Our Engagement Story!

My heart is so full of joy right now that it’s hard to even put everything I want to say into words! I feel like so much has changed since last night, but at the same time, I haven’t even begun to process the fact that I am engaged to my best friend! ENGAGED!  This is one moment I have been waiting for my entire life, but now that it’s here, it’s even more wonderful and more rich and more joyful than I could have ever imagined. Oh, and as I’m typing this, I’m also distracted every few seconds by the very sparkly thing on my left hand, so bear with us as we tell you our story.  :)

To make it easier for you to follow along, my side of the story is in this font, while Brian’s perspective has been italicized.

It started across the pond. Well, actually it started many months before, but just as small wisps of ideas, little more.  In a tiny, horrendously overpriced Gelato shop on a cobbled side-street in London (I just realized how fake that sounds, but it’s true), those inklings became concrete.  Zach Whelchel and I met to strategize the plan that was long overdue.  He would be studying at Oxford this semester, so he wouldn’t be able to help me execute the proposal, but he wanted to be a part of it. And so he helped shape the story.

Taking with me a detailed diagram of the proposal plan, as well as several packets of sugar from “Gelupo,” I returned to the States. I was to contact the realtor of the now-vacant Main and Maple Coffee Shop in Nicholasville where Callie and I had our first date.  After a frustrating number of failed attempts, the week was upon me. Deciding it was time for Plan B (which should have been Plan A in the first place), I changed locations to Solomon’s Porch, a small coffee shop in Wilmore that Callie and I frequent.  I picked up the spare key, and then things began to speed up.

I assembled “Alpha Team,” a group of hand-picked specialists including Sharayah Jung, Laura Smith, Erik Thein, John Michael Den Hartog, and Taylor Florian. The plan included Christmas lights, candles, a letter, special music, coffee, a large bowl, and a ring. Some of the members knew a basic overview of the plan, and others jumped in as they were all asked to meet at 2:30 on Friday, Callie’s 22nd birthday—D-Day. I picked up the ring, finally finished and paid for, and kept it at my house for the night for safe keeping.

September 21: Brian came over and woke me up on my birthday with a kiss on my forehead. Well, let’s be honest, I was only pretending to be asleep, which he quickly figured out by the fact that I giggled. I was way too excited to sleep! He had class, so he left about as quickly as he came, but I joined all the Asburians in the cafeteria for lunch. I didn’t really notice at the time, but lots of people shared with me later last night that they were afraid to talk to me all of lunch because almost everyone knew what was coming later that evening!

D-Day came, and the entire morning was a blur.  I had class until 2:00, and Erik and I went downtown to a small flower shop immediately after where I got Callie one of each of their rose varieties.  There was a formal at Asbury the same day, so Rosie (that’s actually her name) asked if the flowers were for Artist Series. I told her no, they were for something a little bigger, that I was getting engaged. At that, she lit up and went into bustling overdrive. She put together a small bouquet, then she took a breath and asked “Can I pray for you?” I love Wilmore. She prayed for Callie and I (even asking her name mid-prayer) and asked for our blessing, and that God would protect our evening, as well as our entire marriage. She held my hand as she prayed, and it was really a special moment. After saying amen, she sent me out to continue the set-up.

My afternoon was fairly typical. I cleaned my house, danced around my house, and took a shower. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The team carried out their responsibilities incredibly. When I say I couldn’t have done it without them, I really mean it. There’s no shot.  After harvesting the necessary pieces from my house and Dollar General, we began the setup of Solomon’s Porch. Moving tables and chairs, we formed an open side of the room to be used for a slow-dance, and a small area by the couch for other parts of the plan.  We stepped on lots of Christmas lightbulbs, I had to run home more than once to grab things I forgot, and we heaped stuff in the back kitchen, but in the end, it was beautiful.

I had been instructed by Brian not to leave my apartment after 2 p.m. until he picked me up for our special date around 5. He said he was planning a special surprise. Now, some may say I should have been suspicious at this plan, but you have to keep in mind, Brian often goes out of his way to coordinate really special surprises for me, and he knew I was very excited for my birthday this year. It’s not all that unusual for him to be so incredible. :)

Sharayah and Laura were both “ironically” free around 3:00 and asked to come see me for my birthday (no, I didn’t see this as surprising…both had REALLY good, REALLY different, and REALLY natural alibis for why they were coming over at the time that they did, and they walked over a few minutes apart from each other). I was super excited about them coming over, especially when I had been exiled to my apartment!  Both of them brought nail polish, and Laura did a really good job convincing me that I should paint my fingernails for my date, since she needed to paint hers anyway. Sharayah reported later that Laura had spent all day picking off her fingernail polish just to have an excuse for why we should paint our nails together (she had had the amazing foresight that my hands would be in many pictures over the next few days once I had my ring, so my fingernails had to look nice!). So two hours later, when Brian came to pick me up for my date, I had freshly painted red toenails and a beautiful french manicure by Laura herself. She even very patiently repainted my thumbs three times when I kept scuffing them on things. She said they had to be perfect, and I didn’t argue.  Or pick up on the fact that this was huge foreshadowing of the night to come.

