Miguel and I have been together for 10 years.  We met in kindergarten, I still remember thinking he was the cutest boy I had ever seen, before him boys we’re yucky.  I transferred out after second grade but saw him again in high school.  We didn’t talk to each other until senior year where we shared a class together, we had mutual friends but never really spoke before.  We ended up going to the same university.  We would have lunch a couple times a week with a group of friends from high school freshman year.  After lunch we would walk together to our next class since we were in buildings right next to each other.  I was able to get to know him and thought he was an amazing guy, unfortunately we were both in relationships.  It wasn’t until junior year of college that we ran into each other at a party.  We hit it off immediately, I actually broke up with my boyfriend at the time to see where things might go with him.

Now we have a son together and we just bought our second house.  So you’d think what the big deal would be about getting married since he can’t get more committed than he already is.  He always said we’d get married, but either timing or money was off.  I saw friends and relatives get married and I started to think “when’s my turn?”.  I tried to hold it in and not complain and let him ask when he was ready.  After a while he decided he didn’t want to get married and I became a nagging girlfriend. As bad as that may sound.

In March after a nice dinner and a movie with our son, he received a text from his good friend saying he had just proposed.  This would be his second time getting married.  I could not help but cry and he couldn’t understand why I was upset or what marriage meant to me.  To him, marriage would not change anything in our relationship, so why do it.  Why not do it if he wants to a share a life with me.

A couple of weeks later while doing the dishes I noticed a leak under my kitchen sink.  I called him over to fix it.  As he was on the floor finishing up I walked by after putting away a bucket, he stopped me and said “I guess we can get married”.  I rolled my eyes and started to walk away, but he said he was serious.  I could not believe that he just proposed.  I guess he figured he was already on his knees, he might as well throw in a marriage proposal.  I was a little upset about the way he proposed but after thinking about it there was nothing else to do but take it and run with it, it wasn’t going to get better than that.  We went that weekend to pick out a ring.  Family and friends were shocked at the news, thinking that day would never come and once I told the story of how he proposed, it got laughs but nods of “yeah, that sounds like Miguel”.  We’re getting married in September, I figure why wait, he might change his mind.

Karina

I had just moved to the big city to start an internship. Being a small town girl, the big city was the last place I wanted to be, but I knew it would only be a one year internship and I would be out of there! I arrived on a Saturday to my new apartment. I didn’t know anyone! The guy at the leasing office told me the apartment complex had monthly “meet and greets” once a month and that I should go. They were having one the following Monday. I was reluctant since I’m not the most out going person, but I decided it might be good to meet some of my neighbors. So I went. It was tortilla soup night! I saw a choice of two serving bowls: paper and styrofoam. Being Eco-conscious, I chose the paper, but it was flimsy and I almost spilled hot tortilla soup on me! After several minutes of chatting with a lady (who happened to be blind), I saw a handsome man walk in the room. Something compelled me to get up and get seconds! So I walked towards him and didn’t know how to introduce myself until I heard these words come out of my mouth: “I wouldn’t choose the paper bowl if I were you!” He turned to me and said, “Oh, and why is that?” So I explained that they were flimsy and I almost burned myself and he smiled and said, “That’s not good!” I asked him to join me at the table. It turns out he knew the blind lady. So all three of us talked until the event was coming to an end. The blind lady asked for my phone number to keep in touch. She said if I said it to her twice she would hold it in her head until she got back to her apartment to put it into her computer. After saying my number one time she said, “I got it!” But the man who was to become my future husband leaned in and said, “What was that number?” So I gave it to him and the rest was history!  He called me for a date a few days later and three years after that proposed to me at the top of one of the big city’s skyscrapers. We will become husband and wife in less than two months!

And that’s our story.

Amanda and Chad

My fiancé, Matt and I, have been together for almost 10 years, since we were sophomores in high school, so I knew an engagement ring had to be coming soon. I figured I would know when though because is almost impossible to surprise me and Matt has never succeeded in surprising me – until the day he proposed.

On a random Tuesday, Matt, called and suggested that we go out to a nice dinner. Normally, I’m all for that, but I already put on my sweat pants and I had a long day while at graduate school and I had to drive to a neighboring town to drop my younger brother off to pick up a rental car and was exhausted. I told him I’d rather cook something at home and that I was actually really craving breakfast sandwiches. He was really pushing for the dinner and mentioned something big happened to him at work that day, so I agreed to go, but not at the place of his choosing. I flat out refused to change out of my sweats and winter boots. He picked me up and we drove around until we found a place dark enough and casual that my attire wouldn’t stick out. It was a pub, which only had about 10 or so customers in it.

Matt asked the hostess to sit in the back corner, which I thought was odd at first, but figured he knew I would complain if I felt a drag near the door. Once seated, I bugged Matt over and over to tell me about work, thinking that he got a promotion. He said he didn’t, so I was stumped. Then he told me he got me a present and to close my eyes and hold out my hands. I did as I was told and felt something on my wrist. When I was allowed to open, I saw that Matt had put a charm bracelet on my wrist. When I looked closer at it, I saw that it had words and I read them out loud. However, being me, I read them in the wrong order and said “Me marry you will? …OH!” Matt then got down on his knee in the dark pub and asked me to marry him, with the correct wording.

After saying being completely and utterly shocked that I hadn’t seen it coming, I said yes and “Oh my God” a million times, and he later told me that he had this nice dinner planned at a fancy restaurant and knew someone who worked there that was going to make sure we were secluded and had exceptional service. I also asked him about what happened at work, and he said that’s where he had my ring delivered. I, of course, ruined his plans and we got engaged in a dark pub with me in sweat pants and then read his adorable charm bracelet backwards. Our engagement isn’t the nice story Matt planned for us to be able to tell, but it is 100% us and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.