So in last week's Aruba update post I mentioned how this was a life-changing trip. Behold why.
The proposal went down ten days ago, and we're just going big with the news now. We told a couple close friends and family in the days after, but otherwise kept it private. And it was kind of nice, being engaged and just thinking about each other -- not checking our phones every second for likes and emails and texts.
So how'd it go down?
Though tropical vacation screams "engagement alert," I thought there was 0% chance it'd happen while we were away.
We had already shopped for ring settings. Dave told me the ringmaker was backed up from the annual jeweler's holiday and the ring wouldn't be done until late August. And I believed him (for the most part)! Every couple days, I'd secretly check for his great-grandmother's diamond, which we kept in a small box in Dave's shorts drawer. (The gem is set in front of your eyes, so loose gem = no finished ring.) I checked the box the day we left while Dave was in the shower ... diamond still there.
So when Dave got down on one knee that very same night on a secluded beach, I was completely surprised. The gem in the shorts drawer? A cubic zirconia bought for $10. The ring was finished almost a month ago.
Here's the actual ring with the cubic zirconia, which is smaller than the actual diamond. But I wasn't inspecting the stone... like Dave predicted, I only wanted to see it was there. I never even took it out of the bag.
And here I am with the master sneak himself...
Very early in our courtship, we once discussed a recently engaged couple where the guy took his girlfriend on an over-the-top trip including the Brooklyn Bridge, Grimaldi's, the Ritz, a sunset, and excessive walking. We said it was too obvious. Dave told me that if he ever proposed to me, that I wouldn't see it coming.
... and he was totally right.