The Proposal

BIG NEWS!!! I am engaged!!! I am officially going to marry my best friend and the love of my life. Even better, the proposal was absolutely perfect. I am still in complete and utter shock.

How it went down:

It all started after I came home from Colorado. Kyle and Emily had decorated our room with streamers, a "we miss you" sign, and a card promising fun plans for the rest of the week.

"Five days was too long without you. I have a lot of fun things planned for us the next couple of days. You're the coolest person in the world. Way cooler than me." (I may have made up the last two sentences.)

I came home Monday. Tuesday was a dinner with Kyle and Emily. Wednesday was a date at Sip-n-Doodle just the two of us. He had originally bought a Groupon for the BYOB painting place as a birthday gift for me, but we never had the chance to use it. Fast forward to Wednesday.

Wednesdays are my half days at work so as usual, I came home and Facebook stalked some of my friends (I'm looking at you, Andy Nguyen). While scrolling through some pictures, I received a message from Kyle.

"Getting off work early, see you soon."

If anyone knows Kyle, this is already strange since he's never on Facebook. I wait for him for what feels like ten years as I am still jet-lagged and have the hanger (= hunger + anger). He comes home and we head out to search for food, the hanger increasing each minute my stomach is not appeased.

"Where do you want to eat?" Kyle says lovingly and innocently.
"I don't know. You choose." Flames slowly emerge around me.
"How about The Great Outdoors?" Kyle smiles.
"Fine." Horns begin to grow out of my head.

We stop at The Great Outdoors and I order a meatball sub, hardly speaking to Kyle. We return to the car, and I take two bites of my sandwich. I had a sandwich for lunch and did not want one now. I was not happy.

"What's wrong?" Kyle genuinely cares.
"I didn't even want a sandwich!" I blurt out with meatball and sauce dripping down my face. Kyle remains calm, too calm. I continue to act like a child.
"Let's have a good day today, okay?" Another smile from Kyle. (Poor guy)
"Fine."

We enter Sip-n-doodle and the teacher tells us to each choose a picture to paint. I decide on a simple flower print and Kyle declares that he will paint the Tardis from one of my favorite shows, Doctor Who.

We put on our aprons (stylish, I know) and sit down. We joke and take silly pictures of each other (the hanger subsided by this point) as groups of women (and only women) come in and sit down. One woman, we'll call her Jane, actually stops in front of us, points to Kyle, and exclaims "WOAH! A man! There's a man in here!" I guess it's an anomaly in these parts.

We start painting, and I am in the zone! I'm mixing my colors, feeling the brushes, and making art on my canvas board.

At one point, Kyle turns to me and tells me he wants to write me a message on his painting. I think nothing of it. He is always doing cute/quirky/strange/sweet things like that. He moves to a seat facing away from me and writes his message. "What are you doing?" shouts Jane's mom as she scoots next to him. After reading the message, she giggles and I decide it's something silly.

 

When I finish, I set my painting back on the easel.

"Do you want to read the message?" Kyle says with a large grin.
"Sure." I say.

He moves closer and turns his painting toward me.

Tami, will you marry me?

I read it at least three times in my head only able to mutter, "what?"

I am speechless, overjoyed, borderline crying. There are so many emotions going through me, I can barely think. He asks smiling, "is that a yes?" I shake my head violently and whisper "yes." He gets down on one knee and pulls out a small box, opens it, and shows me my dream ring. Simple and classic. So me.

He puts it on my finger. We look up. There are women surrounding us, heads pressed against windows and snapping our photo on their phones. I see scrunchy faces and some tears.
I am the happiest woman in the world.

Kyle's Version

"I liked it so I put a ring on it."

When in Colorado

Colorado! Finally! I've been wanting to visit ever since my best friend showed me pictures of the beautiful mountains and scenery.

We took an early flight into Denver on Friday. When we arrived, we were starving so Bill quickly yelped popular local restaurants and stumbled upon this gem: Spices Cafe. If I could, I would eat here all the time. Actually, there was a man in front of the restaurant who proclaimed something along the lines of "this is the best place ever! I eat here all the time! You should too!" I agree, man who slightly startled us out-of-towners.

The rest of the day was spent exploring downtown Denver and I must say, I fell in love quick.

I am a sucker for lights and loved the old town atmosphere.

We stopped to get some coffee and dessert at The Market. The Milky Way latte is a must. The chocolate cake was ridiculously good.

My body was grateful that we shared the cake. My heart was not.

Oh, Denver.

One of my favorite landmarks, the big blue bear at the convention center.

The next day, we woke up early and drove to Colorado Springs.

We spent the whole day hiking, taking photos, posing outrageously for the photos, and just enjoying the beauty of the Garden of the Gods.

It rained/sprinkled sporadically throughout the day, so we were able to get some pretty cool shots of the clouds over the mountains.

