Love Actually: My Proposal Story

Nine years ago today Boyfriend attempted to upgrade his status to fiance by proposing.  I accepted, with the condition he would always be my boyfriend.   For those of you who don't know the story, it wasn't an over the top, grand gesture but an absolute perfect start to our everlasting marriage.   On May 26, 2007 I was working as a nanny for a wonderful family.  Both parents actually worked from home running a business so it wasn't odd to me when they sent me home early that Friday evening to spend some time with Boyfriend who had a rare Friday off.  It was just after lunch time and I came home to Boyfriend watching Love Actually on the couch, with him patting the couch to join him as I entered the room.   Maybe this would be odd for most women to find their boyfriends watching a romantic comedy on the couch, but it was our favorite movie at the time so I didn't think anything strange of it.  I even commented, "Oooh! Just in time for my favorite part!"   As I cuddled into him, totally unsuspecting of what was about to happen, my only regret is that we didn't have the opportunity to watch my reaction to his latest version of the movie:  

Now I know the editing isn't top notch and it is definitely a nod to what technology we had at the time (again this was 2006) but I was in complete and total shock.  I had known Boyfriend would be proposing soon, but yet he still managed to catch me totally off guard.

Just as many other people report when they are proposed to-I couldn't tell you what Boyfriend said.  I'm sure it was something sweet and sappy, I only remember telling him he had to get down on one knee because he just kept talking while sitting on the couch.

After a few kisses were exchanged and me saying, "I can't believe you surprised me!" on repeat for about ten minutes we called all of our family members and best friends.  My mom asked me to come over that evening so we could celebrate, we agreed to meet later that night.

Once the initial round of calls were made, Boyfriend mentioned he was tired and wanted to take a nap.  We settled in for our (actual-not "celebratory") nap time and he immediately drifted off to sleep.  I laid there next to him watching him and with an equal dose of excitement, I also felt a huge letdown and disappointed.

I was genuinely pleased with his creativity and unique method of proposing but I just felt like we had this huge, overwhelmingly life changing event and here we were just taking a nap.  I was proposed to, promised to spend my life with the person and just as quickly as my life changed-we were back to the mundane.

Eventually I fell asleep too and woke to Boyfriend encouraging me to get change into something a little more fun-he mentioned that my mother would insist on us taking some silly pictures.  When we arrived at my moms my mood quickly was lifted-she and my brother were so excited and I was able to share and relive the moment with them.  We decided to visit other family members near by and bring a few bottles of champagne to toast to the occasion.

After our visit with my family we headed back to my moms house.  When I entered the house, the next best surprise (after the proposal itself) was waiting for me-my BFF who had flown in from out of town that evening and several of my other girlfriends. Boyfriend had known I would want to immediately celebrate with all of our friends so he arranged for everyone to meet up that evening at our favorite bar-Whiskey Bar (RIP).

Our first night as an engaged couple

  Any disappointment I had felt earlier in the day totally melted away.  I realized that every detail of the day had been planned intentionally- our nap time was planned knowing that I party best after a good nap.  Visiting my family members was done so that my best friend had time to fly in.  Spending the evening with all of our friends was nearly the perfect ending-the cherry on top was meeting Mark Cuban and having him toast our new status as an engaged couple.

As I mentioned-it was a simple proposal but the details were well thought out and considerate.  Boyfriend isn't always that way but he still managed to pull off a story that I am happy to retell, even nine years later.