You heard that right… WE’RE ENGAGED! I wanted to write this blog post more for me than for you. I’ve never been one to journal or write in a diary but, this blog is more or less like a personal journal – just on the interweb for the entire world to see. Besides sharing what I’m wearing or what I’m buying, I love publishing blog posts capturing my goals and accomplishments because I love looking back on them and seeing how far I’ve come.
Before too much time passes, I wanted to capture the *BEST* day of my life in words.. bear with me. Ryan and I have been together 4.5 years so yes, I knew it was coming but, I had no idea WHEN. I think that was the most surprising part… the fact that he completely surprised me and I literally had no inclination that he was proposing when he did. He put so much thought and effort into this day which made me realize just how much he loves me.. it was special.
So, here’s what happened! We had to go to Oak Island during the week (which is rare) so we could get the floors redone. For weeks, our dear friend and photographer, Brett Donar, had been asking Ryan and me to model for him in a product shoot. We’ve shot with Brett before so I was happy to help. He offered to come to the beach so the day of, Ryan and I planned to meet him at the ferry to head over to Bald Head Island. To be honest, I didn’t really want to hop on a ferry to an island I’ve never been to before, especially on a Wednesday, but when a photographer has a vision, you just have to go with it.
We hopped on the ferry at 7 PM which was cutting it close as sunset was around 8 PM. As soon as we got to Bald Head Island, we hopped off and decided to shoot at the closest beach about 100 ft away. By the way, Bald Head Island is SO cute – it’s a small remote island on the east side of Cape Fear and only accessible via ferry (no cars allowed!). Brett set up the products and had us sit down for a few shots, then asked us to stand up. He asked me to face the water and when I turned around, BAM… Ryan’s on a knee! I can’t even explain how I felt.. nervous, excited, WEAK IN THE KNEES, REALLY.
Once I said yes and stopped screaming “STOPPPP!”, I couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear, asking 8 million questions, and drooling over the ring. It really is the prettiest ring that I’ve ever seen. Poor guy had been carrying it around for 3 weeks and said when he’d lock himself in the office for meetings, he’d open the ring box and just stare at it (hehe). Kudos to Ryan for nailing it. Brett snapped some more photos of us, we FaceTimed our parents, and then we grabbed dinner and drinks at a local restaurant. It was intimate, well thought out, magical, perfect, all of the above. Bald Head Island (and the day Wednesday) will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Not to mention, Ry flew my parents in for the weekend which was another huge surprise. They have never visited NC and to see them walk out of the Longleaf Hotel to meet us for drinks had me UGLY CRYING, let me tell you. This was a day I’ve been waiting for for years.. for a lifetime, really. As a little girl, you dream of the man you’re going to marry and what those days will look like: getting engaged, getting married, having children. Our engagement exceeded my expectations in every way possible and I feel so loved. I can’t wait to start planning our forever.. wahoo!
