Can you tell I'm just a little excited? I really am. Sigh. :) My heart loves his heart.
Here's the proposal story...
First off, I knew this was coming soon. We had talked about getting engaged, looked at rings a few times, and let's be honest - I bugged him just about everyday about it. ;) But somehow, this sneaky sneak made it a complete surprise! I had no idea.. He had me fooled.
I had asked my friend Hillary to get coffee last Friday, but she was busy and suggested we grab dinner on Sunday (last weekend). I had this tiny little bit of hope in my heart that Chelsey was going to have some clever plan over the weekend & ask me, but next thing I knew it was Sunday afternoon and my sad little ring finger was still naked and lonely. Patience may be a virtue but it is not one that I have.. No siree. Sorry!
So off to Seattle I went with my dear Hillary. We stopped by my boss' office to do some last minute work things, and she was acting a little bit weird. Usually so laid-back and go-with-the-flow, she kept asking if I was done, reminding me she was hungry, and saying her stomach was growling. Sassy McSass. Sheesh lady (I said in my head) and finished up working - and we headed to Buca de Beppo. Hanging out with Hill had been my idea, so I had no suspicion anything was happening that night at all. But of course, mister tricky Chelsey Wood got me. :)
We got into the restaurant, and Hillary said she forgot her wallet so she had to run to the car. While she was supposedly out grabbing her wallet, she texted me 'I have to repark, I'll be back in a few!' But then, out of nowhere, Chelsey pops up. "Hi!", he says. Me: "What are you doing here? Where is Hillary? Why are you here? Where did she go!?!?" Him: cool, calm, collected. Acting completely normal and convincing. After about 10 minutes of talking, he finally convinced me that he had just wanted to surprise me for dinner - we hadn't spent much time together in the past week & he wanted to do something nice for me - so Hillary had dropped me off here, knowing he'd show up for a sweet dinner surprise. He acted so nonchalant about the whole ordeal that he totally had me fooled! We had a yummy dinner and ate lots and lots of bruschetta and pasta. Italians know how to do it right, lemme tell ya.
While walking to his car, Chelsey asked what I wanted to do. In my head I realized that I could figure out if something was happening - if it was, then we were likely going to go somewhere in Seattle - so I said "Oh.. I'm tired. Let's just go home." And he said no! Let's try something new and exciting! AHA. I knew it. Something is going down. Detective Brianna Celli on the case. So we start driving, and wind up near Lake Union by a little place I've never seen before. He tells me I might want to change into something warmer as we are going to be outside. What is this guy planning? Hmm. As we walk towards this small building (kind of scary at night - I was afraid if he didn't propose, he was bringing me here to murder me) I see someone SPRINTING across the street, not far in front of us. UM, hello, WAIT! I say. Is that Hillary!? Chelsey says no no no it's not, it must have just looked like her. Hmm.. Weird. ;)
We walked into this small little empty building, an office of The Electric Boat Company. What is this place!? Why am I here? The anticipation is killing me. I am so impatient. A little old lady (the owner, I think)wandered out from the back, and Chelsey walked me out to what looked like a boat dock. A small little boat decorated in lights was at the end of the dock, and just then I knew that it was just for me. The man that worked at this little shop helped us in and said 'Have fun you two!' GASP. What? Who is going to be driving this thing exactly? I am scared of water in case you didn't know. And water at night is worse, because there are probably monsters in there.
But Chelsey had learned how to drive the boat earlier that week, so apparently he was our captain for the night! Precious. Once in the boat, I saw that the entire inside had been decorated - there were rose petals everywhere, a little lace-covered table with lit candles, photos of Chelsey & I, sparkling cider, and a dozen red roses. Sigh. :)
Once we were out into the middle of the lake, Chelsey picked up his guitar (conveniently located inside of the boat) and told me he was going to sing a song he had written for me. Double sigh. It was just about the sweetest thing I had ever heard. I may have teared up a little. He may have, too. :)
Then we had to pause all the romanticness for a few moments because we were very super duper close to crashing our cute little boat into lots of other boats.. Apparently boats drift from wind! Who knew.
After Chelsey had safely navigated us away from certain death, he gave me a little speech about how he loved me and I was the most beautiful girl in the world (+1000 points Chelsey!) and a lot of other sweet things.. and all of a sudden, he was on one knee, and I was crying, and he was crying, and then we were engaged. There were a lot of tears and hugs and 'IS THIS REAL LIFE?' and happiness flying all over the place. It was wonderful. :)
Upon getting back to the dock, Hillary was there to take some photos of us post-engagement and capture the inside of the boat for our memories. What a wonderful, wonderful friend!! It was an amazing night.
But wait! The goodness does not stop there. There is more happiness & surprises to be had! The plan was to go to Chelsey's house to celebrate with his family, and then to my house to do the same - but on the way back, he said he had to pick something up at the church offices (which happen to be in a giant beautiful mansion.) We were walking up to the mansion, and all of a sudden I see through the windows my sister, his brother.. and I realized that we were celebrating here and everyone had shown up just for us for a little engagement party! Chelsey's parents, siblings, niece & nephew, grandparents + my parents, siblings & grandparents had all coordinated to come and surprise me again to celebrate! It was so wonderful to be able to share the excitement with everyone.. A beautiful ending to a perfect night. :)
Below are some photos of the night - some of the inside of the boat, a few of me and Chelsey, and of course a close-up of the ring (so gorgeous!) I am so thankful for you, Chelsey Wood. You have my whole heart for my whole life. <3
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