times I repeated that I couldn’t believe this was happening. I babbled a lot out loud in that moment. I thought I knew how I would react and feel in that moment of my life but I realize I had NO idea. It was amazing, it was perfect, it was one of the happiest moments of my life.