This is the second post of our {Love} Week. Since our one year anniversary is coming up this weekend, I thought I would write about Joshua and I's life together - starting from the very beginning.
For other {Love} Week posts about us, check them out on our He + She page.
{Love} Week: J&E's proposal
Surprised. Ecstatic. Blessed.
Thinking about our engagement, these three little words come to mind.
I don't know if anyone can really describe the emotional roller coaster a girl feels when the person she loves gets down on one knee. It is a feeling that, just thinking about it, still gives me butterflies.
I guess to start the story, I need to lead up to the event of the proposal.
Joshua and I had been dating for a year. Like I mentioned yesterday, we were very serious about each other. That spring, we started to really talk about the future. The next year would be our senior year, he would have an internship with a police department, I would start student teaching... it just made sense that we would talk about it and try to figure out what we would do. By this time, we knew we wanted to move to Alaska.
Shoot, I think we had that conversation the first night we hung out, which was why we were both drawn to each other. We knew the other person wanted to experience life beyond IL and for me, that was a factor in knowing he could potentially be my future husband.
So we both knew we wanted to move, and Joshua also knew I didn't want to live with him before marriage. My thought process was that if we really wanted to move cross country, 4,000 miles away from everything I am used to, he at least better call me wifey.
So school ended, and I distinctly remember the first weekend I was home. My mom and I were sitting on the couch, just talking and catching up. I look over at her and said, "So Joshua and I have really been talking and I think we are going to get engaged this summer." She immediately sits up and says, "Well, we need to start planning the wedding now!" Praise Jesus she didn't question our decision or even asked if he was "the one". She knew. All she kept saying was, "who knows when he'll actually do it" and "you don't need a ring to plan a wedding if you know for sure". She just wanted to start!
So blessed to have the mom that I do!
She knew I would be extremely busy my senior year, two hours away from home, and student teaching. So, like any typical girl and mom who is thinking she is about to get engaged, we got on Pinterest and started looking for ideas.
That weekend, I knew my colors, where I would have it, and what I really wanted my wedding to look like.
Now Pinterest helped, but really, it was my sister's wedding that was the inspiration of mine. Thanks Sis!
But I'm sure when Joshua figured out I had told my mom and she became our wedding planner, he felt a little more pressure to propose. But just a little, I'm sure.
Now, my mother also had another reason to want to start planning early. My sister was pregnant and literally ready to have the baby any moment at this time. She knew this would take a lot of her time, her first grandson and all, so she figured if she could get the gist of the wedding done before the baby came, all the better.
Why am I telling you about my sister's baby? I'll get to that in a minute...
This whole time, I really didn't think Joshua was going to propose to me so soon. I knew we had planned a family vacation down to Gulf Shores in late July. I figured maybe he would do it then. When we always talked about getting engaged, Joshua always said in December. So I literally thought if not in July, he would wait until December to do it. My only hope was that by that time, my mom would have everything planned so I she didn't really have to plan a whole wedding in six months...
But that didn't mean that when we were together, I didn't think, "Maybe this will be it". It didn't consume me, and I was never disappointed that it hadn't happened yet, but it still crossed my mind.
Fast forward to June 3, 2012. My sweet nephew was born. The whole family was so happy. This was the first baby in our immediate family since my siblings and I were kids. I was at Josh's when he was born, so the next day, Monday, I finally drove home to see him. That meant Joshua wouldn't be able to see him until the next weekend since he had to work all week. Our engagement came up that week. Josh kept saying how he would never do it this close to James' birth so neither occasion (the birth or our engagement) would get overshadowed.
I got a tricky one, let me tell ya!
June 8, 2013
Joshua was coming to town to see James for the first time. Joshua took the day off of work, but he told me he had to do an errand for his dad first before he came to see me. I didn't think anything of it, I just knew he still had to drive 2 hours to see me...The anticipation was killing me for Josh to see James, and I couldn't wait because we had plans for a date night that night.
So finally around 11am, Joshua finally arrived to see James.
^^ This was the first time Joshua held James. I put this picture on Facebook and the caption said, "Uncle Josh's first time holding Baby James!"
Maybe it was a little presumptuous of me calling him Uncle Josh at that time - I just knew James would grow up always knowing him as Uncle Josh. Mrs. Davis was the first one to text me asking if there was anything I needed to tell her. My father even commented on the photo and said, "Calm down, young lady". (Little did I know, Joshua had already talked to my dad earlier to ask his permission, so of course he was chopping at the bit to tell someone what was about to happen. Only my dad...)
