Rings 'n Things

The husband and I started dating 5 years ago. (I'm feeling older as I write this.) We were both in college and had no expectations whatsoever as to what this relationship would bring. I was only 19 afterall and he 24. Like every other woman on the planet, however, I soon started longing to hear a measly 3 word phrase that would launch our relationship into the next level. I remember that we had been dating a year and still had not heard him utter these words and so I started to push. I wanted confirmation that we were both on the same page. That he really did have deeper feelings for me which could maybe develop into a relationship geared toward marriage. So I started acting like any other woman on the planet would act and started asking if he loved me, if he was in this relationship because he thought he might possibly be able to see us married sometime down the line.

This was never recieved well, of course. And I don't blame him at all. Had I had some boyfriend pressuring me and demanding me to express my love for him I don't think I would have responded half as well as the husband did. He always told me the truth and it was always the same: I wouldn't still be in this relationship if I wasn't happy and didn't think it could go somewhere. He's always been very logical like this. Why tell me he loves me, instead show me by planning fantastic 21st birthday wine tastings and flowers unexpectedly. That is how he showed me, and still continues to show me, that he loves me.

That and he has these crazy rules about relationships. He told me when we first started seeing each other that he has rules he abides by when he is dating someone. First of all, you never become exclusive before dating a month. That way you can get a good feel for the person and see if they are cooky. Also, you never buy a girl jewelry unless you want to marry her. He told me other rules, but these are the two that really stood out in my mind. To me he was saying, if I like you, in one month we will be exclusively dating. (And no matter how much I whined, he waited until exactly one month to ask if I was comfortable with dating him and only him.) I also had it flagged forever in my memory that if he ever bought me jewelry, he intended to marry me.

So, one day two years into the relationship and still not a sign of a single piece of jewelry, the husband and I had been working out at the gym. In the car ride home he said he had something for me in his pocket. I was more than ready for a ring, the ring, and got a little excited.

Me: You have something for me? What?
Him: It's in my pocket. Here. I found this on the gym floor and thought it might be worth something.

He pulls out a ring. That he literally found on the gym floor. And I don't know how he could have thought it might be worth something. It looked like it had come from a crackerjacks box. And I told him.

Me: What is this? You actually think this is worth anyhting??? It looks like it came from a crackerjacks box! (I was mad with disappointment and was a little mean.)
Him: Well I don't know. Those kinda look like diamonds! My dad found a diamond ring on the floor once and gave it to my mom and she wasn't offended. She still has it.
Me: Yeah, because those are real diamonds! I don't want this piece of crap!

Like I said, I was mean. I threw it down in his car and left it at that.

But, like I said, he only intended on buying me jewelry if he wanted to marry me, so I panicked. The thought that was suddenly stuck in my mind was "What if he never buys me any jewelry? I might as well take what I can get!"

So I later snuck it back. When he noticed it on my finger, I told him I had thought better of the situation, that since he wasn't going to buy me any jewelry, I might as well take this piece of junk and make the best of it.

Which he thought was hilarious. And I thought was very sad. And a little funny.

Little did I know, that at almost exactly 3 years of dating, the husband would propose. And in the most romantic and clever way that I have ever heard:

He mysteriously told me that he would be picking me up at 5:30 in the morning on May 17, 2008. Now, if you have read my profile you know that I do not like mornings and I am a big grump if I am woken too early and/or have not gotten enough sleep. So when he said 5:30 I was not excited. He also wouldn't tell me where we were going.

We ended up driving to Temecula, wine country, to Wilson Creek Winery. I still had no idea what we were doing here. There were quite a few people there and we had to go check in. When we did I heard something about a pilot and got a little nervous.

Me: What are we doing? Did he say something about a pilot???
Husband: No. It's a surprise. He didn't say pilot. You're crazy.

We ended up getting into a van with 2 other couples, and I was correct he had said pilot. We were going up in a hot air balloon. Over wine country. Can you say romance?

We even posed for a few pictures before we went up, and the staff was more than willing to snap some photos for us.

Before we had boarded this basket, the sign had read "Happy Anniversary" so I had no clue that we were posing in front of a propsal sign!

We went soaring along. It was peaceful and romantic and so calm in the balloon. I remember trying to lean over and look down and the husband was super concerned and wouldn't let me lean too far over. Eventually, the husband handed me a polaroid of us posing in front of the "Will You Marry Me?" sign in the basket. And got down on one knee.

I was shocked. And so excited that he finally decided to buy me jewelry! I no longer wear my crackerjacks box ring because I have this beauty to wear.