Will you . . . be my wife?

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand. -Emily Kimbrough

I mentioned in my July 20th post that it was the 14th anniversary of the day that Mr. Bug proposed to me. I was mistaken. I was thinking that July 10th was our first date and after the insanely short space of 10 days, he proposed. However, July 20th was the 14th anniversary of our first date {I went back and corrected the post after I realized I'd mixed the dates up}, and after the much more reasonable and sane amount of three weeks, Mr. Bug proposed to me on August 10th. Did I mention that our first date was a blind date?

My post from the 20th was a giveaway post and I asked people to comment for an entry, suggesting that if they couldn't think of anything to say in their comment, they could tell me about how they got engaged. I loved reading those and I'm going to share them with you now.

Mrs. P said, Mr. P proposed to me on our stone staircase right near our compost bin (how romantic - thanks for asking).

Quilt Nut said, hubby proposed to me on the Riverboat in Disneyland at sunset :)

Eileen said, Well...got engaged on the way home from visiting my grandma in Spokane. Didn't want to appear too anxious, so every time we'd get near a jeweler at the mall, I'd run off to some other store and sweet guy would follow!! Finally said yes about cle elum on I-90. Because of all of that, I had to drive to Utah from Seattle to actually get my ring--crazy girl, eh? Anyway...that was over 40 years ago, so guess it took.

Michelle B. said, Of course, I had to do it because I do everything :-) so, not sure what day it was, but he came home from work and the baby was laying on his boppy with the front of his onsie saying, "Daddy I think it's time" and on the back it said, "For you to marry Mommy" and his ring was attached with a ribbon...

Lips said, My husband proposed to me in his car parked behind our favorite deli - the Onion Roll - right by the dumpster!

All of those proposals were really fun to hear about. Quilt Nut's husband is clearly a romantic. Proposing on Disney's Mark Twain Riverboat at Sunset takes some serious planning. And I got a good laugh at the two men who proposed near trash receptacles. But I think that my engagement story tops them all. And you get to hear about is since I'm feeling particularly nostalgic about it this week. I always do, when the date comes around. As I mentioned, Mr. Bug and I had only known each other for three weeks when he proposed. But during that time, we somehow squeezed in 10 dates even though there were 81 miles between us. It was very apparent to me that he had pretty strong feelings for me from the beginning, although I just wasn't quite sure how I felt about him as quickly.

Since there was a bit of a commute between us, we took turns traveling to meet each other and sometimes we'd both commute a bit and meet in the middle. On the weekend that he proposed to me, he invited me down to his neck of the woods. I don't remember all the details of the day, but I know I met him at his apartment and then I think we went to dinner. After that we went to to meet his aunt and uncle. This part I remember. His parents were on vacation in Hawaii at the time, so I think that his aunt and uncle were kind of filling in. We visited and then watched a movie. Mr. Bug had arranged for me to stay in their spare bedroom that night, so after the movie, I walked him out to his car. There was a little kissing in the moonlight and Mr. Bug whispered I love you. I answered, I love you too. I had arrived at the same place Mr. Bug was in our relationship. He drove back to his apartment and I went back into his aunt and uncle's. And although it wasn't planned, we both knew what was coming next.

I don't know about Mr. Bug, but I didn't sleep well that night. I was in a strange house, which always makes me anxious, sleeping in a strange bed, which I never do well. Something I ate for lunch wasn't sitting right and I knew that Mr. Bug was going to ask me to marry him the next day which added butterflies to my stomach, which was already tied in knots. I woke up early and sat on a swing out on the back patio waiting, with my stomach full of butterflies, and wondering how Mr. Bug could still be sleeping and why he wasn't picking me up yet? I'm sure I left my car in the parking garage at his apartment complex, otherwise I would have driven over to his apartment to pick him up.

After what seemed like weeks, he arrived and we headed up the canyon. He had a fairly new SUV and wanted to take it for a bit of four-wheeling action, so he headed up a dirt road towards Squaw Peak. I was invited to a bridal shower for a friend later on that afternoon, so Mr. Bug took it pretty fast because he wanted to get to the top and show me the view. As we swayed and bounced along, my already nervous stomach started to feel a little motion sick, but I managed to hold it together.

We finally got to the end of that bumpy road and found a spot to park. I was so relieved. I wasn't sure how much more of that I could take. We moved away from the car to get a better view of the valley. Mr. Bug put his arms around me and leaned in for a kiss. As he did so, I suddenly had a very urgent feeling that I'd better turn away. I pulled myself free, bent over and threw up in the dirt. I was mortified and Mr. Bug felt so bad for having driven so quickly up that winding road {I had him proof-read and after he stopped laughing, he apologized again}. Luckily, he had a bottle of water in the car, along with some paper towels. After I rinsed my mouth and put myself back together, we sat down on a rock, a ways away from the spot we were at before. He put his arm around me again and we talked for a bit. After he made sure I was OK, he knelt down in front of me, holding my hand and hesitantly asked, will you . . . be my wife?