One year ago today, the love of my life asked me to marry him! Thought I would share the story with you all. I wrote this three days after we got engaged, so some of you have already read it.

On Monday, June 1, Tad drove me to Yorktown, VA, which is near where my family was vacationing in Williamsburg, VA. We went to the Rivah Cafe’ on the York Riverfront. We sat outside and we were RIGHT on the river. So beautiful! There was a nice breeze and we enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner. We listened to fun live music as well!

After dinner, we boarded The Serenity, a green schooner, and set sail on a sunset cruise. We were on the boat for two hours and enjoyed the lovely weather. We even got to steer the boat for a little bit! We watched the completely gorgeous sunset together. The boat returned just after the sun had set.We walked back to Tad’s car and he got something out of the back while I changed shoes. We took a nice walk along the riverfront, which is actually sandy (and there are little waves and such!). We walked out onto the pier and stood overlooking the city and the lights. It was so serene and beautiful.

We walked back down the beach to a courtyard area with a fountain, lights, and benches. We sat on a bench overlooking the river and Tad pulled out the item he had gotten out of his car. It was an album, and when I opened up the first page I started crying. He had made me a scrapbook that he worked on completely by himself! I was so proud. The first page was a picture from the first full day we spent together. On it he had written, “A long, long time ago….” I turned to the next page and it started playing the song “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen. On that page there were two pictures of us – one of which was our very first picture together. He had written “I remember how you used to make me feel.” As I turned to the next page, it started playing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. On that page there were pictures of us from various seasons of our relationship, and he had written “This feeling has continued to grow.” I turned to the next page and I heard Tad’s recorded voice saying, “Trust me when I say this: The best is yet to come” and then “The Best Is Yet to Come” by Frank Sinatra started playing. This page had some inside joke pictures and said “We have had a lot of fun, but it has just begun.”I turned to the last page and it had three pictures of us together all dressed up for various events, one of which was a picture of us dancing at a Vintage Ball. On this page he had written, “Do you know what it means to dance in the gym?” This was a reference to the song “American Pie” by Don McLean. There is a line in the song that says, “And I know that you’re in love with him / cause I saw you dancing in the gym…” He explained that the reason he dances with me and does other things for me is because he is in love with me. During the time that I was looking at this last page he had started playing a song on his palm pilot device. He got down on one knee and started telling me how much he loves me. (Yes, for the very first time!) He said lots of wonderful things about me and about how our love will continue to grow and about how we can minister together and how the best is yet to come and much more that I can’t remember because I was crying and completely blown away! At this point, the song he had been playing (“Love Story” by Taylor Swift) got towards the end. (“I got tired of waiting / wondering if you were ever coming around…”) He said he knew I had been waiting for a long time for this moment. (“My faith in you was fading…”) I told him that my faith in him had not faded. (“When I met you on the outskirts of town …more… Is this in my head? / I don’t know what to think / he knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring…”) At this point he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him while the song continued to play. (“…and said marry me Juliet / you’ll never have to be alone / I love you and that’s all I really know / I talked to your dad / go pick out a white dress / it’s a love story / baby, just say yes…”) Of course I said “YES!” He slipped the ring on my finger and we hugged while I continued to cry tears of joy. I told him that I loved him too! This was the first time we had said “I love you” to each other and it was SO special. I had no idea how good it would feel to say those words!! We kissed (also a completely wonderful experience!!) and cried many happy tears. A few minutes later, I got a chance to look at the ring. (It’s funny how in the moment you don’t really care all that much!) It is absolutely GORGEOUS! It is a princess cut solitaire set at a 45 degree angle in a white gold cathedral setting. Tad custom designed the ring himself just for me and did SUCH a good job! I love it.

We came back to the timeshare where my family was staying and they were all very excited for us. They knew it was coming, of course, so they had used Scrabble tiles to make a puzzle for us with words like “ring,” “engagement,” sunset boat ride,” “future,” “beloved,” “tie the knot,” “joy,” “romance,” etc. etc. Tad and I told them the whole story.Just over four months later, we were married! I couldn’t be more thankful to God for how He has blessed me through my amazing husband, Tad. We continue to grow in our love for one another every day!