this is the day to be engaged

...was the direct quote from my fiance after i'd had my ring on for .5 seconds and starting asking, "so WHEN can we get married?!?!"

that's right, folks.  he popped the big question one week ago today, so settle in, it's story time.

last sunday morning i woke up, got especially chipper when i looked out the window and saw that it was sunny and not freezing, and headed uptown to meet daniel and our friend chorissa for brunch.  i had set this brunch date a couple of weeks ago and had firmed it up with her a couple of days before and daniel was going to tag along, too.  chorissa lives in the upper west side so it was decided that we would go to a place she'd always wanted to go right by columbus circle.  this worked out perfectly, as it was the NY marathon, therefore we'd be close and could hopefully snag a spot by the street to cheer on the runners when we were finished stuffing our faces and not running a marathon.

when i came up out of the subway (glasses on, hair in ponytail, un-showered), i called daniel to see where to meet him and he said our reservations had been pushed back because of all the marathon traffic so we had 30 minutes to kill.  perfect!  i walked over to where he was, right at the entrance to the park where the finish line was and i couldn't believe our good fortune.  we literally walked up and were standing at the finish line.  as i was looking around, about to ask someone for a noise maker and start participating, he got kinda weird and said he wanted to go to the other side.  this made no sense to me and i bit my tongue and muttered an "mmkay" as we gave up our prime spot and walked under a bridge and over to the other side of the biggest running race in all the land, to then have him say, "actually, i don't feel like doing this.  let's just walk."

you must know that daniel never complains and is always up for anything, so i thought i'd better just go with it because he must really not want to do this.  i still had no idea at this point... clearly our brunch was still happening in about 20 minutes.  so we are walking around the park (away from the crowds) and i think i was asking him what he had on his plate for the week, trying to get a mental agenda lined up, and he started talking about college and how crazy it was that we had been apart of each other's lives for ten whole years.  he said, "remember when we were at baylor and i broke up with you because i didn't think you were spiritual enough and and i didn't want a wife?"  i was like, "uh yeah.  i do remember tha....." and it all started to come together in my head what was happening.  then he said something like, "well i'm ready for one now," and started going into all this stuff that i have no recollection of, and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  i think then at one point he was trying to pick me up and ended up dropping the ring before he put it on, but it's honestly all a blur.  i just remember needing to sit down, my eyes filling with tear,s and in complete shock.

daniel had asked two of his close friends to take pictures and video along the way, so they had been in stealth mode, hiding behind trees and snapping away the whole time, and they finally came out and we had a group hug and it was so great.

where does one go from here, you might ask?

welp... to the subway :)  and then to brunch at my faaaaaavorite breakfast place (which does NOT do reservations, but my amazing husband-to-be emailed them and told them the story so they put our name on the list!), then on a gorgeous drive upstate to the most ridiculously delicious dinner either of us had ever had.  the day was a fairytale and i actually don't think it's all even hit me yet.  what all he did in advance... what all everyone of my family members and friends have been planning and spending time and effort on unbeknownst to be... what all this means for our future... instead, i'm just trying to breathe and take it a day at a time and let the waves of pure and utter gratitude wash over me as i think of the faithfulness of my God in bringing daniel grant onto this earth to be my mate for as long as we both shall live.

much more to come, but until then, here are some photos of exactly one week ago today :)

down on his knee... 

the gang right after (thomas, me, d, jeff)

on the subway on the way to brunch.  ny moment :)

biscuit blingdaniel had some of our family and friends send him a video for me to watch after he proposed so i would feel like they were there.  it was beyond thoughtful and i loooooooved each of them.  melt.

after dinner at blue hill.

aaaaaaand the best picture i received the whole day.  the gyllenhaals wishing us a congrats!