For those of you who missed the weekend gushing, via Facebook, Kevin proposed on Saturday.  A few tears later, I said yes. We thought it would be a fun to do a little “He Said, She Said” color commentary of the events leading up to him popping the big question. It was a heck of a surprise for me, so you will get a great deal more build up from him. I’m going to fill you in on my complete oblivion, my feelings, and a few hints about what’s to come with the wedding.

First, I need to explain that for those of you who are keeping track, this is the third engagement for me. That’s right, two other bachelors left in the dust at the alter. No weddings, just lots of planning and money spent. This will explain Kevin’s fear if you who weren’t aware of the circumstance. This leaves me just shy of Julia Roberts’ five weddings in Runaway Bride. I guess I found my prince a bit faster than she did. I always did know what my favorite eggs were.

Third time is definitely a charm and it is safe to go ahead and plan on this one happening. If you are smart, you’re asking “what exactly is so different this time?” I’m pretty sure nine years of growing up, since the last one, have helped. The other big difference is Kevin. This time I couldn’t wait to shout it from the roof tops. The last two, I felt more like it was a dirty little secret. I would be happy spending the rest of my life with Kevin married or not. I can tell you with 100% certainty; he is the man who will be sitting in the rocking chair beside me in 2050. I can’t wait to be his wife and I didn’t feel like that with my previous engagements.

Now to get on with the proposal…this event had apparently been about 3 weeks in the making. I can’t believe the cast of characters who were involved and that none of them let anything slip. Kevin’s first partner in crime was apparently Avery, quickly followed by Janet. When I thought they were out shopping for softball bats, they were really picking out engagement rings.

In the weeks that followed, Kevin had our friend Claire poised to pick up and transport the ring. After Carson’s baseball game on Saturday July 10th, he sent me into Dairy Queen to wait with the former Mrs. Hicks and the kids while he was paying for the ring (he told me he was paying his cell phone bill). He talked to my entire family and let them know what was going on. He also checked in with a couple of my best friends to get the green light. He emailed our closest friends to fill them in, and drove to who knows where to meet Janet to pick up the ring while I thought he was working late.

The word engaged has also popped up more and more in passing. We went to the Brad Paisley concert on Friday night, and I had a moment of terror as Brad walked through the crowd. I thought to myself, “If Brad Paisley says my name I’m going to kill Kevin”. Then Brad got to the line in our song about “I remember taking you back to the place where I first met you. There were people around, I didn’t care, I got down on one knee right there…” Then I thought…, “If he pulls me on to the piano bar stage at the Neon Cactus, I’ll kill him” Or….”Oh no, what if he takes me back to the auditorium at Jeff!”

Those thoughts passed with the end of the song. The next day was an awesome day at Arlington. I love betting on horse and being at the races. I won money and had a great time with our friends Christine and Matt. I was looking forward to a quiet evening in Chicago. I consider that “our” town. There are so many great memories there for us and we passed by many of our relationship landmarks on the way to Navy Pier.

When Kevin asked me to sit down on a bench on the quiet side of the Pier, it was a happy, easy moment. Then he told me he “needed to talk to me about something“. If men think this strikes fear in their hearts, they have NO CLUE what it does to a women. My heart sank and I was convinced I had upset him. He never looks this serious when it is something good. Then I saw a blue velvet bag and quickly followed with tears and “What did you do?” He asked, I cried, and cried, and said yes, and cried some more.

The rest of the evening is a little bit of a blur. I know I called my sister; she made Kevin promise I would call her first. I cried a lot more. We floated to dinner at a restaurant on the Pier. I told Kevin before we ever went on a date that we would either be “a supernova or a horrible black hole”. After dinner, there were amazing fireworks. I’m pretty sure that is a literal sign to the world that this is, was, and always will be a SUPERNOVA.

Finally, a few of you have asked about wedding plans. Here is what we can tell you for now. We are looking at late May, early June. There will be travel involved. Ideally, there were be plenty of sand and salt water. The wedding itself will probably be pretty small and intimate. We will probably have a larger celebration after we get home so we can share it with everyone. That’s all we really have to offer, but stay posted to HFO for more details to come. Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes and support. We love you all.