Looking back, last fall was filled with so many wonderful things. The beauty of a true fall that brought crisp mornings, gorgeous foliage, and a number of pleasant drives, visits with Mike, a stellar guest lecture, spending time with friends and their newborns, and the anticipation of Thanksgiving and then the holidays. The weeks after Thanksgiving were a little tough; my students had little motivation and I, too, found it hard to be lively and bubbly in every one of my classes. Winter break was just around the corner, but it simply couldn't come soon enough.
And then I gave four hours worth of final oral exams, with students coming in one after the next, and I finally felt exhilarated that I would soon be heading home to Maryland and Mike. I took myself over to the cutest little jewel of a restaurant that is truly a gem in Greencastle, Indiana, had the most delicious lunch of Christmas tea, curried sweet potato soup, half a tuna sandwich and coconut cream pie for dessert. It was magical. The restaurant was nearly empty and I slowly thawed from the cold drafts that had been creeping into my office and the light snow swirling around outside as I drank my tea. The half dozen of beautifully decorated Christmas trees was enough to keep my spirits boosted for the entire afternoon. And then I rushed home at the end of the day to have Thai food with Trisha, Grant, and my sweet little nephew.
Fast forward one more week, and I was on my way home to Maryland. I had trouble sleeping, so I woke up at 5, and was on the road by 6 am. My car was packed with load of Christmas gifts and all my best outfits because what I was really looking forward to was Mike's proposal. I knew it was going to happen over winter break, it was just a matter of how. We both got there on Thursday night and immediately went out to pick up some take-out from a local Chinese restaurant. We barely had time to settle in the next day as we rushed to Michaels and the grocery store to pick up everything we needed for an ornament decorating party we were hosting that night. As soon as we got back to the house, I scrambled to make mini apple tarts, goat cheese bruschetta, and a few other snacks for our little party. Thankfully, everyone was running late as usual, so when they all arrived at 6, we were ready to relax and have fun. It was Mer and Guy, Nicole, Mike, and me, and it was such a lovely night.
As Mike and I were cleaning up and getting ready to head to bed, we finally had a minute to process everything. We were back together for the next month and excited for all of the things that we had planned. And then he proposed. It was after teeth had been brushed, faces had been washed, and the pooch had been put to bed. We were talking about the uncertainty that this new year would bring-- both of us going on the job market again, a move to somewhere over the summer, and the beginning of a building a life together. The lights were off, but when he reached over to dig around in his suitcase, I knew what was coming. I didn't move right away-- I wanted to take a minute to remember as many details as I could since I knew this was going to be the moment, but then I realized that I couldn't see a thing. He simply said he loved me, wanted to be with me forever, and asked if I would marry him. Short and sweet. I said yes, and after we sat there for a moment, me leaning over the side of the bed, him kneeling down, he asked if I wanted to see the ring. Since he had closed the ring box, I was in suspense all over again as he sat down in front of me and asked if I was ready. I didn't start crying until I saw the ring. It was a better version of what I imagined. And then I got really excited. I flew down the hall at 1:30 in the morning, arms flailing as I jumped up in down in front of my aunt. She looked at me as if to say, "what is wrong?!" and then I waved my hand in front of her. Then she got excited and did a little dance, and in one of my favorite moments of the whole event, walked over to Mike who was just coming down the hall and gave him a hug as she said "thank you" in a tone that suggested what she was really saying was "thank you for not making her wait any longer" or possibly, "thank you for taking her on". We all laughed. My brother was sleeping, so I jumped on his bed and said "you gotta just open your eyes, just for a second" and when he opened them, I shoved my ring in his face and then gave him permission to go back to sleep. And then it was after 2, and I couldn't sleep. I had to turn on the TV to calm the sheer excitement I felt so we could get to sleep and then wake up the next morning and tell everyone the news!
The proposal came in the wee hours of December 21, just two days before my birthday. It made for a pretty splendid birthday. A fun Christmas Eve tradition of candle-light church service and finger food for dinner followed, along with muffins, gift opening, and a decadent dinner of surf and turf on Christmas. We went to Redwood in Bethesda for an early dinner on New Year's Eve and had one of the best meals we've both ever had. Mike came down with the flu, but quickly recovered a few days later, and then, because I had really been planning our wedding for about three months already, we started looking at wedding venues!
So far, 2014 has brought us the promise of finding our first home together in next six months and the excitement of planning our summer 2015 wedding. It has also brought new potential career prospects for me, and a certain sense of validation knowing that the past fourteen years of language learning are really amounting to something. And that, in turn, has been really exciting for both of us, knowing that new opportunities and adventures await us.
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| Taken the morning of our engagement. |
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| A wonderfully thoughtful gift given to us by one of my best friend's parents. |
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