See that cliff on the left? We actually climbed that.

After hiking, we drove to the Cave of the Winds for some good ole cave exploration.

I really love this quote. The person who funded the cave tours requested that a part of his favorite poem be written inside. That night, after a bad case of the hanger and aimless searching for a local place to eat, my friends and I ended up at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It may not be local to Denver, but it sure does make my tummy happy.

Sunday morning, we went white water rafting in...honestly, I have no idea where we were. There was an odd number of people so our instructor told me not to paddle. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't participate, but later the instructor said I could "ride the bull." Basically, I stood at the front of the raft, held on to the rope, and tried not to fall as the raft hit the waves. It was so much fun!

Just me and some of my favorite people. :)

For dinner, we went to Freshcraft, which is known for its delicious bar food and craft beers. I had a burger with green chiles, a sweet corn marmalade, and avocados on top. It was pretty scrumptious.

Downtown as the sun was setting. I love the glow of the lights against the background.

Umm...we may have went back to Cheesecake Factory after dinner. I know. We're ridiculous.

We really didn't have a plan for Monday, our last day there. When we woke up, the weather looked promising so we decided to drive back up to Colorado Springs to see the waterfalls. By the time we got there, it was raining pretty hard (just our luck, of course). We stopped at Agia Sophia (a small coffee shop/book store) for lunch and waited for the rain to pass.

The waterfall at North Cheyenne Canon Park. Some of the cute little hummingbirds flying around.

Some more beautiful scenery, as expected from Colorado.

Before heading to the airport, we made a spontaneous but necessary last stop at Skoops for some homemade ice cream.

Goodbye, Colorado! I already miss you!

Not Enough Hats

Food Baby

I'm sitting on the couch next to Kyle, belly way too full of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and all that southern goodness. We're watching the latest episode of Dexter, and I decide to unbutton my shorts. It's that bad, the food baby. I'm rubbing my belly, and I look at him. He turns. "It's a boy, and I already love him," I joke as I continue to rub my stomach. Awkward silence. He looks at me, and we start laughing uncontrollably. It was a good moment.

One

Today marks our one year anniversary. Honestly, it hasn't been a very easy year. Not the "honeymoon" stage like I had expected. There were a lot of hurdles to face, and at times, it was really difficult emotionally for both of us. But it's amazing what two people who love eachother and are determined to make it work can overcome together. Even though it has been tough, I think this year was a gift to us, forcing us to address our issues and become stronger as a couple.

So I had no idea what was going on. Kyle told me to keep this weekend free for our anniversary, but he refused to tell me what we were doing (although he did tease me with it). The secrecy was killing me. I'm no good when it comes to surprises.

Saturday morning, he told me to pack three outfits (two comfy and one dress), my swimsuit, and everything I needed for a night's stay. I fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and when I woke up, he smiled at me and told me we had arrived. He had booked us a weekend at the most charming bed and breakfast. My very first one, so I was beyond excited! Elated!

The owners of the B&B are huge travelers and love collecting art and furniture from around the world. Above, is a stained glass window they brought from Europe. They wanted the B&B to really feel like an escape, so the whole place is decorated with different items from Europe and Asia.

A very eclectic dining room and hallway.

That door and buffet. I love. I want. (I think that door is over 500 years old.)

The library where they kept wine, cheese, crackers, and all sorts of goods for guests. Notice the stain glass window in the right picture? Incredible.

My favorite part of the house. I love the built-in shelves and carefully selected pieces.

The backyard was really spacious, and there was a small pond on the side of the house.

The backside of the house.

Some patio games to play. How amazing is that the tic-tac-gnome...

...and giant chess set?!

The cottage we stayed in. It was perfect.

Our living room and bedroom.

Some of the furniture in our cottage. I wish I had a better picture of that dresser. It was breathtaking.

The patio and our very own hot tub.

The spa house and swimming pool. When we were swimming, the owner's wife walked by and handed us freshly made strawberry-banana smoothies. Unbelievable.

Did I mention that the owners are also farmers? It was really cool being able to walk around and see some of the animals.

These goats were hilarious!

They also make their own cheese. There was a sun-dried tomato one that I loved and a goat cheese that I may have regret trying.

Relaxing on the hammock while waiting for dinner.

Obligatory anniversary picture.

The owner's wife is a classically-trained cook and most (almost all) the ingredients are from their very own farm. Salad, beef brisket, mashed potatoes, parmesan vegetables, and buttermilk pie for dinner.

Some bunnies on the way back to our cottage (I spent a good fifteen minutes chasing them to get this picture).

Frittata, sausage, cherry pastry, fresh fruit, and juice for breakfast.

I am the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you for the wonderful surprise. I am overwhelmed by how good you are to me and love you so much. Happy anniversary and to many more to come!