My turn!

Okay everyone. We all know how it goes. The girl is always right. So here's how it REALLY went down.

First a little back-story. Adam knew that I really wanted to be engaged either before I moved home or sometime this summer, so that doing long-distance again I would at least know that a commitment was made and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. As far as the beach, we had previously talked about how the cut at the end of the island was one of my most favorite places ever because I had a lot of family memories made there over the years and because of how beautiful it is at sunset. So, in the weeks leading up to the beach I had gotten the vibe from Adam that he wasn't planning anything special and that he for sure hadn't bought a ring yet. So I really thought it wasn't going to happen at the beach, but I knew I would still stress out about it. So then, the day before we left, I texted our good friend Becca (and Adam's apparently secret-confidant) something along the lines of, "Becca, you have to just tell me he's NOT going to propose at the beach so I don't think about it all week" and she responded with something along the lines of "Don't worry about it, I may have already talked to him ;) you're going to be very happy by the end of the summer though, he's got something bigger planned...maybe he'll at least talk to your dad this week though?" I thought it was pretty convincing, so I completely pushed the idea out of my head and even told my mom to not think about it because, "it wasn't going to happen."

( I mean, how could it happen?? He surely hasn't talked to dad yet, and Becca clearly knows when he is really doing it, and I KNOW he hasn't bought a ring yet!)

So we got to the beach on Saturday, and that night me and Adam rode our bikes down to the cut (the cut is the pass between the bay and the ocean and there's these two big rock jetties on either side, and it faces an uninhabited island and the sunset). We walked around down there and sat and talked for a little bit, and I told Adam how this is the cut I had always told him about. Then Sunday, my brother and sister-in-law got to the beach and we spent that night at the house with everyone, and Adam suggested going to watch the sunset again tomorrow night, being Monday. So I was like yea sure that sounds good. So Monday rolls around, and oh my word, what a perfect day.

It was like high-70's, and sunny/kinda cloudy (perfect lay out weather!), my dad and Adam both caught Pompano (huge deal because they are delicious), the water was super clear, Adam made me lunch and brought it down to the beach for me as a surprise, we spent the whole afternoon out at the pool, then went in and everyone got cleaned up to go to dinner at the main restaurant on the island. 

Naturally, I thought it was only appropriate to take a few pictures before dinner because everyone was looking nice for dinner. So we go to dinner and had a perfect meal. Then after dinner, little did I know Adam was busy checking his watch to make sure we didn't miss the sunset, we went and ran a few errands before we headed back to the house. 

Side-note: While I was in Chicago in April, Adam drove up to Jackson and met my dad and had "the talk." So dad knew that it would happen sometime this week, and my mom knew that they had talked, but no one else knew anything at all. And I sure as heck had no idea they had talked. In face just a few weeks before I told Adam that I would not say yes unless he had talked to my dad. He replied, "do I have to? that's kind of scary..." What a sneaky pete. 

Back to the night.

So we get back to the house, and by this point it was pretty cloudy, and I told Adam, "ehhh it doesn't look like it's going to be very pretty, let's just go tomorrow and stay in tonight." Of course he was like "umm no I think it will be pretty, let's just go." (Repeat 3 times) So finally he convinces me to go, and I remember asking him if I should take my camera and he said, "if you want to...I mean if you think you'll need it...I don't care.." So I ALMOST didn't take it. Which would have been bad. Very bad.

So now we're driving down to the cut, after it took me 10 minutes to back out of the car-port, while navigating around fishing poles, trash cans, and palm trees. It's a wonder we even got out of the car-port.

I don't remember really what we talked about, but we got down there and parked outside this gate thing you have to walk through. I had had my eyes on these beautiful pink flowers since the first time we were down there so I made Adam take my picture in front of them, and then in front of some palm trees. He was his usual self, slightly annoyed at how many pictures he had to take.

I was finally picture-satisfied and we started walking down the last street of houses, when a bride came out of one of the houses followed by a couple photographers. HA. How ironic. I told Adam how much I wanted to just go sneak in and snap a few. Then, we turned the corner to walk down by the fence towards the water, and lo and behold there's a bamboo alter sitting down by the water. So of course I was like, "Adam! How precious is this!! She is totally getting married here and this is the aisle she'll walk down!! It's such a perfect place for it!" He was less amused than I was. Moving on.

We finally are walking down by the water now and taking a few pictures of the sunset, and Adam says, "Remind me again where your favorite place to sit is." So I was like okay, let me go pick out a good spot! So I ran ahead of him and carefully selected a perfect sitting rock to face the sunset. So he comes and sits next to me, and we're kind of cuddled up in my jacket because it was actually really chilly from the wind! So we just start talking and he says some sweet things like, "I really like your family...I think I fit in really well...blah blah blah..." and I'm like yea I know it's going to be a really good week, they all love you, blah blah blah. And then we just started talking more kind of sweet stuff about our relationship and what not, which I thought was normal sweet stuff, and then he kept saying, "So uh..." "Well..." and I'd be like "So what?" and then he'd cover quickly and say something else sweet. And then he said something like, "How much do you love me? Is it enough to marry me?" and I was said something like, "Of course...I've already told you that..."and then he stood up in front of me, and so naturally I stood up too because I thought this was simply a bear-hug moment but clearly I read it wrong, and then I thought ugh he already wants to leave??? So then we're hugging and I remember hearing his heart going a mile a minute and thinking, that's weird. Oh well. Unobservant me. Then he was like, "Well....that's good because.." and then he carefully got down on one knee, held up the most beautiful thing I had ever seen with his right hand, and asked, "Will you marry me?"

*Insert, tears, surprise, shock, shaking, confusion, world spinning*

Then I said something like, "Are you serious? Really? Becca told me you weren't going to do it this week!!! Really??"

Then poor Adam, after I clearly had not even said yes yet, said,

"Please??" in the CUTEST way ever.

and I said yes yes of course, and he put the ring on my finger, and we both cried and laughed and hugged and took pictures and I told him how beautiful and perfect it was and it was just so great.

So then we walked back to the car, and spread the good news!

When we got back to the house, only my mom and sister in law were up there, so we walked in and I just couldn't keep it a secret, so I bursted out, "I'M ENGAGED!!!" Both of their faces were hilarious, Jennifer was so surprised, and mom was shocked and about to cry. Then, a few minutes later, my dad and brother came in from the beach where they were playing with the metal detector my dad brought with us ( I know, only my family). My mom asked them if they had had any luck and they briefly said what they had found, and then she said, "Did you find a diamond ring?" and right as they said no, I said, "I did!!" and the look on my brother's face was PRICELESS! He was completely surprised and shocked and speechless. My dad didn't know for sure what night Adam would pop the question, so he was also somewhat surprised. Hugging and story-telling ensued.

It was the most perfect proposal ever, and I'm so glad my family got to share in the experience and celebration! 

Can't wait to show my new 'Ingle' family to be! 

It's pretty neat having a fiance :) My Cinderella moment finally came, and I wouldn't change a single second of it! I absolutely can NOT wait until our big day!

-The future Mrs.