It's hard to believe it and I still have to pinch myself every morning I wake up and look over next to me and see Craig, the love of my life, laying next to me, and then I look down at my ring finger and see this amazing, sparkling diamond ring in that space that has always lay empty. "I'm engaged and I'm going to mary my best friend" I whisper to myself and smile. It's been an amazing 20 moths getting to know Craig and falling in love with him more every day, and as we embark on this new adventure, I know I have a solid rock to ground me when I'm off my rocker, and comfort me when I'm sad, and make me smile when I'm grumpy. It's going to be amazing and I can't wait!
Let's take a look at how we got to this moment in time...
Craig and I met playing kickball. It's a funny story and I love to tell people that the first time we met I was yelling and screaming at him for making a game losing call when reffing our kickball game. I always say, he saw me at my worst, so it can only get better from there.
He came to watch one of my games when we first started dating and met my Mom. They seemed to hit it off instantly.
Our first date was an all day event. He invited me to the Charger/Raider game in San Diego the day after Halloween. We had a great time getting to know each other on the long car ride down there and I felt safe with him even when all the fans starting getting crazy.
I could tell on the way home that he wasn't feeling great. He was quiet and seemed to be a bit feverish. He went to the doctor the next day and it turns out that he had pneumonia! I told him that I would come over that night and make him some chili and we could watch a movie and relax. He told me later that that was the moment he fell in love with me. :)
From that moment on we were inseparable. We spent the upcoming Holidays together and went on our first vacation together to Santa Barbara. We ended the year with a new year's eve kiss and welcomed 2011 with open arms.
SANTA BARBARA
When our first Valentine's Day rolled around I was very excited to see what he would do for me. Something sweet, romantic, exotic, caring? What would it be!? He told me he had something planned for me but he wanted it to be a surprise. A couples massage? A horseback ride? I had all sorts of ideas running through my head. We had a nice romantic dinner at home the night before and after a little wine he accidently let it slip. SKYDIVING!!!! WHATTT!!!?
VALENTINE'S DINNER
SKYDIVING
He told me that he had chosen skydiving for our activity because he has a fear of heights and wanted to face his biggest fear with me by his side. (aaaaahhhh, so sweet). We both survived, obviously, the most terrifying moment of our lives, and we laughed and smiled the rest of the day just thinking about what crazy people we are.
The year rolled on and we celebrated birthdays and holidays and grew more and more in love.
He came as my guest on my Gold Cup trip the island of Lana'i and we extended our stay and spent time with his sister Tracie and her husband Kirk on the Big Island. Spending 10 days together is a test of any relationship and it was the best 10 days of my life. We enjoyed every moment together.
LANA'I
We realized how much we love to travel together and our shared love of "getting out of town".
MAMMOTH
VEGAS
BAKERSFIELD
HAVASU
CABO
(we lost all of our pictures from Cabo due to a faulty memory card)
CAMPING IN THE SIERRAS
BIG BEAR
Gold Cup came around again and I was in the running to win for the third year in a row. I thought it was a long shot but I ended up finishing #3 in the region. We were both particularly happy about this year because the trip was to the Four Seasons in Kona, our favorite island.
Craig's mom and step-dad invited us to come out four day early and stay with them in their time share on Kauai. Um, yes please.
We spent the first couple days touring around the island with Francie and Scott and relaxing at the beach. Our last day on the island before leaving for Kona, Craig and I signed up for a kayaking tour up the Wailua river and a hike into the jungle to see Secret Falls. I had seen people kayaking on the river the last time I was in Kauai and really wanted to do that before we left.
It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cloudy. The kayaking was fun and the hike through the jungle was more challenging and muddy than I had thought (but still a lot of fun).
When we finally reached the falls, it was amazing! It had rained for almost a week straight so it was really dumping water. Craig and I found a rock in the middle of the stream in front of the waterfall to sit and eat our lunch. We were about half way through our sandwiches when Craig handed me his and proceeded to dig through the backpack. "What are you looking for? Can't you finish your sandwich first." I'm nagging him to quit looking for whatever it is he is looking for and I look into the bag to help him find it and I see him pulling up out of the bottom of the bag a blue box with a white ribbon around it!
Its hard to describe the feeling but it was a shock that ran through my body and everything went a little blurry. I remember laughing and smiling and thinking to myself, "this is really happening!"
He got in front of me and bent down on his knee. He said something like "You know I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you mary me?" And he opened the box. OMG! All i saw was sparkle. It blew me away and I teared up.
"OF COURSE, YES!" I said. I was shaking all over.
The last 6 weeks has been great. Sharing our story with everyone, making wedding plans, and just enjoying being engaged. We are so excited to exchange vows in Cabo next year in April in front of our family and friends. Each and every day is better than the next and I know that I have so much more to look forward to in the future.
I love you Craig.