Brian arrived right at 5, a bouquet of three different roses in hand. They were so beautiful and so thoughtful! I had not-so-subtly hinted that I wanted flowers for my birthday, so I assumed this was the extent of my presents, and I was quite content with that. Sharayah and Laura took a few pictures (squealing at just the right times), and then Brian and I were on our way to our pre-planned birthday date – dinner at Bella Notte and dessert at Orange Leaf.

After a brief photo-session with Sharayah and Laura, it was off to Bella Notte for dinner.  I was honestly not really concerned about the initial stages of the evening. I was having a difficult time concealing my excitement/nervousness for our return to Wilmore, and where we ate dinner wasn’t nearly as big a deal to me as to Callie, who thought this WAS her birthday present.  The food was amazing, as was Orange Leaf afterwards, and it was finally time to head back to Wilmore. As per pre-planned signaling, I texted Sharayah as we left so she knew how much time she and Laura had to put the finishing touches on the location.

Once we got back to Asbury, Brian told me he had planned for us to walk around Wilmore together.  We frequently go on walks – “walking and talking” we call it – but I began to think there was something different about this walk when Brian started glancing every few minutes at his watch.  We rounded the corner toward downtown, and he asked if I wanted coffee. This was an extremely weird question, because nothing is open in Wilmore at 8:00 p.m. except Dollar General, but I of course said yes. I love coffee, so whether or not I want it is never a question for me. We had barely gone a few more feet when Brian once more looked down at his watch and suddenly said, “Oh wait! I really want to get a picture of this!”

It was an awkward attempt at an excuse, but I had to make sure Laura and Sharayah were safely out of the way – and out of sight.

It was Subway. No one wants a picture of Subway. I knew something was up.

“Well, that didn’t turn out.  Oh well,” he said, as he deleted the picture and we continued walking down the street. Just a little ways down, he stopped in front of Solomon’s Porch, the tiny, wonderful, hometown coffee shop in Wilmore. Brian and I frequently spend our Saturday mornings drinking Honeybee Lattes in the brightly colored café, and it’s one of my all-time favorite places to go. Unfortunately, it closes at 2 p.m. every day except Tuesdays and Thursdays. And yesterday was Friday.

The shop normally closes at 2:00, but I knew the door to be unlocked, so I pushed in quickly to keep Callie from seeing the Christmas lights through the closed curtains.

“You said you wanted some coffee?” And at that, he pushed open the door to reveal the tiny shop I had grown to love outlined with white Christmas lights and adorned with ten or fifteen tea candles floating in Mason jars. In the center of the room was a table, on which sat our two coffee mugs that say “Good Morning Handsome” and “Good Morning Beautiful,” as well as a pot of warm coffee and these strange sugar packets.  (Turns out, these were the very same sugar packets he took from the gelato shop in London where he had planned out the proposal with our friend Zach!) He made me coffee with the strange sugar, and we sat down on the couch to talk.

The inside was more beautiful than I had imagined! I purposely didn’t script the evening from arrival on, so about the time we got to Orange Leaf, I started trying to order the events. I was finalizing those plans as we sat on the couch, so after some picture-taking by both of us of the decorations, I sat her down again and pulled out “I Love You.” It’s a piece I wrote nearly 3 years ago about the meaning of each of the three words, and what they mean together. I read it to Callie the night I first told her I loved her, and again the day I asked her to begin courting, so it was extra-special on this occasion.

While he was reading, there was a loud noise from the back that honest-to-goodness sounded like someone was coming in through the back door. Brian quickly covered with “Oh, that must be the ice machine.” I didn’t believe him.  (I found out later it really was the ice machine, but for now, just keep in mind that I thought people had not-so-sneakily snuck into the back kitchen.)

At one point as I was reading, a series of knockings came from the kitchen, and I had the sinking feeling that some of my friends had decided to hide out and watch. I assumed it was the ice-maker, so I excused it and read on. It took longer to read than I remembered, but after stumbling through it, I told Callie “If everything is according to plan, there should be something in the back.” I had actually forgotten to pass on specific instructions, but Sharayah and Laura once again saved my tail when they texted me at Orange Leaf and said they had a towel and a basin of warm water already set up.

He left and quickly came back with a green tub of water and a towel. Getting down on his knees, he took off my sandals and told me he wanted to wash my feet like Jesus did for his disciples. He said that he wanted this to be a sign to me that he would serve me the rest of his life, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life serving me and serving God together. That’s when the tears started flowing for me. It was seriously one of the most incredible moments of my life, and I was literally speechless. I couldn’t talk anymore.

