The story of how we met, Part 3

Picking up from the somber point I left you with....

In the end, I decided I couldn't break his heart, not when he was away at war. That's just wrong. Common sense told me that all I was feeling (and not feeling) was due to absence. God knows I still loved him, but I had forgot what Jon had brought into my life. So I decided to give the relationship a second chance before killing it. I knew things wouldn't get better if we were still living apart, even though he would be back in the States, so I decided to move to Arizona. Call it dumb, call it risky, call it whatever you want but I felt it was necessary for the survival of this relationship. I was at my breaking point and knew I wouldn't be strong enough to endure more long distance. I was so sick of that! That doesn't mean I wasn't scared. I felt it was incredibly risky, dedicating myself to this move when I was feeling so unsure about this relationship. I put all confidence in the fact that when we were together in the past, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced, and I wanted to see if it was still there.

As you well know, it was. When Jon got home, it was as if we were picking up where we last left off before he left. All the emotions resurfaced and, once again, I was unable to keep myself away for very long.

I've already wrote about Jon's knack for hiding things, including the engagement ring. I never did get a real proposal, though. On our fourth anniversary of dating we were getting ready to go out for dinner. There were no plans, no reservations, and I'm not a high maintenance girl so we decided to go to the Chinese buffet in town. He insisted that we open each other's presents before leaving. I had just got him a Bluetooth headset for his cell phone so he could talk on the phone while he was driving around the post. I already knew he got me something from Tiffany's after spotting that little blue bag earlier, but I was totally caught off guard when I opened it and saw the ring. 

"What is this?" I asked him. After all, he didn't get down on one knee and say something like "Tania, you are the most amazing woman I've ever known and I can't imagine not having you in my life. Will you marry me?" 

Instead, he says "You know what it is. Do you want it?" 

Now I was trying to get something out of him, understand, so I asked him again what it was. He answered my question with the same question, "Do you want it?" We went back and forth that way for a little while until I finally gave up and said "Yes, of course I do!" During that whole ordeal he was acting all shy and nervous, which I thought was really cute, so I let him slide! 

After all that he tells me "Now you can just tell your friends I took you out for a hot air balloon ride and proposed to you that way."

"Uh-uh," I said, "you should have done that if that's what you want people to think. Nope, everyone will know how you proposed to me!" And now that includes my blog readers :)

We got married May 5, 2007. Here are a few pictures from that day. 

Not too exciting a story, but it's ours. I'm looking forward to more memories in our future together. And that all starts on Sunday when he comes home!

[Edited to include pics] So the element of surprise isn't exactly his forte...

I've been meaning to write a post about how I met Jon and all that followed after Loqui started her own chronicle (I will get to it soon Loqui!) But I've just been inspired by my friend Rae's foiled attempt to surprise her husband for the holidays to write about my husband's amazing knack for surprises....and this includes the purchase of my engagement ring.

Scene one: it's our first Valentine's Day together and we are getting dressed for a nice dinner at Duke's on Lake Union. Jon is ironing his shirt and I'm trying to keep busy as he finishes. I have to throw something away so, doing the right and normal thing, I open the door where the garbage is kept and throw it away. I spotted a vase with a single red rose, just sitting there. Imagine my surprise when I hear protests coming from Jon's direction.

"You weren't supposed to look in there! That was supposed to be a surprise!"

My response: "Well, why did you hide it there?"

Could he think of a more obvious place to hide it? How often do I look under the bed as opposed to how often I have to throw something away?

Fast forward four years to January 2007. I'm looking for something in my nightstand, fumbling and rummaging through all the drawers, when I happen upon a Tiffany's bag. Hmm, I wonder. How did that get in there? One of my friends had bought me a necklace from there as a going away present on one of my last nights in Seattle, and I instantly assumed that this was the bag it had come in. I specifically remember putting this in the office, so how did it get in my nightstand? I peek in the bag and realize that the box is a different shape from what the necklace came in. I realized that this was Jon's present to me for our upcoming anniversary! But I was a good girl and didn't peek inside the box. I just put it back in my nightstand, right where I found it, and didn't open that drawer again for 2 weeks.

It was a bit unexpected when he proposed to me. I honestly thought it was just a necklace or bracelet he had bought for the occasion. Oh, but the ring is beautiful! When I told him I had known about it's location for a while and asked him why he picked my nightstand of all places he could have hid it, he responded by telling me that he never saw me go in there so he thought it was safe. I still laugh about that one....and, of course, give him a hard time for it.

Yeah, I'm going to be the one hiding the Christmas presents when we have kids!

And here's aforementioned ring.

I just happened to have pictures of it when I emailed my friends back home that I was engaged. I love this ring, but it took me a while to get used to it. As you can see, the band is not rounded and that used to hurt me. Wanna know the size? Jon's going to kill me.....it's only .38 carats! He could have bought a way bigger diamond for the price he paid, had he bought it elsewhere. But I love it and it's perfect! Plus, any bigger and it would be really annoying for work, as I'm constantly gloving and de-gloving throughout the day. Jon was going to upgrade the diamond for our anniversary, but I've already told him not to. I love this ring and have come quite attached to it. And I'd rather put that money towards a down payment on a new house!