Once Upon a Time.

Once upon a time, I started a Christmas date being rushed and told to hurry up and open my presents, and ended a Christmas date with the prettiest diamond ring on my finger. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

I didn't yet know what I was saying yes to...I didn't know the adventures and the hard decisions and the laughter and the hard times and the perfect days I was saying yes to. I didn't know the little fox or the tiny apartment in the sky or the sweet baby boy that would be on the way one day that I was saying yes to.

I just knew that it was my best friend, the love of my whole life, the one who I wanted to live every day with, the one who would give me a lifetime of adventures and memories that I was saying yes to. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

As I was trying (and failing) to fall asleep after the excitement of the most perfect, magical night, I held my new ring in front of my face, admiring it, thinking about how much our lives would change over the next year, and how happy I was that it was happening with him. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

Today, four years later, there's no fancy date on the water or trips to the beach in our formalwear or front-row seats at Cirque Du Soleil.

I woke up, insanely pregnant and uncomfortable, next to the love of my life. When I look at him and imagine how our life is going to change over the next few weeks and how happy I am that this is all happening with him, my heart feels like it may explode, just like it did when I was staring at my new ring.

Today, we'll celebrate us. We'll celebrate our own personal little Christmas that we've had going for so many years now. We'll celebrate the yes that was said four years ago, and all the yeses that have been said since then.

We'll eat somewhere fun, or do some shopping, or exchange gifts, or go look at Christmas lights. Whatever we do, we'll be celebrating deep, honest, once in a lifetime kind of love.

And you guys...it's the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

On December 23, 2011...

I knew oh-so-little about the adventures the next three years would bring.

It's still the best yes I've ever said.

Two Years Ago Today.

On this day, two years ago, I was getting ready to celebrate Christmas with Christopher.

He came over to exchange gifts and was in such a rush that he didn't even look past page two of the scrapbook I made him...I'm sure you can imagine how that went over.

He gave me a Betsey Johnson cocktail dress and glitter shows--two of my favorite things in this world--and told me I should wear them to dinner.
Also, that said dinner was in 45 minutes.
Also, I had not even showered yet.
Also, my house was about 30 minutes from where we were having dinner.

Again, I'm sure you can imagine how that went over.

20 minutes later, with half-straight, half-wavy hair and severely damaged nail polish (why is is that every time I paint my nails, I think, oh, I'm sure they'll dry faster this time!") we got in the car and headed to dinner.

Except that Christ told me he felt bad for rushing me, so he had called and changed the reservations and now we had plenty of time.

It was one of those moments where you try to decide if silence or screaming is the best choice.  I settled for telling him to turn the car around and let me finish getting ready.  He said no.  So we went to watch the sunset at our favorite place where he had taken me on our first date two years before.

When we got there, he told me to close my eyes because he wanted to go ahead and give me a Christmas present.  Then he made me get out of the car as he handed me what I could tell was a stuffed animal.  I laughed, because if anyone was driving by they definitely saw me stumbling around clutching a stuffed animal.  They probably thought, Well someone celebrated Christmas a little too hard. 

And then I opened my eyes to find tiki torches and rose petals and a penguin with the words, "Will you marry me?" stitched on the scarf.

And right there, in front of the same swing on the river where we had watched the sunset on our very first date, Chris asked me to be his wife.

I hear a lot of girls explain their engagement as, "the biggest surprise of my life!"  Or, "I'm so shocked right now!"  And that wasn't true for me.  Yes, I was surprised.  My sneaky boyfriend had lied and told me he was losing his job to keep any thoughts of an engagement far from my mind.  But when it happened, I didn't feel shocked or overwhelmed or any of those crazy things.

I felt right.  I felt perfectly right.  Like, of course.  This is what should happen.  This is right.  This is the one for me.

And that feeling has never gone away.

Life has been easy and it has been hard.  Things have gone great and things have gone not so great.  I have had questions and I have stressed and I have worried, but I have never once thought, wait, this isn't right.  And that is something that I hope never stops overwhelming me with happiness.

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