The wind up...

So you're probably wondering how Mr. D ended up proposing. Let me first tell you a bit more about how Mr. D was going to propose.

Every year for the last 25 years, our families and friends have been getting together in Bishop, California for a weekend in July filled with softball and camping. I hadn't ever been until Mr. D and I started dating. It is something that we always look forward to and plan for long in advance. Since almost all of our nearest and dearest would be there, Mr. D was going to propose while we were all gathered around the campfire. The idea brought tears to my eyes (nevermind that I was already crying when he told me). I went from crying out of frustration, to happy crying because of his sentimentality, then sad crying because I had ruined it. I ruined exactly what I had been wishing for. And it was all my fault.

We went to Bishop that weekend and I tried to have a good time. Part of me still hoped that he was still going to propose that weekend, even if it wasn't in front of everyone. So I spent a lot of time asking him if he wanted to go for walks in the woods. Well, he didn't propose. And worse? I lost one of the diamond earrings that he had given me for our first anniversary. I was going to go home from Bishop with LESS diamonds than what I came with. How was this happening?!

On our last morning in Bishop, the earring was found. I'm not kidding. One of our friends found my diamond earring in the campground parking lot. Sure, it had been run over by a car, but I had my earring.

Then spent the entire month of August in LA for work. It was really hard to know that if I had been able to keep my big mouth shut, I would have been there with a fiance waiting for me at home. Yes, I still had an amazing boyfriend that clearly loved me enough to put up with my neuroses, but I wanted to marry him. It was a very long month.

September came, along with the start of college football and my birthday (yay!). We are USC Trojan season ticket holders and the first home game was the day before my 27th birthday. Our plan was to go straight from the airport to the game, but the flight was really early in the day, so we had some time to kill. I suggested going to the Jewelry Mart to get my earring fixed before the game. He smiled and said that we could also pick out my birthday present. Ok, buddy, that is dangerous for you to not clarify prior to our arrival at the mart. So, I did the unthinkable. I said, "What if I don't want a necklace?" He said, "I didn't think you'd want a necklace. I'm going to call my stepmom and get the name of her jeweler." So we hugged and I got GIDDY.

Did you get really frustrated waiting for him to propose?