The Engagement

Alright! Here’s the bit you’ve been waiting for!

At Christmas time, Steven flew down to Nevada so that he could meet my parents and hang out at our house. He was a bit sick, but as he walked out of the gate of the plane I couldn’t help running over and pretty much jumping into his arms (one good thing about long distance relationships is that you really appreciate being close to each other, even if one of you is sick!). He gave me a present right then and there, which was a framed picture of us (another word of advice to you long distance relationship people: take lots of pictures!). The very next day was Christmas Eve, the day Steven was going to take me out to a nice restaurant.

It started out innocently enough. I knew that it was a nice place, so I jokingly told mom that I thought I would wear jeans and a t-shirt. Mom, who knew about the proposal coming up, nearly had heart attack. She called Jenni upstairs to my room too, and together they formulated an outfit for me to wear while I, completely oblivious to anything, did my makeup. Then mom took me downstairs to do my hair while from the living room I heard Steven asking Dad what in the world was taking so long. When I came out, Steven was looking very sharp with his corduroy jacket and slacks and off we went to the Christmas eve service. We were supposed to go directly to the restaurant after this, but as we were there Steven realized that he had forgotten a very integral part of his plot. The decoy present (more on this later)!

We rushed home, picked the present up, and then rushed off to the restaurant. We got there on time, slide into the absolutely enormous booth they gave us and wasted no time in ordering some super expensive food. The tables around us were empty (because he had told the servers what he was up to). We chatted some, and ate good food, but I do remember thinking that he seemed a little quieter than usual! I thought perhaps that he was feeling sicker than usual, and dismissed it. We finished our dinner, and waited for him to get the check. Overall it had been a pleasant evening. Suddenly it catapulted into an awesome evening. Steven left to use the restroom, and upon returning, slid into the booth on the opposite side. “Open your present.” He said. I believe I said something like, “Yay presents!” and tore into it. Inside the medium sized box was the little silver bell on a black velvet ribbon. On the side was engraved the words “Steven & Katie’s 1st Christmas”. “Aww!” I said. “It’s so cute!” I was very surprised because I’ve always had a fascination with bells, and had never told him about it at all. I was pondering this and just about to set it back in its box when he said, “Turn it over.” I turned it over, while saying something like “Oh no, I’m getting fingerprints on —”

For those of you who don’t know me, I read pretty fast. NSA taught me to how to take in the whole paragraph at a time and then focus in on the individual words. I saw the words “Will You Merry Me?” My previous sentence about fingerprints died without an object of the preposition.

In the millisecond that it took me to register, Steven had gotten out of the booth and kneeled. “Will you marry me?” he asked. He had an open ring case in his hand, with a very bright and shiny bit of jewelry in it. My brain cartwheeled out the door at a high rate of speed. At this point, I only have guesses as to the reason behind my long pause. I really have no idea what I was thinking about besides “Is he — is that a — oh my. Oh my. Is he really — Oh my.” I’m assuming this thought process cycled several times before I finally thought, “what am I doing just sitting here, say yes already!” Poor Steven was still kneeling, and so I managed to pull myself together long enough to look him in the eye. And then I said “Yes!” as emphatically as I could. He must have been holding his breath, because he exhaled loudly while bowing his head. Then he got up, re-entered the booth and kissed me right then and there!

I never recovered.

And that’s the story of how Mr. Steven Sitler proposed to me on our second date! 🙂 The story isn’t over, of course. It never is. For example, there was some fun things going on with our servers, who knew what was going on, and I haven’t told about how we drove around looking for wedding magazines that very night, or how excited my family was to congratulate me and mock me for my cluelessness. 🙂 And I really was completely surprised and for that I have only two explanations. One: Steven had told me that he wouldn’t have enough money to get a ring until at least January, and we had even made some preliminary plans for me to go down there. Two: I had vastly underestimated Steven’s ability to plan surprises! Won’t do that again! 🙂 If you have any more questions of how it all went down that sparkling Christmas Eve night in the high desert, do let me know. Otherwise, I think this is will do for now!

Unless, of course, you’d like to Meet His Family from my perspective. . .