I
have some exciting news! On October 31st, 2015 (My 26th
Birthday!) Elijah and I got ENGAGED!
Here’s
the story…
So all month long Elijah had been talking
about having a big surprise for my birthday. I was so excited because whenever
he says that, you can guarantee that it’s a big surprise. He doesn’t do
anything halfway. So for the entire month, I was trying to guess what it was
and Elijah just kept ignoring it and telling me that he wouldn’t ruin it. All
he said was to pack certain items in a suitcase and take two days off of work.
He said he would meet me at his place at ____ time. I had an inkling that we
would be going to Mentone, which is really close to where he is originally
from. WRONG. We get in the car and I start guessing the entire way. It took me
a while to finally figure out we were headed to the mountains during the FALL!
Oh my gosh it was beautiful! We finally arrived in Gatlinburg and the leaves
were changing and the air was crisp and cool. But he wasn’t done yet. (Keep in
mind that this was the day before my birthday.). When we get to Gatlinburg, I
just assumed we would be staying in a hotel. NOPE. We start climbing a mountain
and I suddenly realize we are staying in a CABIN! It was gorgeous!
(The view from the DOUBLE balcony with a hot tub on it....we could've stayed forever.)
(The view from the inside of the living room...it was already decorated for Christmas!)
We got there, went to dinner, and came right back to the cabin to enjoy the view from the balcony. It was awesome!
The next morning, we got up and started talking about what we wanted to do that day. Elijah kept mentioning that he wanted to go hiking, and I was fine with that, but I really wanted to go explore downtown. So, that's exactly what we did.
(On the skylight...I was a little nervous!)
(On the top of the mountain!)
After a full day of exploring, we went back to the cabin, got all dressed up and we went to this amazing restaurant downtown and ate. I didn't know this until afterwards, but while we were getting ready, Elijah kept trying to get to his bag while I wasn't looking to snag the ring out of it. We were running late so I just kept waiting for him at the doorway watching him get ready. Evidently, I messed his grand plan up ha ha! We left and because it was Halloween, there was a ton of traffic so it took forever to get back to the cabin. I just assumed we would chill out and watch the extremely large television and play some games in the game room upstairs. When we got in the door, I kicked my shoes off and went outside to the porch where there were christmas lights hanging and making everything so beautiful. A minute later, Elijah joined me and we just stood out there looking out. At this point, he came up behind me and started asking me questions. "Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your birthdays with me?...Are you sure you want to live with me, etc.?" Just all these questions. I started to panic inside (if you know me then you know what I was thinking) that he was about to tell me that he couldn't continue on with me.
Instead, he said "Well, I talked to your parents and they seemed to be ok with it, so I guess there's really only one person left to ask..." and then he popped the question! It was all I could do to nod my head yes between tears.
