We're getting married!

It’s early November and I’m sweating bullets. Half of this is due to an unseasonably warm Autumn day, but the other 99% is because I’m waiting to meet an incredibly attractive woman for a date and I have Absolutely. No. Game. I had recently slunk back into the realm of online dating but, being somewhat overwhelmed and mostly lazy, had neglected to provide (m)any details about myself. No real self-narrative, no “what I am looking for” - primarily just pictures of me from various fishing trips (dressed like a Somali pirate). However, this woman whom The Internet Love Machine kept suggesting was completely different with a well-written summary and many thoughtful answers to ice-breaker questions. Of course I “Liked” her! But I couldn’t bring myself to contact her because she also included several pictures...and she was totally out of my league! They say that Fortune favors the brave; I’m thankful that She sometimes throws the rest of us a bone as well. To my surprise, one day I receive a message from Diane saying that I might be missing out on meeting interesting people who just want to know a little bit about me and that I should “consider this an invitation” to tell her something. Now - I may be a coward but I’m not an idiot. Fast forward through a few messages and a brief phone call (My god...she SOUNDS super-cute, too!) and I’m sitting at a table praying that I stop sweating profusely before she shows up. I don’t remember much of what we talked about that evening but we both had French onion soup and I’m pretty sure that there was laughing and at every moment I was thinking about how beautiful and NICE and engaging she was and that this was SURE to be a brief encounter but I was still so glad that I took the chance to come. When I offered to pay she paused before saying, “Sure...because I like you and I want to see you again; I’ll get the next one.” I can’t even begin to describe the feeling I had at that moment. And it hasn’t ever stopped.

We've known for a while that this is it! We started looking at rings in June, and we moved in together in September. It's been such a fun time, and a comfortable family feeling together- this the happiest I've ever been! In November Chris semi-secretly met up with each of my folks, and before Thanksgiving we ordered the ring. I wondered whether having everything in the open would lessen the excitement of getting engaged, but I didn't know what was coming. We'd gotten away to Portsmouth after the holidays. It was raining cats and dogs and we had a PERFECT day: exercising together at the YMCA, reading for hours at a cafe/bookstore over warm beverages, resting together back at the room. Then we were lounging in jammies before it was time to get dressed for dinner, feeling total contentment. I turned on the tv and Chris was writing in his journal. He'd pause to show me what he was writing: thoughts about what the past year meant to him, a series of little drawings of our relationship. Each time he'd share, I'd smile and kiss him, completely clueless that these moments were leading up to something- I wasn't on that channel at all. He drew a giant engagement ring with a message that he'd propose right now if he had the ring. Again I followed with an unsuspecting kiss, but then he DID pull out the ring! The moment took my breath away. I paused before answering so I could be there, and then felt an overwhelm of emotion, the significance of TAKING the step we'd only talked about. What a relief that we were in private, to ride out the electricity before stepping back out to dinner, where we toasted and started sharing our news. The cheers of love in response felt like a ticker tape parade! All of a sudden we were hearing our love echoed back to us by all people we've known through our lives, amplified in the best possible way. I had wondered whether our planning together would take away the excitement, but wow- I've never felt anything like crossing into that threshold.