The funny part about this whole thing is that we stayed at my sister's house longer than Joshua would have liked. Like I said, we had date night - notice the nice shirt Josh is wearing. But James at that time went through so many outfits a day. Why? He kept peeing through his diaper and ruining the outfit he had on. So why did we have to stay at my sister's house longer than expected? You guessed it! Right after I took this picture, James went to the bathroom and literally got it all on Joshua's shirt. Now we all thought it was funny. Joshua, on the other hand, was stressed out. He kept walking back and forth, back and forth. He knew he was about to propose and his new little nephew just went to the bathroom on the only nice shirt he brought. So we had to stay at Alex's so we could wash and dry his shirt.
As we were waiting for his shirt to dry, I was perfectly fine postponing our date night a few hours since I was holding the new baby. Joshua was a nervous wreck. He became more so when my dad showed up. He thought his whole plan would get ruined because he thought my dad would say something. Thinking back on that day now, my dad was overly happy. I thought it was just because of his new grandson, which I'm sure was part of it, but he also knew his baby girl was about to be engaged.
At this time, my dad had already talked to Josh. He knew what was about to happen. My mother, who was also there, and sister had no idea.
So finally, 2 hours later, Joshua and I were ready to leave so I could start getting ready for our "date night". Josh drove separately to my sister's house, which meant we drove separately to my mom's house. Josh arrived at least 5 minutes after me. His excuse was that there was road construction - which actually made sense because there was. Thinking about it now though, no way in Mt. Carmel would it have taken him at least 5 minutes to get from my sister's house then to my mom's house. I was just trying to get ready as fast as I could since Joshua was rushing me (told ya he was nervous), so I didn't think much about it.
What Joshua actually did was when he saw me pull away, he went back into the house to show my mom and sister the ring and told them his plans before he actually proposed.
He wanted to make sure it was okay with both my dad and mom!
This is when I became a little suspicious. When I was getting ready, Joshua said he had to go "move stuff around in his truck". I thought, "Oh gosh.. tonight's the night!". I told ya, at different times, I thought hoped I was getting engaged! So I stealthily moved to the window to look out in our driveway. I thought I was going to see a little ring box being moved from Josh's truck to my jeep. Instead, I literally saw Joshua messing with his new fishing poles he had just bought. When I saw him messing with his fishing poles, all thoughts of engagement went out of my head. I mean literally, I thought, "Well, it's not happening tonight." And that was that. Didn't think about it again.
Now this is the part Joshua planned perfectly. I told you my mom, sister, and I had my wedding basically all planned out - which meant we knew where we were going to get married. The whole week leading up to this weekend, Joshua told me his mom wanted pictures of the land so she could see it. He literally reminded me everyday. I'm sorry Heather, but I seriously thought you were crazy. Who wanted pictures of land so much?! So when Joshua mentioned that before we head to Evansville, we should go out and take pictures, I rolled my eyes. Again, sorry Heather!
When Joshua and I got out to the land, he made me tell him all about our wedding. I explained where everything would be - the food, the dance floor, where people would be sitting. He asked specifically where we would say "I do". I pretended to walk down the aisle, stopped, and said, "Right here." I turned out towards the land to take pictures, of course for his mom so she would finally stop asking for them, and when I turned around, Joshua was down on one knee.
It was the perfect moment.
As I am typing this, I seriously feel all the emotions all over again. I am so glad Joshua chose to propose, just us two, on such a special place where we eventually became husband and wife.
My favorite part about our proposal was that right after all the crying and laughter, we prayed. We prayed for our wedding, that it would all come together, but we also specifically prayed for our marriage. Thinking about that day, that moment, I will always remember that sweet, sweet prayer.
Now anyone who knows my dad, knows he has to have some part of everything that happens. After Joshua proposed, he informed me that he didn't have to run any errands for his dad, but instead came to Mt. Carmel early to ask for my dad's permission. So of course, instantly, I knew my dad was waiting very impatiently, like he always is, to find out how it went. Luckily, Joshua held him off coming to the site until after it happened.
^^ My dad came literally 2.5 seconds after we called him. First pictures as a newly engaged couple on the land where Josh proposed and where we eventually said "I do"!
^^ At my mom's later that day.
Turns out, Josh didn't even plan a date night. He just knew I would want to look semi-good when I got engaged, something other than my regular clothes. How thoughtful!
And side note: Heather was not the crazy future mother-in-law I thought. She never asked for pictures of the land. It was all so Joshua could get me out there! Sneaky fiancé!
I know this was a long story. It was just every detail fit together to make this perfect day happen! Thanks for bearing with me and reading it all! And wives/future wives, I would suggest writing down your proposal. It takes you back to those precious, once in a lifetime feelings!
On June 8, 2013, I again got asked one of the easiest questions I've ever answered. The word YES was never so easily spoken.
^^ Me with the wonderful hostesses of my first wedding shower! // All the ladies that came! ^^
