The RING

Let's just get to the point: I got engaged last night.

YEP!! After lots of talking about it and even starting to plan the wedding, Eric officially popped the question and put this perfect diamond ring on my left hand. WOOP WOOP!!!

So, now's the time to expose the secrets. Many of my previous blips from my time at home had to do with wedding planning. There was the almost-obvious wedding dress shot while dress shopping. The car museum shot was taking while deciding to have our reception there. We were thinking of having the ceremony at this schoolhouse, but it will actually be in front of my great grandfather's barn. The Amish buggies picture was taken while fabric shopping for bridesmaid dresses. And now finally......the ring!

For those of you interested, here's the short version of the story:

Toward the end of 2010, Eric and I had been clearly interested in each other for a few weeks, but hadn't gone on any dates yet. He took me out to our first date at Cassia Lodge, where we had a wonderful dinner and conversation, that quite surprisingly included Eric asking me to marry him. Yes. You heard right. On our first date. I just stared at him and said, "WHAT?!" about 5 times and then asked if he had too much wine and was drunk. He calmly shook his head. I asked if he had thought about this at all and he calmly nodded his head. After reassuring me that he had in fact thought it through and that it was just obvious to him that we were perfect for each other, I actually agreed. I said yes. Crazy. I know.

He told me that he would "actually" propose at another time, but that he was sure he wanted to marry me, and he assured me that he would ask my dad's permission for the "real" time. So we kept things somewhat under wraps for a while so that not everyone would think we were crazy. When we were in the states, we knew we would probably have a wedding this year, so we took the liberty to start planning while we were there.

So on Saturday night, Eric asked me on a date again. He asked where I wanted to go and I said that I didn't care, and that it was up to him, but I needed to know where to go so I could know what to wear. He texted me later and asked if I wanted to go to Le Bougainviller, a nice restaurant, so I dressed up. When he picked me up, we started heading out on a road that I REALLY didn't think was heading toward the restaurant. I asked if we were going the right way and he said that it was a short cut. He knows Kampala much better than I do, so I didn't think much of it. After we kept going, I asked again, "Do you know where we are going?" "Yea, I think I missed the turn. Let me turn around." So he made a turn - toward Cassia Lodge, NOT Le Bougainviller - and never turned around. I suggested we just go to a restaurant on this area of town - Speke Resort or Cassia Lodge, so he said, "Yea. Let's go to Speke Resort." As he made an obvious turn up the hill toward Cassia Lodge, he looked at me and said, "Oh wow, my truck seems to be driving itself!" I just shut my mouth at this point, letting him do his thing and not wanting to get my hopes up in case this really may not be it. Soon we pulled into Cassia Lodge and Eric said that we should park and ask for directions and then said that we should just get out and "see what's here."

When we walked up to the restaurant, he told the hostess that he had made a reservation for two, so I knew this was it. I slyly grabbed my phone and said that I needed to go to the bathroom. So I texted my mom: Mom. Eric told me he was taking me on a date to one restaurant but we are actually at the place where he proposed first. Can't text anymore. I'll let you know if something happens. And Julie, my roommate: Why aren't you picking up the phone? I think this could be it. Gotta go. Can't text.

After ordering our meals, Eric asked me if I remembered the significance of this place, so I said, "Yes, it's where you proposed the first time." He responded, "It's where we had our first date." "Same thing", I laughed back. Then he said something about wanting to bring it full circle as he brought out the ring and placed it on the table. I smiled and asked him to get down on one knee and put it on my finger, so he did. One other table noticed what was happening and gave us a little clap. I went in for a kiss and he went in for a hug. Awkward.

After dinner, we called my family, who all happened to be together, and we visited his Mom. Then we went out to celebrate with our friends. Just before our date, I had told my other roommate, Jess, about why lilies are my favorite flower and how they keep seem to pop up at significant times in my life. So she brought me a bouquet of lilies, pictured here.

So that's it! There's the story and here's the ring!

Now I have to get back to wedding planning!