Friends, you sure know how to make a girl feel special. Thank you so much for your loving congratulatory comments yesterday on my engagement. I'm still on cloud nine.
Here's how it all went down...
On Saturday morning, we wanted to celebrate Hal's birthday with a motorcycle getaway. Our first trip together on his new bike. As I mentioned before, he wouldn't let me plan the adventure. He wanted to do things his way, by living in the moment. He apparently woke up that morning and decided on a destination. East.
We made our way out of Seattle on the Harley, stopped to eat pancakes at a little bakery along the way, and proceeded to hit the open road. Upon entering the scenic Cascade mountains, he braked and pulled off to the right. He wanted to check out the little waterfall we passed.
So he turned around, parked, and led me down a steep rocky trail which opened up to a lovely river clearing. The water was green and calm on one side, white and wild on the other.
As I was snapping photos, I stepped away onto a private stone slab to get a better view of the crashing falls. When I turned back around, there was Hal on one knee. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed! I was worried he would fall into the water. He fumbled around with something sparkly in his pocked, grabbed my hand and blurted out, "Will you marry me?" with the widest grin. I cupped his face and almost forgot to answer. Yes. Yes. Yes!
I soon realized we had an audience. I later learned that right before Hal followed me out to the ledge, he whispered to an older couple admiring the view, "Hey, watch this!" They witnessed the entire proposal and offered to take our photos. Reenactment time! A small applause broke out by a sweet young family nearby.
The next few moments are still a blur. We held hands and giggled. We marveled at the ring. Hal grabbed my camera and photographed the flower in the tide pool. We made our way back to the bike in a quiet daze. I'm engaged. I'm engaged. I strapped on my helmet, tightly wrapped my arms around his leather jacket, and we zoomed off into the wind.
Since starting my blog a few years back, I've been exposed to some insanely romantic and intricately planned proposals. I sympathized with men and the pressure to come up with something original. But in my eyes, Hal's proposal can't even compare. It was perfect. He did things Hal style. Spur of the moment. Inspired. Unplanned.
Now if only weddings worked the same way! :)
