how was it?

...engaging!

so it's official. i'm an engaged woman. and, much to no one's surprise but my own, it happened on our wonderful trip to hawaii! he had spent the last month or so telling me, emphatically, that it would not happen while we were away, so i was really not expecting it. add to that a quick convo on the plane, confirming that it was not happening in hawaii, despite all the friends guessing it would be on the trip, and i was utterly clueless. which made for a great surprise when it actually did happen! 

it was the second day of the trip, the day before halloween, and he and i had ideas to go for a horseback ride and visit some ruins in kohala. originally we were going to go on an early morning ride, then swing by the (super creepy) ruins, but we called the horse ranch for reservations the night before (morning, really: we called them at 1:00am on our way back from a karaoke bar), so we weren't surprised when they didn't have 'room' for us on the morning ride. we easily switched our plans, heading up to the most northern point of the island, in kohala, and walking around a beautiful, lava rock coast and then the creepy ruins (which i thought were so cool!). the flexible plans fit in with the rest of the way we were doing the vacation, so i didn't think twice that he was the one that suggested horseback riding.  

after some seriously amazing macadamia nut ice cream in kohala, we headed to paniolo ranch (which means cowboy, in hawaiian), and got suited up (boots and all) for a picnic horseback ride with a cute young, Coloradan wrangler named jackie as our guide. jackie was adorably naive, and had lots of really fun hawaii facts ("did you know that most of the us mainland's beef is raised in hawaii?"), as well as some obvious facts ("did you know that the hawaiian islands are surrounded by the pacific ocean? you can see it from here!"). we had a great ride down to a picnic site, about an hour or so along a hilly, volcanic countryside. 

we stopped for our picnic lunch, tying the horses up and finding seats on some small, volcanic rocks amid old volcanic rock walls, built for ancient hawaiian farming systems. he got up after his sandwich, and wandered down the hill a few hundred yards and then yelled for me to come see something. i got up, and followed him in my bright orange, too-big cowboy boots. he said he wanted to take a picture, and set up the camera on the tripod on one of the rock walls, facing the (pacific) ocean... he set it, and ran over, posing with me. we smiled, he told me to wave, i waved. i didn't hear the camera click, so we stood there for an awkwardly long time... 

the next few parts i don't remember at all, if we're being honest. however, it's on video (cause the camera was rolling the whole time, unbeknownst to me!) so i can tell you exactly how it happened... :)

he pulled away from our picture pose, kissed me and i thought we were being silly, so i roughed him around for a second. then he looked at me all lovey, started reaching into his pocket, and got down on one knee. i remember seeing the ring box, and him taking his hat and sunglasses off. i thought at first he was kidding, and then when i realized it was for real, i almost threw up i was so excited. 

he started saying all these wonderful, beautiful things (which i do remember, but are for me only)...i got all teary and squealy, he got all teary and choked up, and then he asked if i would be his wife. 

the rest is so cute and romantic, it  would make you want to puke flowers all over, so i'll spare you the details. but, the important part is that he asked me to be his wife and i said yes! 

we ran up the hill after a few minutes and asked jackie to take our picture. i guess he had told her when she was saddling him up that he was going to try to do it, so she wasn't too surprised, but she was excited because that had never happened on any of the rides she'd been on. i was so proud that he did something so original :)

the other amazing parts of the proposal that i was unaware of include mark's amazing planning: he helped design the ring, obviously months in advance of our trip so it would be ready; he contacted not only my mother and stepdad, but my dad in connecticut too, letting them all know of his intentions and love for me; he wrote out all that he said to me in a beautiful letter, so i could have it for always; and he engraved two bible verse references in our ring that represented our relationship with each other, and God. 

in short, it. was. PERFECT. 

and we had the rest of the trip to enjoy our news, and be happy and lovey together. people even asked if we were on our honeymoon! we told only our families the next morning (and it was halloween, so we were dressed as zombies in the airport when we called everyone), and didn't tell anyone else, really, until the very end of the trip, or even until we came home. it was great to have our time to ourselves and just enjoy the amazingness of finding someone to love for the rest of our lives. 

and now, at home, i still look at my finger and can't believe that this is happening! it's much more 'real' now that people know, and the last few days have felt almost like i'm on parade. i am very overwhelmed with planning and thinking of things to do, but more than anything, i am still feeling all in love and mushy towards him, and so excited, and blessed, that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with. i can't wait!