Together Forever

I am not sure what I was expecting or exactly what feeling I thought I would get, but, I guess from other’s proposal stories, I thought it would be somewhat of a frantic and crazy out-of-body-experience but…it really wasn’t.

It was better.

“Charleston’s” proposal was natural, calming and reassuring. Every bone in my body said that this is right; what life is supposed to feel like every day. It was comforting and soft. I didn’t feel the urge to scream from the top of my lunges that I was engaged. Instead, I wanted to grab a blanket, my new fiancé, a cup of coffee and cuddle up close on the couch with the Christmas lights gleaming in the background.

His tactic and plan hit the nail on the head. It was a “Blain and “Charleston”” proposal and the perfect example of what the rest of our lives will look like together. Simple and thoughtful surprises sprinkled throughout the everyday routines of life. That’s us.

It was Christmas Eve morning and I was woken in bed by “Charleston” and a fresh cup of coffee. He knows better then to try and get me out of bed without a peace offering! He played sweet like he does on weekend mornings and said breafast was ready when I wanted it. I knew our morning needed to get started because around 11:00am we were due at his parent’s house for the Atkins family Christmas gathering. Therefore, I threw on some pants and a T-shirt and quickly followed his lead downstairs to the living room. As I turned the corner and rounded the banister “Charleston” was already crouched in the floor looking like he was searching for something in the entertainment center. I tried walking past him towards the kitchen to refill my coffee cup when he physically sopped me in my tracks. He pulled me in front of him and began talking. Tears came to his eyes and I started balling like a baby. I have no clue exactly what he was saying and the only thing I remember saying back to him was “Are you serious right now?” as he reached to grab a tiny ring box from the shelf of the entertainment center. Somewhere in my blubbered tears I said YES and I was quickly tucked tight in his arms. I remember him having to pull me off of him in order to actually put the ring on my finger; I just didn’t want to let go. It was the most special moment of my life and like I said earlier, more of a calming and comforting moment to know that this man wanted to spend his life with me and was asking me to be his partner forever. It was really a privilege and an honor.

No one knew that “Charleston” was going to propose to me except for my father. The weekend before, Dad and “Charleston” had gone hunting together and somewhere in their trip he asked for Dad’s blessing and of course my father said yes. Therefore the fun part came when we showed up at his parent’s house several hours later and decided that we would just wait and see how long it took before Rob and Barbara would notice my new jewel!
Rob checked out my new purse that “Charleston” had also given me that morning for Christmas and as I held my purse out in front of me with my left hand….No response; he just told me it was a very pretty bag. Barbara checked out my manicure on both hands and said that I had picked a really nice color polish! Ha Ha it was comical! We finally had to make it VERY obvious and ask both of them if they see something different about my hands!

It didn’t take quite as long with my family that afternoon. “Charleston” ended up coming home with me to Kernersville so that he could be there when my parents found out we were engaged and as soon as I walked in the door with him in tow they had an inkling that something was up. I walked into the living room to pick Olivia up out of the chair and give her a kiss and as soon as my hand was in view, Blair burst into excitement which then stirred up the rest of the house.

It was the perfect day to the start of the rest of our lives together!

Our Very First Photo As An Engaged Couple

6:25am Christmas Eve...still in my PJ's right out of bed!

We had bagels, pastries, fresh fruit and all kinds of fun morning beverages!

Later in the day at the Atkins' house

I am not sure who was more excited..."Charleston's" dad or us?!

And of course...a couple pics of the bling

I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to spend my life with the most amazing man that has become my best friend and teammate and.... has always been my soul mate.

Meant To Be