The Proposal

Since I'm still in the "Whoa, I'm engaged!!!" phase, I thought I'd expand the story a bit for you of how this all went down. I've also put together a little picture parade show for your enjoyment in which my hair looks good most of the time. You'll see what I mean later. I promise I'll get back to normal soon. Probably.
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My sweet, thoughtful, wonderful human being. My person.

He spent a year and a half planning it. He thought out every detail, down to recording the entire event so our friends and family could see the special moment.

It started out like this: Several weeks ago he told me to block off June 27 because he had birthday plans for me. Surprise plans.

On that day, he surprised (and tricked) me by having my friend show up for a girls weekend at our house. I thought that was the end of it. It wasn't. That night, he recreated our third date - my favorite date of ours - with a twist in the form of the proposal at the very end.

All of this, so thoughtful. So sweet.

And so hilarious.

When my friend showed up, I was still getting ready for the day, with one section of hair in a curling iron and the rest of me still in PJs. I was thrilled when I saw her and, not wanting to delay our time together, I quickly threw on some clothes and put my wild hair in a ponytail. I later learned that while she and I were out shopping The Boyfriend practiced the proposal on our dogs, both of whom seemed very moved by it, or so I'm told.

The second part of the day was also planned as a surprise. I knew we were going to do something, but I didn't know what exactly that "something" was. The still-at-this-time Boyfriend told us we'd want to dress up a little bit for where we were going. Keep in mind my hair was a disaster from earlier, so of course now that I really needed to look respectable it was was even less cooperative and more weird. I actually thought to myself, "Oh well. It's not going to matter. It's not like I'm being filmed or anything."

First, we went to dinner at this place I love because they're super allergy food friendly. My salad got seriously stuck in my teeth and I couldn't get one very, very stubborn piece of green out. Where are the toothpicks when you need them, I ask? Where?!?! Again I thought to myself, "Oh well. It's not like a ton of people are going to be looking at me. I'll just keep the smiling to a minimum."

Pfft.

The next surprise was a comedy show at Jester'Z Improv. I LOVE Whose Line Is It Anyway, which is just one reason I LOVE this place. At the show, The Boyfriend's best friend and his wife showed up, another new surprise. Remember how I had convinced myself that not many people would be seeing me and I wouldn't be on film and all that jazz? Yeah, well, I would later learn that his friend was filming the entire proposal and his wife was Skyping with family members so they could see everything happen live.

Lesson Learned: Always assume a camera crew is waiting outside for you. And ensure you have a secret compartment of floss and toothpicks on your person at all times.

We all sat down to watch the comedy act and a third of the way through the host asked for couples who needed "therapy." The Boyfriend's hand shot up and we were whisked to the stage, much to my shock because A) Neither one of us are stage people and we never volunteer for this kind of stuff and B) NO ONE ELSE raised their hands. Of course, I had also been laughing so hard I was crying, so this was the perfect time for me to get on stage in front of a bunch of strangers.

The rest is captured on film here, but here's the back story of what happened on stage that you can't see...

My wonderful man met with the owner/host months in advance and planned the whole thing out. Most of it went as they'd discussed until the end when The Boyfriend thought they were doing one more skit about our future. However, instead of the last skit, the host asked us about our future together and then turned everything over to my soon-to-be fiance, who got thrown off a little bit by this change of plans. He had a deer-in-headlights moment and I had multiple confusing moments, which I've outlined below for your enjoyment.

Him: Um...I hope we're happy...and in the same house...

Me, thinking: Don't talk about the house. We just got on good terms! Do not anger the house. Stupid hair! Why, why couldn't you behave today? WHY?!

Him: ...I think you're smart and beautiful and...

Me, thinking: Is this...is he going to...? Do not fall off this stool, Melia. Do. Not. Fall.

Him: ...I wanted to recreate your favorite date night as a special surprise...

Me, thinking: Calm down, me! This is your birthday surprise. Reminder: Smile less. You probably still have that stupid piece of lettuce in your teeth...

Then he whips out the ring and proposes.

Now I get to call him The Fiance. I like the sound of that.

Since then, we've had a lot of inquires about when the wedding is. Like, A LOT. Within a half hour of the proposal even. Since we don't have a real answer, I've come up with this one for the time being:

We will be married in the fall of 2023 in the Himalayan mountains. The Fiance will parachute out of a helicopter to the base of the mountains where he'll wait for me to arrive via mountain goat that I will be riding bareback. The ceremony will conclude at sunset with the ringing of a bell, and doves carrying glitter bombs in their beaks will be set loose over the skies, releasing both awesomeness and glitter all over the world.

In all seriousness though, this was the best, most thoughtful, most wonderful day ever. I can't get over how much time and effort and care he put into this. I may never find the right words to express just how thankful I am to have him in my life.

Thanks to everyone who helped plan and fulfill his vision of our special night! It was indeed very special and beautiful and wonderful.

And hilarious. Just the way we like things to be.