July 4, 2008

Engaged!

I am utterly exhausted as I write this, but my mom (and future mom-in-law) encouraged me to write down today’s experiences before going to bed tonight, so I am doing just that.

A lot of people have asked if I’m “ready,” and to be honest, I don’t think you can ever be completely “ready” for marriage.  Coming out to DC, I was scared that God would lead me to start a career, to move out east, to break it off with Dan so that I could focus in on a job.  On my first drive to work, I prayed that if He wanted me to marry Dan He would make it absolutely clear.

Amazingly enough, He did.  The week before Dan proposed, three different women advised me not to wait too long for marriage.  Two of these women were women from work functions.  “You’re biologically geared for marriage right now,” one woman said.  Another told us that “at age 20, you’re not going to make it big.  People don’t trust you,” she said, “except with the filing and the coffee maker.  If you know you’re with the man of your dreams, then don’t hold off.  You have the rest of your life to become a CEO.”  Everyone talked about how the world wants so badly for women to wait until they’re in their late 30s to have kids.  Probably the best piece of wisdom I received was this: “If the world says it’s wrong…it’s probably right.”  Yesterday, when I was on my way home from work, I talked to my Mom about this speech. “I have never been more sure that I want to marry Dan,” I told her.  “God has just given me an overwhelming peace.”

A Surprise Visit

Earlier that morning, Dan called me just as I was about to walk into work.  “Today is a great day,” he told me.  “Ugh…” I thought.  “Why is he in such a good mood?”  “For two reasons,” he said.  “First, because this is the day that the Lord has made, and second, because I have Lincoln Brewster’s new song on my iPod so I can listen to it over and over again.”  “Wow, that’s great, baby,” I replied (rolling my eyes on the other end of the line).

It had been a long week, and I just wanted it to be over.  A few days prior, one of the other interns’ boyfriends had shown up at work with a dozen roses, and it really had me in a funk.  I was happy for her, but I desperately wanted to see Dan, and I knew that if I wanted to be engaged by the fall, there was no way that he would be able to swing a trip out to DC.  Plus, I had been really looking forward to going into the city for the 4^th, and not one person was planning on going in to DC the next day.  Instead, I was going to join my family for church picnics and local fireworks.  I was pretty bummed.

On the way home from work, Dan called me twice while I was on the phone with my mom.  At first, I thought there was an emergency since it was only 4:00 central time when he called.  Apparently, the market had closed at noon because of the holiday, and he had gotten out of work a few hours early.  He asked me what I was up to that night, and I told him that I was going to a movie with Bob and Skeeter and that I was kind of in the mood for a double feature.  I was thinking National Treasure.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was going to head over to Kevin’s. 

I walked in the door at 5:30 and Bobby was at the computer looking up movies.  I ate some nachos (quite possibly the BEST nachos I’ve ever had), and chatted it up with Bob and Skeeter for a bit.  “We should go to an early movie so that we can do a double feature,” Bobby said as he was browsing through the movie times.  “I’m kinda in the mood for National Treasure.  Ya know, with it being the 4^th of July and all.”  I couldn’t believe it.  It was fate (or Dan, as I found out later)!  “No way!” I said.  “I’ve been craving National Treasure all day!”  We planned to go to the 7:30 movie so that we could come home and watch it later.  Before we left, I called Dan and asked him who he was in the car with.  “Oh, Jake decided to go to Kevin’s with me.”  I was glad he was having a boys’ night out.  He doesn’t have too many of those now-a-days. 

We went to see “Wall-E” (not a great flick), and returned home about 9:30.  By the time I changed into my PJs, it was about 10:00, and I was exhausted.  I figured I’d make it halfway through the movie and go to bed around 11.  I was expecting Bob and Skeeter to fall asleep during the movie (they’re typically in bed by 10), but every time I turned around, they were wide awake.  I wanted to go to bed so badly, but I felt rude going to bed when I was the one who had requested the double feature.  At around midnight, the dogs went nuts.  They ran upstairs, and Skeeter ran after them.  After a minute, Bobby followed her up.  They wouldn’t start barking.  After a few minutes, I figured that I best go check on them.  “Maybe they went to bed,” I thought to myself.  Just as I turned my body to go upstairs, I saw a giant head behind me.  It was Dan.  “I just love this movie,” he said.  I was completely disoriented.  “Am I dreaming?  Is this for real?  Who are those two people standing behind him?” I thought to myself.  “Hi!” Dan said, beaming from ear to ear.  “Hi…” I said, half asleep.  “This is Jay and Julia.  They’re Lisa’s friends.  They picked me up from the airport, and they wanted to meet you,” he explained.  I honestly don’t remember what I said.  I do remember asking Julia if she’s the girl I talked to on the phone a few months ago when I was looking for DC housing, and she was most definitely the gal!  We walked them upstairs, but I honestly don’t even remember saying goodbye.  I was so thrown off guard by the whole ordeal that I really don’t remember much of what happened.

