February 14, 2007
Although we celebrate Valentines Day, we were mostly celebrating our 4 year anniversary this year. Josh has always been good at being creative and making me feel like a princess with his gestures! Anyways the morning started out with him locking his keys in his car while he tried to defrost it, so i was worried that it would put him in a bad mood! Once he took care of that he came over in the afternoon to bring me a dozen red roses and rice krispie treats ( my favorite) and a sweet card to start our anniversary out. This was already enough to make me smile and i was looking forward to dinner.
He picked me up after my class that was from 4:00 - 6:30, and hurried me home to change for dinner. After dropping me off and giving me 30 minutes to change he picked me up again at 7:00. He was dressed in a super cute sweater with black pants and i was wearing a friends red dress with a beautiful new white jacket i recently received! Anyways when i first got in the car, he gave me an envelope that had clue #1 typed on it with a clue inside about where we were going to dinner. Dinner was at my favorite restaurant , Rigazzi, it is a small place with probably maximum 10 candle lit tables in it with delicious food. When we walked in there was on special table in the corner with two i love you balloons on it tied to a small gift box with a second envelope and clue #2 written on it.
Dinner was delicious, we had a brushetta appetizer together, he ordered a simple spaghetti and meatballs, and i ordered a pasta with lemon and wine sauce, it was all sooo good. And what way to end a good Italian meal other than with Tirimisu!! After a long relaxing 2 hour dinner i opened the second clue and it told me to go home to zeta where my next clue was and to change into warmer clothes! At this point i was wondering a little what was going on , because i loved my dress and he was asking me to put on hats and gloves and ugly snow boots!! I did it because i was curious as to what he was up to !!
I followed several clues around campus to his fraternity, our student union, a classroom we had class together and the library. Each place had some story behind it as to why it was meaningful to us. The final clue led to a gazebo outside that is a landmark for students at IU to kiss under and midnight and declare their love for each other. So on our way to this gazebo he stops and insists on blindfolding me for the long walk across the tundra of snow to the gazebo. I agreed and held onto his arm for deer life as i slipped on the ice the whole way.
Josh walked me into the gazebo and told me to take off my blindfold. Once i took it off i saw a long pathway leading up into the gazebo of lantern candles that were beautiful! and then i noticed the entire gazebo had 50+ candles and lanterns all around it.... it was beautiful! my breath was taken away and i reassured josh that he shouldn't have gone through all of this trouble! anyways he went on to say that i should open my gift. In the middle of the gazebo there was a long skinny box that i picked up and opened. Inside was an ID bracelet that was engraved Dolly and Josh. 4 years in Love. 2/14/07. It was perfect i loved it and couldn't have asked for anything more!
After i got done enjoying all of the wonderful things josh had planned for me that night and i was ready to go back and celebrate away from the snow and cold. He stopped and said he forgot to give me my last clue. completely naive i accepted the last clue and continued to follow the directions on it telling me to put my blindfold back on he had forgotten to give me a clue. He instructed me to turn around 5 times ( being cold and anxious to get back inside) i complained about 5 and he compromised with three spins and then to take off my blindfold :)
When i took it off Josh was down on one knee and i didn't know what to think. First thought was he dropped something and was simply picking it up. But when he started talking i knew what was happening :) about 5 minutes later and 95 "Yes's" from me!!! we were engaged and i had the most beautiful ring on my finger. I was no longer standing with my boyfriend of four years, i was with my fiance!!! One of the best parts of the evening was we didn't have to spend it alone. After i said yes and was hugging him, Josh's mom and best friend Betsy from home came running out of the closest econ building crying and squealing with me out of happiness!!! I was glad to see them and hear the stories of how everything was planned out before hand. I thank them both for helping out so much because it was by far the best night of my entire life!!!
Also i will have to say my father did an amazing job of keeping it a secret from both my mom and I. That story is a funny one that i will have to blog about later :)
There is a continuation of this story but i figure this is enough for now :)!!
