...and of course I said yes...

Since everyone has been asking, we decided to go ahead and get this out here. This is our engagement story...

Ronnie got into Indy from Germany on Saturday afternoon. After catching up with my family, Ronnie and I headed out to our favorite little restaurant down town; St. Elmo's. It's an old place with a really cool atmosphere. We requested to have a family friend as our server. We ate our steak dinner and chatted about how long we had been dating. Ronnie at one point asked, "What do you like about me?" My first thought was how spontaneous he is! After dinner (and an amazing chocolate cake for dessert), Ronnie and I drove to where the White river meets the canal. It was just starting to get dark and the clouds from the afternoon rain maid everything misty and cool. Everything looked so green. We walked to a little gazibo and looked down at the river and watched the ducks and turtles down in the water. Ronnie began to talk again about how long we have been together and about his upcoming deployment. He told me he loved me and recounted how God brought us together. He asked if I really did like how spontaneous he was. "Of course I love that!" I assured him. Before I knew it, he was down on one knee with a ring somehow pulled out of nowhere. I don't remember exactly what I said. I may have audibly gasped or something, but all I remember is giving him a hug, saying yes, and [as much as I hate to admit it] crying. After taking it all in for a few minutes, we walked to the start of the canal and the gardens around it. We talked about how symbolic it really was that we were at the start of the canal as we began the start of a new chapter in our lives. We walked and chatted for a while before sitting down on a bench to call our families. It was the best night ever. I could not have asked for a more perfect engagement or fiance.