After they left, Skeeter, Bob, Dan, and I sat in the kitchen for a minute as they explained the whole surprise.  They had been in on it the whole time, and Skeeter was telling me all the lies they had to tell to keep me surprised.  “Remember when you were upset about the girl at work who’s boyfriend came to visit her?” she asked.  “The whole time I was laughing in my head because I knew Dan was coming.”  “Yea, and Dan totally called us to tell us that you wanted to watch National Treasure,” Bobby said.  “It worked out perfectly because we didn’t know how we were going to keep you up all night.”  After a few more minutes of chatting, Bobby and Skeeter went to bed and Dan and I stayed up for awhile to talk.  “You know what I thought when I first saw you?” I asked him.  “No what?” he said.  “I thought you were going to propose.”  He let out a big belly laugh.  “Ha…sorry babe,” he said.  “Like I’d be able to afford that.”  “Yea,” I thought, “your entire ring savings probably went to buy the ticket out here.”  I didn’t much care though.  I was so happy to see him!

We went to bed (in our SEPARATE bedroomsJ), and I was just so excited about the 4^th.  I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning researching things to do in DC the next day.  I found information on then National Independence Day Parade and decided that I would wake up early and text Dan to tell him that I wanted to get an early start so that we could attend.  Ironically, I also looked up a few wedding reception sites before I went to bed.  I had always dreamed of a 4^th of July wedding, and since it was the night before and my boyfriend was in town, I couldn’t help myself.  I found some pictures from a Navy Pier wedding and went to sleep with visions of sparklers sparkling in my head.

A Capitol Fourth

The next morning I woke up and texted Dan.  I had this weird feeling that maybe, just maybe, he was going to propose.  So…I called my mom.  “Mom, are there any more surprises?  Like…do I need to cute or anything?” I hinted.  She sounded as though she had just woken up and responded, “What?  Just wear red white and blue like you always do, Chelsea.  You’ll be fine.”  I hopped into the shower, completely dismissing any thoughts I had of engagement.  And to be honest, I didn’t think about it one more time throughout the day.

At around 10:00, Dan and I headed downstairs for Bobby’s famous blueberry pancakes and planned our day while sitting at the kitchen counter.  I had packed everything under the sun for our trip, and I was telling them how prepared I was when Skeeter asked me if I had a camera.  Mind you, I hate cameras.  I hate the batteries, I hate how bulky they are.  But Skeeter insisted that I have a camera since you “only experience the 4^th in DC once.”  As soon as the camera was set, we headed out the door.  Dan drove us to the metro, and he got a bit feisty with me.  I’m not exactly good at navigating either, so it was quite an amusing drive. 

When we got to the station, the line was out the door.  It easily took us a half hour just to buy a ticket, and poor Dan was dressed in a long-sleeve shirt!  The ride in wasn’t too bad.  Dan was like a little boy on the train…so excited by each and every stop.  We arrived in the city at about 12:30 and caught the tail end of the parade.  To be honest, it wasn’t as grandiose as we thought it would have been, but I had fun regardless.  There were lots of marching bands and dancers, and even a few giant balloons.  I felt like I was at a mini Macy’s Day Parade. 

After the parade, we wandered for a bit.  I wanted to go to a museum, but every time I mentioned museums, Dan just whined.  We were hungry, so we went into Corner Bakery for awhile to cool off.  We called my parents to say hi and then went shopping at Filene’s Basement for a bit.  Once we were cooled off a bit, we decided to head over to the White House and then the Lincoln Memorial. 

I was hot the whole day, and I felt really lightheaded, so Dan kept on encouraging me to drink lots of water.  I still couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let me go into the museums, but I just figured he was cranky because of the heat and dealt with it.  As we walked back from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building, it started to rain, so I took out my umbrella.  It was really tiny, so I tried to put my arm around Dan so that we could both fit underneath it.  I was much more comfortable on his left, but he kept on moving me to his right, and I was getting annoyed.  “What is up with him?” I thought to myself. 

Just as we were getting in line for the Capitol concert, my umbrella broke.  The line was a mile long, and I thought for sure that we wouldn’t get in, so I asked Dan if he wanted to go somewhere else to watch the fireworks.  “Will you stop being so negative?” he said.  I couldn’t help it.  I was hot, it was raining, my umbrella was broken, we hadn’t gotten in line in time, he wouldn’t let me go to museums.  I was frustrated!  But he managed to get me into line and told me that everything would be fine.  He did ask me what happened when I walk through a metal detector with my ring on, but me, being the blonde that I am, didn’t think twice about it.  “Certain metals don’t go off when you walk through,” I explained.  “My ring never goes off.”

