Katie & George an Engagement Story

Today I welcome my friend Katie to the blog. I met her through De, she is a new friend and an amazing person. She was kind enough to share her engagement story with us today.
I never imagined I would meet the love of my life at a nightclub on New Year's Eve. I was happily single and out dancing with friends when I saw a tall, dark figure approach me from behind. Girls, you know how it is when you get approached from behind at a club - you look frantically at your friends to ensure he's not a total creep. My friend Deanna gave me a nod and I turned around to face my suitor. "Hi," was his clever pick up line and from there we spent the next couple hours drinking, dancing, and trying to talk over the thumping music. George was my New Year's kiss and we exchanged numbers at the end of the night, saying we'd go out soon.

After exchanging a few text messages after NYE, we went on our first date, and then another, and another, until we were quickly spending every weekend together. Falling in love with George was effortless. He is tall, dark, and handsome, but beyond appearances, he is smart, hardworking, incredibly sweet, thoughtful, and is close with his big, wonderful family. We love traveling together and went to Panama in September, Northern California to visit family during the holidays, and have taken numerous weekend trips in between.

Our most recent adventure resulted in the engagement, and is one that I'll never forget. My friend Annie's wedding was planned for May 1st in Oakhurst, a small town outside Yosemite. As a bridesmaid, I knew I would be busy with the rehearsal dinner and other duties, so George and I planned to take a couple days off work and head up before the wedding to spend Thursday hiking around Yosemite. Annie recommended hiking up to Vernal Falls, so we bundled up in all our layers to endure the hail and frigid temperatures. After hiking uphill for two hours, we got to the base of the waterfall and stopped to rest on a big flat slab of granite just next to where the water was streaming past.

When we got settled in for our break, George said, "I want to ask you something... We've been spending a lot of time together and we're both spending a lot of money on rent. I think we should move in together." Prior to this day, I had a rule for myself that I wouldn't live with a significant other unless we were engaged, so maybe it was the altitude that made me respond, "Sure, let's do it." Honestly though, I can't blame the altitude. George and I spend nearly every night together, and we each have our own apartments exactly one half mile apart from each other in Long Beach. Combined we spend a lot of money on rent and utilities, and grocery shopping is a pain because we go to Costco and then have to split everything down the middle. He caught me in a moment of weakness.

Once I agreed to moving in together, he replied, "Good, I was hoping you'd say that. I have something for you." He opened his backpack and took out a white paper bag and handed it to me. Inside the white paper bag was a blue bag from Tiffany. My downstairs neighbor Jack works at Tiffany in Costa Mesa, and during dinner with him last week, I told him about a pair of earrings I've been wanting. With that in mind, when George handed me the bag, I giddily said, "Ooh! I bet I know what these are!" When I made my way through the bags, bow, and box, only one little black velvet box stood between me and the ring. When I opened it up, he said "Katie, will you marry me?" and practically before the words were out of his mouth I said, "Oh my god, yes!"

I spent the next few minutes in utter disbelief; I laughed, I cried, I said "Oh my god" a few more times. Then I asked him if he had asked my dad, just to make sure it was legit. The whole way back down the hill, I couldn't stop smiling or looking at the gorgeous ring he picked out for me. Prior to this, we really hadn't talked much about getting engaged or married, so we kept asking each other, "Are you sure? Really sure?"

Today is Thursday*, so it's been one week since he popped the question. We've told our family, friends, co-workers and the Facebook world, and the excited response from so many loved ones was amazing (albeit slightly overwhelming.) Right now we're apartment hunting and still getting used to saying "fiancé" instead of boyfriend/girlfriend. When people ask me if I was shocked, I usually pause and try to think of a word that means "more than shocked." I was blown away, stunned, and utterly surprised at his proposal. More than anything though, I am excited, excited, excited!

I can't wait to live together, can't wait to marry him, can't wait to travel more together, you get the idea... The one thing that I am not so excited about, however, is planning a wedding. I need some serious help when it comes to ideas, especially for something that's fun, beautiful, meaningful, and inexpensive. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to enjoying our engagement and planning our life together. Yay!

*Katie wrote this on 5/6/2010