I HAVE A PRETTY LITTLE RING ON MY FINGER

It’s official! Josh and I are engaged!!!!!

I wish I even knew where to begin with this one, but I’ll be honest, I’m still reveling in the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with this man, and now everyone can see it—although they might be a bit blinded by the bling-bling on my finger! How wonderful that Josh is now my fiance and in two weeks when I meet Josh’s mom and brothers, I’ll not just be her son’s girlfriend, but her son’s fiance’—her future daughter!
So how did all this happen? (Here’s the long story for those hopeless romantics out there…for the rest of you, the important part is that we’re engaged and you can just skim through my ramblings!)
For all Josh’s plan-ahead, measured, think-through-everything history of decision-making, spontaneity has finally won out! Unbeknownst to me, over Thanksgiving Josh had the ring in his pocket and officially asked my Dad. He also, despite craftily convincing me of otherwise, was planning on asking me right before we left for Christmas in a couple weeks, but fortunate for me, he decided he couldn’t wait. So on Wedneday, November 28, at 5:45 pm Josh decided he didn’t want to wait any longer, and that he was going to propose…that night…at roughly 6:30. Oh yes, he did.
So, since we were already going to hang out at 6, Josh texted and asked me if I could come a few minutes late because he was finishing up some stuff. When I did come, though, Josh asked if we could go to Walmart…it had been a long day he said, and he needed to get off the mountain…but this was all a lie—a lie to get us going down the backside of the mountain. But as we drive, Josh pulls into the Catholic church on the mountain—which is a beautiful spot for us—one of those places that means so much to both of us because of a conversation we had on the stairs to the church months ago. At this point I think to myself, “could it be…NO. There’s no way.”
Then we pull over, and Josh tells me to leave my phone in the car so we could sit on the stairs again for a bit. At this point I’m thinking, “Oh my word! I think he’s….surely not?” As we get out of the car, Josh sneaks out a vase…my vase from my room in St. Louis! (While we were in St. Louis over Thanksgiving, Josh had snuck into my room and ‘stolen’ this vase I had of dried flowers from different bouquets he’d sent me over the summer.) At this point I realize, without a doubt, yes, this is it.
As we sit there, Josh gives me an envelope…when I open it, I find the beautiful letter that Josh had sent my parents back in OCTOBER to tell them that he wanted to marry me and explaining why and how he loved me. Mmm, yup…at this point enter tears by Corinne.
After reading this, Josh tells me there’s something else in the envelope. Now you’ll need a little background here. Last year, when Josh and I were all ‘scandalous’ and liked each other even though we couldn’t date each other (you know, those no staff-student dating type rules that are totally appropriate…most of the time!), we both ended up at Taco Bell at the same time, with other friends…so accordingly we sat on opposite sides of the restaurant so as to avoid suspicion. I was there with my roommate, who the entire time, was tossing the sauce packets (you know the hot sauce packets that have all kinds of phrases on them like: “the feeling’s mutual”). Jokingly, she picks up the one that says, “will you marry me?” and says that someday Josh should use this one. Ironically enough, at the same time, Josh, not having any idea what’s going on between Anna and I, picks up the exact same sauce packet, thinks to himself that this could be handy someday, and stows it away in his pocket….that same packet which now makes an entrance into our engagement story.
As I pull this silly little sauce packet out, Josh gets down on his knee, and asks me to be his wife. OH MY WORD!!!! At this point I’m completely speechless…crying some in true form…and before I can even manage to stutter out ‘yes,’ there’s a ring on my finger, and the man I love sitting right in front of me with that big ol’ grin that I can’t get enough of.
What’s even more beautiful, is that this was not just any ring—this is the same ring that Josh’s Dad used to propose to Josh’s mom years ago…I have never felt so honored as to have this family that I’m just starting to become a part of, through Josh, offering me this amazing gift of themselves to me, and in such a tangible way as this very important ring. I really am amazed and so honored beyond words.
Josh wanted to propose with this ring, because of the meaning behind it; however, he also wanted to make it a ring that really fit me and him, so while he proposed with the original ring in it’s original setting, he already had a new setting picked out for us, just waiting for the original diamond to be put into it. And now, a few days later, I have a new setting of the ring that I can’t stop looking at (and thus Josh is endlessly making fun of me!) that is so beautiful and even more importantly has so much meaning--this diamond has already signified so much to Josh’s family, and now too for Josh and I as we become a family together. (don't worry, I'll post pictures of the rings...original and new setting as soon as I find the cord to load them to my computer!)
Looking back to a year ago, it’s unbelievable to see where Josh and I have come…and it still blows me away…I still lose my breath every time he walks in the room, and I still can’t believe that through all the complications, God knew exactly what he was doing, and has given me an incredible man who in a few months I will have the honor of calling my husband.
Oh yeah, and y’all better be planning for a road trip to St. Louis in June!