i couldn't have asked for anything more. well, i would have preferred for my kiddos to have been there, but other than that... it was perfection.
here's the story of our magical weekend...
on friday, early afternoon we were invited to go out of town with some close and special friends. it was very last minute but i decided "YES", i wanted to go! so we quickly drove home from a successful morning of treasure hunting, packed a small suitcase and set out for a drive to the country. we listened to a killer mix that i burned just for the road. during our drive i spotted a little family of deer eating grass in the meadow. it was lovely. after a 2 hour journey out of town we arrived to the private ranch where we were going to be staying.
it was incredible! a little surreal, so big, so beautiful, and so much to take in.
there were 4 houses on the land. a main house, a second house, a pool house and a barn/studio along with an awesome tree house, salt water pool and life sized tee-pee. yeah... it's incredible. we arrived around six in the evening and went exploring for a little bit and then started making dinner. we had fajitas and everyone sat together and ate and told stories and laughed. it was lovely.
after dinner, dessert and some conversation aubrey asked me to come outside to look at the stars. i was getting tired and starting to not feel so well but agreed. we walked outside and there was a fire blazing in the fire pit. we sat down and gazed up at the blanket of stars across the sky. it was beautiful. more stars than i ever get to see in the city. so clear. so incredible. he started saying some very sweet things. sappy things and i couldn't help but giggle a little bit because we joke around so much in our relationship that seeing him be so serious is quite a rarity. i even thought to myself 'this would be a pretty sweet time to propose if only the man had a ring'. then before i knew it he stood up and pulled a little box out from behind his belt. i couldn't believe my eyes and just kept saying "no way. no way. this isn't happening. are you kidding?" he got down on one knee and with tears in his eyes told me how much he loved me and told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. i still couldn't believe it. he opened the little box and asked me those 4 little words that every girl dreams of hearing...
it was pitch black out and the first thing i said was... "i can't see the ring." so he pulled out his iphone and shined the screen on the little open box so that i could see. i squealed in delight and excitement. the ring was beautiful and perfect. a 1920's antique golden ring with nine diamonds. so delicate and petite. so my style. he slipped it on my finger and we talked and kissed and smiled and laughed under the stars. after about 30 minutes he says to me "wait... did you even say yes? you didn't did you." i sat there and thought about how it happened and what i said and i realized that i never gave him an answer. i quickly said "yes, yes, yes. i will marry you!" we laughed and then he told me how our friends were in on the whole thing, the weekend trip, it was all a big ploy to get away and to pop the question. i was seriously shocked and a little impressed. i am not one who is easily fooled.
the mister did good!
we walked back inside and were congratulated by our friends.
it was the happiest night!
i posed for a couple cheesy ring shots and then we hung out on the porch for a little bit til it was time to hit the hay.
we walked over to our house. it was incredible... we had the entire house to ourselves. 2 beautiful bedrooms and 2 beautiful baths.
it was an amazing night! i fell asleep with a smile on my face next to my 'almost' husband with a beautiful ring on my finger.
the next morning we had a delicious breakfast thanks to miss elise and baby baxter! fresh pineapple, eggs, sausage, bacon, muffins... it was sooo good.
fyi...the tupperware top hat is the next big thing. every baby's doing it! we spent the day hanging out with our friends. it was a very good time.
we took a lot of these 'look at muh purty ring' photos. i started to feel a bit under the weather late afternoon and decided to take a hot bath and a nap before dinner. it helped big time.
dinner was amazing... smoked pork loin, green beans and mashed potatoes. nom! after dinner we spent some more time on the porch.
and the rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, swimming, eating, the boys we're recording in the barn... it was pure magic.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT...
WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!
now i have a wedding to plan. i couldn't be more excited!
i am such a lucky girl. XOXO.
p.s. for those of you who have been wondering... we should be announcing the baby birds name later this week. we're working on the perfect announcement.
footnote - a lot of you have asked about the beautiful ranch that we stayed at and wondered if it is open to the public. unfortunately it is not. it is a private property. but i am sure the owner will be delighted that so many of you loved it!
