Earlier in the week Chaz and I had discussed making paleo chili and going to the Lululemon one year anniversary party on Thursday evening. So, Thursday afternoon Chaz called me and said he was at my apartment cooking and would have everything ready when I got home so we could eat and not get to the party too late...he told me to let him know when I was on my way home. My apartment has two entrances and I always come in through the back door - through the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen...all the lights were off, nothing was cooking and it didn't smell like chili. At this point I was like "What the heck...I'm hungry...."
I set my stuff down and started calling his name...there were no lights on in the entire apartment. I walked towards my living room and heard our song playing - Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I walked into the living room...lit completely by candles. And looked down at the coffee table - He had spelled out "Will You Marry Me" in tea lights.
He walked towards me with a box in his hands. He took my hand and said a bunch of sweet things - about how he thanks God every morning when he wakes up for having me in his life, how he promises to always take care of me and love me until the day he dies, and how nothing would make him more happy than for me to be his wife. He got down on one knee and and asked me to marry him.
I - being the most emotional person in America - just stood there shaking my head yes. He started laughing, stood up, hugged me for a few minutes then said "well??" My response..."Yes, oh my gosh - this is really happening, YES!!" He put the ring on my finger and then I realized there was a video camera in the corner of the room...He had captured the entire moment for us to relive again and again. (Which is a good thing because I think I was in shock when it was happening.) After I stopped crying, he told me he actually DID have dinner for us. We sat enjoying dinner, drinking champagne, calling family and sending a gazillion texts.
Three weeks before we went to France Chaz called my mom and asked her permission to marry me. He wanted her help in finding the perfect ring for me, so he drove to ATL a few days later to meet her at the local jeweler where our family had been going for years. He flat-out lied to me about what he actually did that day...something about lunch with friends and reading and cleaning all afternoon. Little did I know that the two most important people in my life were scheming behind my back. My mom offered him my great Aunt's diamond to use in the setting they selected - which came as a huge shock to him (but very sentimental to me!!) So...the ENTIRE time we were in Paris, Chaz knew he would be asking me a few weeks after we got back...that little stinker.
He HAD actually planned to ask me Friday night...but the ring arrived Thursday morning and he knew he couldn't wait another day. He completely changed his plan from the original plan so that he would throw me for a loop and my planner mind wouldn't know what was coming. He definitely surprised me and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We were in our element - causal, not dressed up (yes I had on ITF work gear), and doing something we love...just spending time together, talking over dinner and listening to music. It was perfect.
The ring is absolutely TO DIE FOR! I'm obsessed....He's caught me numerous times just staring at it. :) I've accidentally called him "boyfriend" probably 5 times since getting engaged. Having a fiance will take some getting use to. :)
We have unofficially set the date for March 30, 2013. Of course lots of details to follow...Looking forward to planning an event to mark my becoming Mrs. Chelsey Tillman.
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