She gave me a huge hug after her feet were dried, and I asked if she would dance with me.  I turned on my iPod dock, which had a playlist for just this event starting with “Dancing in the Minefields” by Andrew Peterson. If you haven’t heard it, get it. Don’t even bother sampling it first, just buy it. Callie and I “slow-danced” (which, to us, means swaying awkwardly) through the song, and as it ended and the song we have decided on for our wedding began playing, I asked Callie to turn around and close her eyes.

He asked if we could dance, so we tried, but I was already tearing up again and I couldn’t do much except hug him.  He told me he wanted to give me my last surprise for the night, so I had to close my eyes and turn around.  As I said before, I thought our friends had come in through the back door and were about to jump out and surprise me for my birthday, but when I turned back around and opened my eyes, Brian was there on one knee, holding the opened ring box towards me. I’m pretty sure he asked me if I would marry him, because I remember nodding and finally squeaking out a “yes, forever,” but I started crying so hard I don’t actually remember much from that moment.

I’m pretty sure I asked if she would marry me, and I’m pretty sure she said yes, but I can’t be completely positive.  For the first time in years, I felt completely alive, I was truly experiencing deeply, and I was trying to soak it all in.

He stood up and hugged me, and then he started sobbing himself.  Brian has been experiencing what he calls a “spiritual dryness” these past several months, and, as a result, I have only seen him truly cry one other time. It was an incredibly touching moment for me, so I simply held him to me for a minute or two, and we both just stood in the middle of the room by the cash register crying.

So there we were, holding each other and sobbing, surrounded by Christmas lights, and floating candles, and the smell of coffee, and the sound of piano. And we were engaged.

He then pulled back so he could put the ring on my finger, and it was the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen! It caught the soft light from all the candles, and it was hard to take in such a beautiful moment! I remember saying, “We’re getting married! I’m getting married to you!”

As the overwhelmed feeling subsided, the excitement rushed in, especially to Callie, who has always been the more expressive half.  She bounced around the room, trying to get the candle light to catch her new “sparkly thing” perfectly. I’ve never seen anyone so excited about anything in all of my days. 

We called my parents, and then we told his parents and all the friends that had helped set up the proposal (and who were waiting just on campus) to come celebrate in the coffee shop with us! Everyone was so excited, and it was just such a blessed time!

Everyone arrived, and it was a really special time of sharing and just trying to take it in together.  To me, this was one of the most significant moments of the evening, sharing this part of our lives with people we have grown so close to.  Their presence showed their support, and their excitement showed their love.

The Troyers welcomed me into the family, and all of our friends told me the part they had played in the whole plan. It was so much fun! Then Brian and I said our good-byes and went to call those who didn’t live close by and who hadn’t yet heard the good news!  The rest of the night went by in a blur. I went to Thacker B, where Janah, Jane, Cassie, Sharayah, and Laura talked and giggled with me until 3 in the morning. I ended up waking up at 8 this morning, unable to go back to sleep because I realized that last night hadn’t just been some wonderfully lovely dream!

And so the evening ended, as we took down lights, blew out candles, and put back tables and chairs. Honestly, it was perfect. I wouldn’t have changed anything. Getting to share the experience of the set-up with some of my closest friends, going on a very special birthday date, and following it up with a proposal experience that couldn’t have gone better, combined for what was definitely my favorite night of my life.  May there be many more to come. 

We seriously could not have had such a wonderful engagement without our friends and family who helped coordinate the whole perfect night! Therefore, our story would not be complete without a few thank-you’s:

Thank you to Zach Whelchel for helping Brian plan out THE PERFECT engagment.

Thank you to Laura and Sharayah for providing company during my exile, for insisting that I paint my nails, for helping to set up Solomon’s Porch, for preparing the coffee and candles right before we got there, for hiding out across the street, and for having a sleep-over with me when I couldn’t sleep last night!

Thank you to John Michael, Erik, and Taylor for hanging the lights and getting Solomon’s Porch looking perfect. Also thanks to Erik for documenting this special time and for John Michael’s contribution of REAL (non-Folger’s) coffee.

Thank you to the Troyers for all of the supplies Brian took from your house, and for being there with us as we celebrated afterward.

Thank you to Cassie, Janah, Jane, Andy C, Josh, Andy B, Coop, Nathan, and Will for showing up and celebrating with us at Solomon’s Porch (as we held up traffic in the middle of the street).

Thank you to Tim and Erin, who graciously and trustingly opened up Solomon’s Porch just for us.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who have supported us and encouraged us over the past several hours!

And thank you to the amazing, incredible God who brought Brian and me together and who gave us a beautiful night last night (against the weatherman’s predictions) to celebrate the future He has for us!

I love you guys, we love you guys.