It happened. Sorry, no pics yet.

As some of you know, tomorrow is our anniversary.

And as some of you know, our anniversary was supposed to be 4th of July. Details not necessary.

Friday evening, Chewie and I were bored to tears. At one point we were both laying on the living room floor staring at the ceiling laughing at pretty much nothing.

Then we decided to play Monopoly and smoke a cigar. Chewie kicked my ass.

Afterwards we snuggled up on the couch to watch some of the shows we had TiVo’d. We chose to watch this week’s episode of Deadliest Catch.

It was now shortly after midnight, and it was officially the 4th of July.

While we were cuddling, I grabbed my phone to check my OD notes regarding my last entry. I LOVE that Open Diary has a mobile site now. And one of my favorites, Caring Thoughts recommended I share that entry with Chewie on our anniversary. I hadn’t planned on sharing the entry. In fact, I hadn’t even planned on writing the entry.

But thanks to being bored to tears at work on Friday when everyone else was off, I ended up writing it. I felt quite good about the finished entry; as I felt that it adequately detailed why our relationship works.

And at the suggestion of Caring Thoughts, I asked Chewie to pause Deadliest Catch so I could read him something.

And in the dark of the evening, just after midnight on the 4th of July, I sat snuggled up next to Chewie and read the entry to him from my phone.

As I was reading it to him, I started to cry. I hadn’t cried writing it, but something about the act of saying my thoughts out loud to the man of which I spoke was very powerful.

And as I was reading the entry, I got no reaction from Chewie. No movement, no affirming nods, no smiles. I don’t even think he was breathing.

I finished reading and looked expectantly at him. I let moments (hours?) pass waiting for him to respond. I finally asked him if he was okay.

He stared off in to space. His breaths were shallow and becoming noticeably more rapid. He swallowed and said he felt "weak in the knees."

Who actually says that? I thought it was some cheesy response because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

He finally snapped out of his trance and leaned over and wrapped his arms around me. He started to cry. I started to cry (again).

I could tell he was still distracted though.

I asked him if I had written something that bothered him. He pulled back and said "I don’t know whether to go with my plan or with my gut."

What?

What the…?

I asked him what he was talking about. And for moments (hours?) he didn’t respond. He only grabbed me and held me tighter.

And then repeated "I don’t know whether to go with my plan or with my gut."

Then he got up and walked upstairs without saying anything.

I asked him where he was going. No response.

He came back downstairs and pulled me up off the couch. He put his arms around me. We hugged, and we cried. 

And then he started off by saying "Jessica Lynn…" 

"Jessica Leigh" I corrected him and giggled. (Lynn is my sister’s middle name).

"Jessica Leigh," he continued as he laughed and apologized, "You have been by my side offering strength and support and love for two years now. You are the love of my life and have taught me what love is when I already thought I knew. You are beautiful. And amazing."

I listened attentively as I tried to calm myself down from crying.

As I nervously wiped tears from my eyes, he dropped down on one knee, grabbed my hand and asked me if I would marry him.

All I remember is falling into his arms and hugging him. And of course crying uncontrollably (some more). I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back. He was still on his knee. And moments (hours?) later he said "Is that a yes?"

I said "of course it is! Yes!" in between tears.

We continued to hug and now cry together (again).

We finally let go of one another.

He had a box. And he said "well, there is something I have to tell you. I went with my gut, and not with my plan."

"What are you talking about?"

"I went to Jarod (The Galleria of Jewelry) yesterday and set aside a couple of rings I thought you might like. I had planned to take you there Saturday. The jeweler was going to be in on the plan. And as we were casually looking, she was going to show you the couple rings I had picked out for you."

"I would go back at some later date and purchase the ring you liked the best. Then for our anniversary, I was going to give you a weekend away at a Bed and Breakfast in Northern Minnesota. At that time, I was going to propose."

I stared back at him hanging on his every word and wiping tears from my face in disbelief of what had just happened. And desperately waiting for him to "get to the point."

"But…you read your diary entry. And twenty eight years worth of me being a ‘macho, emotionless, unsensative guy’ faded. And every emotion I had surpressed over my life came flooding into my body. And it was so powerful I couldn’t even see straight. So I was trying to decided whether I should go with my plan and wait to propose, or if I should go with my gut and propose in the moment that felt perfect for the proposal. So I chose to do it now."

"But. There is nothing in this ring box. This is a decoy. So what we can do is go to Jarod tomorrow and you can pick out your ring."

"Do we still get to go to the Bed and Breakfast?" I asked.

"Of course!"

So I grabbed him again and we hugged. And we cried (again).

And I told him I thought his proposal was perfect. And that I am glad he went with his gut and did it when the moment moved him to do so, rather than doing it during our weekend getaway when he may have felt "pressured" to do it because that was his plan.

And it was. It was perfect. And powerful. And a total shock. And spontaneous. And heartfelt.

I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

So the next day, we went to the jewelry store and looked at the rings he had set aside, and looked at some other rings as well. We ended up going with one he had liked, but didn’t make the final cut because he thought I wouldn’t like it. I will get pictures on here soon.

They were able to size the ring overnight as they have a jewelry repair shop on site.

The only hitch in the proposal was that Chewie had not yet had a chance to ask my parents for their blessings to propose. Chewie had been trying for weeks to go golfing with my dad, or meet him for lunch if they were in the same area. Their schedules never met, or my dad would get so busy he would forget to call Chewie back. Chewie had made arrangements to go to my parents house Sunday when I drove to get Madaya.

So believing it was important for my parents to believe they were able to bless Chewies intentions, we waited to tell anyone. And Sunday, Chewie went to their house and told them his plan and didn’t tell them it had already happened.

Now that they have "approved" the engagement, we are going to act as if everything that happened actually happened tonight, and I will call everyone first thing in the morning to let them know we are engaged. Nevermind that Chewie picked up the ring yesterday and I have been wearing it all day.

Hey guys. I have a fiance.

And guess what??? It had a lot to do with this diary. Had I not shared that entry with him, that moment wouldn’t have happened. And maybe everything would have happened as he origionally planned in a few weeks.

After the proposal, Chewie told me that when he had "done this before," it didn’t feel ANYTHING like this. But the fact that he felt so many powerful emotions and so into the moment let him know that it was the right time.

And he was right. It was more perfect than anything I could have imagined.

So my friends, I have a fiance. And a ring. And a memory I will never forget.