Yep, that's right, lunch dates and pedicure fun and helping each other move and watching each other's dogs and being one of the first people to see her engagement ring and her being one of the four people I texted a picture of my new bling to, know each other.
When she told me that I would be guest blogging on the Fourth of July, I imagined I would be writing about freedom and flags and what the day means to me now that The Marine is in my life. And then, about a week or two ago, there was the anticipation of an engagement ring and lots of hint dropping on my blog and I might have told her I would use my guest post to announce my engagement, if I had the bling in time.
Well, as some of you might know, I received a beautiful ring on Tuesday! And then, I blogged about it on my blog, Diary of a Disgruntled Marine Girlfriend, because, well, I was just too flipping excited to not
So, because I flaked on the announcement post, and since I've been
Frank took leave this past week because we had planned a vacay to visit my parents, in Waxhaw, over the Fourth of July holiday. We were going to leave on Wednesday morning, so on Tuesday, before I went to work, I left him a To-Do list.
He was sitting on the couch, watching television, when I got home from work. I was exhausted and melting in my scrubs with the 100 plus degree heat index and admittedly, looked pretty much like the walking dead. We chit-chatted as I looked through the mail, threw his mail at him, unpacked my lunch and asked him about the To-Do list.
Me: "Babe, did you finish your list?"
Frank: "What all did I have to do?"
Me: "Cut the grass."
Frank: "Check."
Me: "Go to the bank and cash the savings bond and rebate check and activate your new, unscratched, debit card."
Frank: "Put this [the cash] in your purse. And I forgot to activate the card, we can do it tonight online. What else?"
Me: "Put the wash into the dryer."
Side note: When you walk in our front door, you can tell if our dryer is running, as the vent from the back of the dryer "ends" there.
Frank: "I think I forgot. I'm sorry."
Me: "I think you did, I'm pretty sure the dryer was running when I came in."
Frank: "I'm not sure that I did, go check for me."
At this point, I knew the dryer was on, but I also knew that I wasn't winning this battle, so I begrudgingly shuffled off to the garage, where I was just going to crack the door and yell, "Yep, it's on."
I opened the door and sure enough, the dryer was running and there, on top of the washer, was the most precious ring box with a bow on top of it.
I panicked. I was pretty sure the ring had been purchased and I hate to admit it, we were already planning the wedding, but he totally surprised me. I was not expecting to find a ring, on our washer, on Tuesday afternoon, when I got home from work and was still in scrubs.
I picked up the box and walked back into the family room and he just smiled. As I crawled on the sofa next to him, he asked me if I had opened it and when I told him that I had not, he told me to do so. As I took off my promise ring, bought before his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, and replaced it with the gorgeous new bling, I looked at him and asked, "Are you going to ask me or just assume?" And after he kissed me, he grinned and replied, "Do I assume correctly?"
Why yes babe, yes you do.
Head on over to my blog, Diary of a Disgruntled Marine Bride-To-Be, to hear about what we did that night to celebrate, when and where our wedding is going to be and all the details! And stick around and follow me as we hash out all the details over the next six month!
And on a more serious note, Happy Fourth of July. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and sincerely hope that you take time to remember those who have fought for your freedom and still are fighting for your freedom. And, as always, say a prayer for the men and women, and their families, friends and loved ones, who have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of living in a free country, just as the Founding Fathers envisioned.
