The Adventure Begins

If we're being completely honest here, we met back in high school. Back then, we had no idea that we'd end up engaged with a house and two goofy dogs. Megan was introduced to me by our mutual friend Jason. For years we would randomly hang out, meeting up together with other friends at bars or parties. Eventually we started dating, and one night I felt compelled to confess my love for her with a mix cd, like the total music nerd I am, and a lengthy conversation where she made me explain why I chose every single song on the mix. Our first year wasn't easy because Megan took a teaching job in the Dominican Republic. We Skyped with each other every day and every couple months one of us flew out to visit. The distance proved to be too difficult and Megan decided we needed a break her second year in the Dominican. We eventually found our way back to each other and we decided to fully commit ourselves to the relationships. As the years went on, Jon adopted Megan's dog Kevin and we bought our very first puppy together, Doc. Our relationship was at a crossroads when I invited Megan to house hunt with me. Her one request before purchasing the house was I present her with a ring some time in the next year. We bought our very first house together and I started planning my proposal. I had a variety of ideas, one included proposing at an Ed Sheeran concert (one of our favorite artists) but I decided to go in a different direction.

It was a warm summer day in August, the day I proposed to Megan. I woke up early and surprised her by picking up coffee and bagels. Our friends Kat, Cary and Zoie (who were already in on the proposal) met us at our house and we all piled into the car with an unsuspecting Megan. Megan has attended the Michigan Renaissance Festival almost every year since she was little and her mom would always buy her a ring from the fair. This time it was my turn. As we drove to the festival, I wrestled with having two excited dogs in my lap as Kevin and Doc could hardly contain their excitement. Megan has a new tradition, in which she always takes a picture in front of the main entrance with the dogs to celebrate their September birthdays. I planned on making the 5th Annual photo in front of the sign one she would never forget. As she took both dogs in her arms, Cary and Kat fiddled with cell phones to get just the right photo of Megan and her dogs, but I caught her off guard as I stepped into her photo. As she posed for a picture, I reached in my pocket and took out the ring with a huge smile on my face knowing that at least one photo would be taken before Megan figured out what was going on. As she went to set the dogs down on the ground, I got down on one knee and asked her, "What do you think about this?" and extended the ring to her. She replied with a gasp and a "wait...what?!" and promptly started crying. I never literally asked her to marry me, I just kinda motioned to the ring and said, "so?" and she finally said yes in between sobs. She then proceeded to sob on and off uncontrollably as we walked around the festival. It was hilarious, and still makes me laugh just thinking about it.