The big tale... :)

So apparently the grapevine has done all the telling, but I guess I'll fill the rest of the details in... I'm talking about my special Valentine's Day with James!

The evening started with James arriving at my door with my favorite roses!


He picked me up, and we drove to Oliver Springs to his uncle's place where there would be a quiet atmosphere and no roommates lurching. He said he wanted to cook dinner for me, but when I asked him what the plans were, he said, "I don't know... I'll tell you when I think of them" as we were driving there! When we were going through Oak Ridge, he said, "Oh shoot-- I forgot to go to the grocery store... we'll have to stop at Save-a-lot later" and my heart started to sink because he knows how much I dislike his 'winging it.' I was starting to think he hadn't planned anything... but I was suspicious because I didn't know of any grocery store near the house that was closer than the one we had just passed so I thought he was up to something.

We arrived at the house, greeted by a chubby dog named Sassy, and James said, "Wait here a minute, and I'll go get some money." Like he had cash there... psssssh. I knew he was up to no good, so I made 3 snowballs out of the tiniest amount of snow left and waited for him to open the door back up. He opened the door, and the first one hit him and didn't break. I threw another and hit his arm as I dove for the third one I hid behind a column when it looked like he was going to pelt me with snow. The fight ended (I think in my favor :) ) and I walked into a kitchen with 8 red and white candles on the kitchen table amidst marshmallow hearts and rose petals. He said the meal would be walnut and apple salad with raspberry vinaigrette, parmesan and garlic coated flat bread, some kind of pasta with shrimp and basal marinara, and chocolate covered everything for dessert. He had already made the salad, had the shrimp in the marinara and everything ready to go! He put the pasta in to boil and baked the bread while I wandered around the kitchen. While he was cooking, I noticed the two lamps he had turned on a lathe with his uncles sitting in the living room, and I started to walk towards them when I saw a small heart-shaped box on the floor in front of the tv. At that point, I backed away and acted like I hadn't seen anything and started the guinea pig running on the wheel.

Anyways, I had a kind of late lunch (but I also had a funny feeling) so I didn't eat much at dinner, which I think made James think I didn't like the food. I was pretty full, though, so we ended with some food left for the doggies. We sat there a minute, and he said, "Well, I guess we can do some dishes." Yayyyy, I thought. Soooo romantic. :-P Anyways, we soaked some dishes and didn't really clean any at that point, and we started talking about the two lamps again and walked into the living room ignoring the box right underneath our feet. He hugged me for a long time and then sat down to show me my present.

Ordinary box eh?


I sat down in front of it, and he started to pull the drawers out. This is what it had to say:


*The voice inside Gabby's head:* Uhhh...


What the...


You're joking!


....


Expecting a question mark written on the heart here-- haha.


Is it a sapphire? It looks blue!

He took it out, and I think he said, "Well?" I replied, "Are you sure?" and he laughed at me. I can't quite remember the rest of the dialog, but I'm pretty sure I said yes.... which is a good start, I hear. And he put it on my finger...



We just kind of sat there, and I hugged him, thinking, "Shouldn't I be crying?" Then he gave me a letter he wrote that afternoon, which was probably the nicest letter I've ever read in my life. The little cartoon he did at the bottom was hysterical. It involved a little guy kneeling reaching for a girl saying this:

J: Will you marry me?
G: Yes! *while jumping in the air*
J: Yeah!
G: Why are we floating?
J: Because James drew the ground too low!

I was near tears after reading the letter, but I would've lost it if I'd made him read it to me. Another day, though :). I sat there in disbelief for the longest time on the floor with James holding me. I was trying to wrap my head around it. The only thing I really asked about it was when to get married! Haha. I guess I still don't feel engaged yet. I'm working on it, though.

So we sat there for maybe 45 minutes, mustering up an appetite, then fondue-d oreo-covered marshmallows, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, and apples! It was scrumptastic. I'm drooling now thinking about it.

The moral of this story: I LOVE JAMES! Woo hoo! I hope this sastifies all the romance-lovers with enough juicy details. The wedding will probably be late July or early August since Mason won't get back from South America until July... what a loser :-P. Any ambitious people people to give advice?! I know absolutely nothing about weddings and already feel overwhelmed thinking about writing a guest list! I did buy my first bridal magazine, though, from The Knot since it looked more helpful than their website. $10.00 better be the only magazine I have to buy! Haha.

So here's the full display of my little jewelry box James put together for me :)


...the ice and the cute lil' box it comes in!


The end!