Oh hey! I have a fiancé!

I realize this won't be news to anyone who knows me on Facebook or Twitter... but:

Holy crap you guys, I'm engaged! 

I have a fiancé! I am betrothed to be wedded! I am affianced! 

(It sounds funny no matter HOW I put it. I've taken to addressing Chris as "fiancé," as in "Hi, Fiancé! How was your day at work?")

On June 22, we drove out to Annapolis, MD with our friends Jenn & Derek - a gorgeous little city on the Chesapeake Bay where they had just gotten married in March - for a weekend of relaxation and day drinking. We had planned it ages ago so I definitely wasn't suspecting anything.

Further throwing me off the trail, the boys stopped in a comic shop on our way to the waterfront where we picked $1 comic books at random to use in drinking games.

We each picked from the bin that our name started with - as you can see, I got pretty much the best comic book EVER. That's a roman legionnaire riding a T-Rex.

After drinking a few painkillers, Derek announced that he was feeling a little tipsy, and asked if we'd mind taking a breather before the next bar. There were some neat gardens nearby, and maybe we could go check them out briefly before the next drink?

I said that sounded great, and off we traipsed to the Paca House. 

(source)

The gardens are old time-y hedgerow style, with some semi-secluded areas partitioned off by the hedge walls. After pointing this out, Jenn and Derek promptly scurried off into a different section of the garden, leaving Chris & I alone.

(In retrospect, yes, this all seems super obvious. I honestly had not caught on at this point.)

It wasn't until Chris turned me around so he could give me a kiss and tell me that he loved me that I started to think something was up. And I had just barely managed to get suspicious when he dropped to one knee and said he had another question for me. 

Highly accurate and perfectly to scale artist's rendering of the moment

I think I squawked "WHAT!?" followed by "YES!" Chris then produced The Most Gorgeous Ring In The World from his pocket.  And then I probably yelled a combination of "OH MY GOODNESS!" and "HOW DID THAT JUST HAPPEN??!" for about 2 straight minutes. I just could not wrap my mind around how the afternoon had gone from seemingly innocuous day-drinking to marriage proposal so suddenly. (Except obviously, it was only sudden to ME. Everyone else knew it was coming!)

Hi! We just got engaged!

We went straight to another bar and ordered champagne. Celebration time!!

It was so delightful and awesome. I was thrilled and surprised, and having Jenn & Derek there to immediately celebrate and hug (and admire the ring!) was absolutely awesome.

(I can't stop admiring the ring either. Like, all the time. It's so beautiful and so perfect for me.)

So! Now we get to (haha, "get to") plan a wedding. Eek.