As sorority rush is about to begin up at The University of Georgia, I am reminded of where I was almost 7 years ago and all the emotions I was feeling. I vividly remember sitting on the floor of my dorm room in Brumby with Angie... all of our belongings spread around the room. Never did I imagine that at the end of that week, I would meet a boy that I now call my fiance.
Bid Day meant experiencing my first band party at Beta Theta Pi. Some of the girls in my new pledge class were picked up by our Carnation Sisters and taken over to Towne Club for the pre-party, where we met several guys... one in a red Georgia hat stuck out from the rest. As we left for the band party, that boy in the red hat escorted me, with an umbrella in hand, through the pouring rain and in to the taxi. Some front row dancing, several fist pumps, and hours of conversation later, I was hooked on the boy in the red hat.
That boy has been there for me over the last 7 years in the most amazing of ways. We have experienced college together, law school, grad school, more moves than either of us would have liked, a terrible drive to Jackson, Miss., and all of the other highs and lows in between. I could not be more excited to FINALLY be able to call Travis my fiance... and the way he "made it official" was way more than I ever could have wanted.
Having a summer birthday, I have always felt like I missed out in grade school. I never got to take cupcakes, pass out invitations, or have a party where all my friends could come. So as the big 2-5 was quickly approaching, I had asked Travis what we would be doing, hoping he had something planned. Well Friday (my actual birthday) came without any big surprises. We went to Marlows... totally normal dinner. And then planned to go see Harry Potter... totally normal cause I had been asking about it for weeks. While sitting at dinner, I was starting to get kinda antsy, hoping that maybe I would have gotten a card or flowers or something. After asking Travis if he even got me a card for my birthday, I was pleasantly surprised when he told me that we would be celebrating my birthday the next day. But then my controlling nature took over... he had planned for us to go to the Botanical Gardens, out to dinner and then stay in Atlanta. Of course I had to have my input... we would get up, go to the Gardens around 9 or 10 am, and then head to maybe Park Tavern for lunch, go to our hotel and get ready for dinner. Travis had other plans in mind for our little schedule of events...
We did not leave at 9 am... more like 3 pm. To be totally honest, I was already complaining. It was going to be hotter than hot and I could just not understand why Travis insisted we leave so much later in the day. So before we left... we took our last picture as boyfriend and girlfriend. And then we were off to the Botanical Gardens...
But not before we made a pit-stop at Total Wine. While Travis went in, I played with my new camera.
We finally made it to the Botanical Gardens and over to the Canopy Walk... one of the things on my Atlanta Bucket List. We made our little walk through the trees and the scorching heat, ending up in one of the many gardens. Travis insisted we walk over to the side of the waterfall, but the way he was pointing was straight towards the Visitor's Center and Exit... exactly where we had just come from. Me being the planner, pulled out my map and tried to explain to him that he was going the wrong way. He continued to walk over to the side of the waterfall and then insisted that I take a picture of this waterfall. At this point, we were in direct sunlight. I was burning up and sweating and not too happy. So he kept insisting. And I turned to walk away. I was going to find shade. As I turned around, he grabbed my hand, pulled me around, and said "But I have a question for you..."
...and there was a question. A ring. Laughter. Tears. Shaking hands.
Oh, and that waterfall.
First picture with my fiance!! Still not used to that word.
And then the ring... I am sure every girl thinks that her engagement ring is perfect. I am definitely one of those girls. Indulge me for just a minute. About 8 months ago, I gave back a pair of diamond earrings Travis had given me one year for Christmas. My ears are really sensitive and every time I wore the earrings, my ears got infected. Yuck, I know. Well, when I looked down at the new sparkly addition to my hand... I noticed the two sparkly earrings he had given me.
Thumbs up for the Botanical Gardens and engagements.
And then the phone calls began... but I only had a few certain people I could call. At the time, I didn't think much of it because I had yet to come down from "Cloud 9."
And then we had our own photo shoot...
After walking around for about 15 more minutes, we were both hot and ready to just enjoy the moment... in air conditioning. So we headed to our hotel, where I proceeded to call my parents about 10 separate times. On one of those occasions, my dad slipped and told us that they would be meeting us at dinner. As Travis and I walked up to SHOUT, I asked him if my parents would be joining us. He said yes, hoping that I hadn't paid attention to that comment. We rounded the corner and I saw my parents walking in to the restaurant... then I started to stress. Where were his parents? This was not going to be good if we were just celebrating with mine. Maybe they were meeting us? The hostess greeted us, took out 4 menus (guess his parents weren't meeting us) and then walked us in to the dining room. We walked past a 4-top table. Not ours. And approached a 10-top table. Maybe more people were meeting us?! This would be great. NOPE. Not ours either. As we finally made our way to the back of a restaurant, there was another 4-top table. I guess it was just going to be the 4 of us. Travis was going to have some explaining to do. The hostess moved to the side. And then I noticed the big red curtain...
SURPRISE!!!
The surprise birthday party quickly became a surprise engagement party.
High School besties.
College besties.
Travis talked. I cried.
And it was the happiest day ever.
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