PROPOSAL.

One of my favorite things about relationships and love is that every situation is unique. Put two unique people together and their story has never been heard before!
Even though there have been millions and billions of proposal stories before mine, the one I'm about to tell has never been heard before. That makes it about one million times more romantic if you ask me.

Back story #1:

Daren and I had talked about marriage and knew it was gonna happen. We'd gone ring shopping and I had agreed to wait as patiently as possible until the ring arrived. They said it would take 2-4 weeks.

Maybe it's just me, but after I KNEW we were gonna get married, I just wanted a ring on my finger. Waiting is not something I'm very good at.

5 days after ring shopping:
It was a beautiful day outside and all I wanted to do was get out of the office. I texted Daren and asked if we could go read up the canyon liked we'd been planning. We had just gotten books at Barnes and Noble and thought it would be a fun place to go read.

Emphasis on the "I texted Daren" part. This was all "my idea". 

He picked me up from work and off we went. Before long, we found a place we thought would be nice and set up camp. A blanket/pillows to sit on and our reading material. Add the view and beautiful weather and I was ready.

Daren suddenly pulled his backpack over and pulled his own book out.

"Why don't we read this together?"

First of all, how did I not notice the backpack this whole time?

I looked closer and saw that it was a homemade book with a picture of Daren and I on the front entitled "Daren and Kaylee".

Wow, this was adorable. How much time did it take him??

I got excited and asked if I could read it out loud to us. It was all hand-written in rhyme with pictures and all.  The rhymes were probably my favorite part. He tried so hard and most of them were pretty good!

Back story #2: I LOVE rhyming. I write Daren super weird cheesy rhyming poems for fun when I'm bored.

As the story went on, it mentioned when I first invited Daren to play games at my apartment. At this point, Daren reached into his Mary-Poppins bag and pulled out a game for me. One, it was a game I'd mentioned before. Two, we love playing games together. Double win.

K, This is waaay too adorable for an everyday thing, but he could NOT have gotten a ring so quickly. There is no way. 

Next came our first date story. Because we'd eaten cheesecake at the end of that date, he whipped a mini-cheesecake out of his bag. I almost didn't know how to react! But I just kept smiling and setting his gifts next to me and continued to read aloud.

Back story #3: Cheesecake is my all time favorite treat.

By this part of the book, there were actual pictures of us on our dates. After one photo of us at the tulip festival, he pulled out a bouquet of tulips. Which also happen to be my favorite flower.

I have no idea how all of this fit in his bag so secretly. Stuff just kept coming. 

When I turned the page and saw the words "100 reasons why I want to Marry You.." I let myself embrace the fact that this was a proposal. (Yes, there was a little envelope with 100 reasons why he wanted to Marry me. Yes, I cried when I read them.) I guess somehow he'd gotten a ring.

From this point on, I'm sorry to say I don't remember much. I couldn't tell you where he got the ring box from. Or how I was suddenly standing up and he was kneeling in front of me. Or what he said to me after he choked up and couldn't talk. All I really remember was thinking is, "ahhhhhhhhhhhh is this really happening right now!!??

And then I said yes and squealed.

So, there you have it. I'm in love and engaged and couldn't be happier. We're getting married in September and then moving to San Francisco together. Holy I can't even comprehend what my life will be like in 5 months. But I'm thrilled about it!

Eternity with this man is gonna rock.

Oh and P.s. Daren got a loaner ring. That's how he got me with the "only 5 days" thing. The one I want is on its way and until it gets here I'm wearing a similar diamond from the store. Surprise!