When we got towards the front of the line, he grabbed my camera and told me to stay in line while he took a picture.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him put something black down in front of the fence and look around, and I honestly thought to myself: “Oh Mylanta…I’ve known this guy for 6 years.  There’s no way he’s a terrorist, is there?”  I heard another lady ask if he had put something down, and I thought for sure that she was going to report him to the police.   When he got back in line, I asked him what had happened, and he said that he had put his phone down for a second so that he could take the picture.  “That’s weird,” I thought to myself.  But the next thing I knew we were walking through the metal detector, and I completely forgot about what had just happened.

When we entered into the concert, I told Dan that I thought we should sit on the grass.  It looked as though the steps were full, and I just thought it might be more comfortable to sit on the lawn.  But once again, Dan insisted that we sit on the steps.  He found a place for us right at the bottom of the steps and laid our blanket out.  “How romantic,” I thought.  “Wet cement.”  Once we sat down, though, I forgot about my frustrations and just enjoyed his company.  We took goofy facebook pictures and played a few rounds of thumb war, and when the music started, we had a blast (despite the pouring rain and no umbrella).

The concert consisted of Huey Lewis and the News, Taylor Hicks, Jerry Lee Lewis, and this AMAZING broadway star.  We had fun boppin’ to the music underneath our soaking wet blanket, and I was really happy that we had sat on the steps.   Dan apologized for being such a jerk and he told me that he was sorry it was raining and so unromantic.  “If it was a first date, yea,” I said.  “But we’re going on six years, babe,” I said.   “And I’m just so happy to be here with you.”

A Star-Spangled Proposal

When the fireworks started going off, I stood in front of Dan as he held me in his arms and rested his chin upon my head.  While the National Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture, he kept whispering little comments to me here and there, and I began to become a bit suspicious.  “Isn’t this romantic?” he asked.  “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather share this with than you,” he said.  His breath became warmer and warmer in my ear, and I could feel his heart beating a bit faster than usual.  Then he asked me for the second time if I was okay with the amount of people surrounding us (he had asked me earlier during the concert).  At this point, I suspected he was up to something.  I had always said that I didn’t want to be proposed to in front of a large group of people, and I knew this was the only reason he would have asked me.  “Why?” I replied.  “Am I shaking or something?  Why do you keep asking if I’m okay with people?  Do I seem claustrophopic or panicky?”  “No,” he said.  “I just think it’s so awesome that we’re in our nation’s capital with so many people of so many different backgrounds.  Isn’t that awesome?”  Something was up.  While I’m sure my boyfriend, now-fiancé, is a fan of diversity, this comment was entirely out of the ordinary for him.  “He’s gonna do it,” I thought, “…isn’t he?”

As the fireworks came to an end, Dan started talking about how crazy it would have been if he HAD proposed.  Now I was just confused.  “Is he or isn’t he?  Is he or isn’t he?”  My whole body was shaking.  He had thrown me for a loop.  “Yea, Dan,” I said, “that would have been crazy.”  I started to smirk.  “Especially,” he said, “if I had a friend who flew a lot and was able to book me a free flight to come out and see you, and if you were staying with family who had an extra room for me to stay in for free, and if a friend of a friend was willing to pick me up at the airport, and if we had to walk around all day so that we wouldn’t have to go into a museum and set the metal detectors off with the ring box, and…”  The fireworks ended.  As soon as the last one had gone off, Dan reached into his pocket.  I went to go pick up my purse and he shoved it back down on the ground.  Then he got down on one knee and asked, “Chelsea Thompson, will you marry me?”  I don’t even think he had finished the question before I said yes.  I was overwhelmed with laughter and tears, and by the beauty of the whole scene.  He had just proposed to me on the steps of the Capitol Building!  The rest is a whirlwind, and I can barely remember what was said, but I hope that I never forget that feeling.  I was filled with complete joy! 

It was just so special the way everything came to be.  The rain had stopped momentarily, and I don’t think one person witnessed the actual proposal (just the way I wanted it).  After he proposed, though, we asked a young couple sitting by us if they would mind taking a picture of us.  “We just got engaged,” Dan said.  “Oh really?” the girl asked.  “When?”  I replied, “About two seconds ago.”  When the girl heard that, she started screaming, “Hey everybody, these two are engaged!”  A group of people came over to ask how we had met and to congratulate us, and as we left for the Metro, the group started cheering for us.  The cheering caught on, and pretty soon everyone on the Capitol Steps was cheering for us!  I felt like an American princess.

 On the way home, Dan told me the whole story from his perspective, and I just cherished every moment with him.  I just kept staring at my GORGEOUS ring and smiling at the thought of being married to him.  I couldn’t ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with, and I am so blessed to have him as my fiancé.  He truly loves the Lord, he adores my family, and I never doubt his love for me.  I couldn’t have asked for a better proposal, and it just assured me that this was truly a “God thing.”

Last Thursday, my professor decided to change my paper from 10 to 15 pages.  Last night, he told us he wants it turned in on Wednesday instead of Thursday. 

I am not a happy camper.