Before you start to think- Oh no, not another wedding blog, another girl hopelessly obsessed with discussing her impending future with the world, I want to tell you that…I can’t make any promises to contain ALL of my excitement- but I will continue sharing my heart and not just my cake tasting experiences (although i’m shamelessly thrilled to get to go taste desserts).

But I just HAVE to tell you- hey guys, I’M ENGAGED!!!!!!! And here is how it happened, in detail, from my heart, WITH high class illustrations.

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Sunday, February 17th dawned like any other Sunday. Absolutely glorious. (Minus the me having a bad hair day not knowing what to wear thing, which I have decided I will not let shape the mood of my day.) Brent and I headed to Prince Street Cafe for our weekly Jesus Calling, heart sharing, life enjoying breakfast. (Side note: I have fallen head over heels for granola and a Snowflake tea.)

Now, had I held suspicions as to when I’d be proposed to? Yes, definitely. What girl isn’t a little nosy? But to be honest, I read into anything and everything. This was probably the fourth Sunday I had been “convinced” it would happen- and this Sunday felt different, but not in the way you’d expect. I turned to Brent at breakfast and said, “I feel really bad ’cause I thought you were gonna propose today but I don’t want to have expectations and I know you’re not so I’m sorry.” And that was that. I was totally serious.

Would you believe Brent and I spent the entire day together with me believing that nonsense? I went to breakfast with him, church with him, a friend’s for lunch with him, and then headed for home to go shopping with friends. My roommate Debbie, friend Rachel and I went over to Christmas Tree Shops, out for frozen yogurt at the delicious Polar Peach, and all in all had a great girls day. Then Debbie had to go to her parents and dropped me off at my apartment. On the way home I even talked about how I had thought Brent would propose but knew he wouldn’t.

Then I walked in the front door.

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I dropped my bag and coat and just stared for a few seconds. Directly in front of me was my kitchen table, and on my kitchen table was a rose and a note.

“A surprise awaits you at the end of this trail.”

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So I’ll spare you the sight of my slightly messy living room and instead describe to you the trail of rose petal hearts that lead into my bedroom at the back of my little apartment.

There I found a new and very cool Pinterest-inspired coffee table Brent had MADE me with this note-

If you can’t read it, I will summarize- It basically told me I had an hour to get ready and then someone would PICK ME UP FOR MY DESTINATION.

So then I call my best friend and my sister- “I THINK I’M IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING PROPOSED TO.”

Of course they both knew.

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FINALLY, my ride shows up.

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After a scenic drive around Lancaster City, we ended up in front of my beloved Prince Street Cafe- second time today. Chad escorted me into the gallery next door to the cafe, where I was met by my best friend Vanessa and Brent’s best friend Tyler (who just so happen to be cousins). At this point i’m amazed at the amount of people that knew and kept their stories straight- keep in mind I had just called Vanessa an hour before.

They sent me to the fourth floor of the gallery. This is where it gets good (partly because the photography level jumps like a million levels up).

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 So picture me, hiking up to the fourth floor of the Prince Street gallery- and I’m met with this…

and this…

and this…

and there was Brent. He read me an entry from his journal, something about our dreams and becoming a reality and in the mean time i’m having this unreal experience of is this really me and is this really happening and then he got down on one knee and I could hardly believe that the moment I had dreamed of since I was a little girl was happening to me with the man I had dreamed of since high school.

The moment I got engaged was one of the most thankful moments I have ever expereienced.

After I freaked out and said yes and cried and ALL that stuff, I just wanted to thank God, so we prayed. Because seriously, what a testimony of his love for me.

How redeeming is this love.

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 So now I’m on a journey. Of wedding planning, of wife preparing, of life changing (in the midst of school finishing). I am so excited, so joy filled and so eager for what is next.

My goal during all this- that our engagement could be a continuation of the thanks I felt in that moment. My heart is full.

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Here are a few more pictures (as if you have not seen enough) that our friend and amazing Jeremy Hess photographer Amber Martin took! (Brent also got his cousin Aaron of Lavon Films to video the prep. How great is he?!)

****Another side note- we proceeded to go down to the cafe where some of our closest friends were and then headed to his parents for dinner with our families 🙂

The End.