Big Life News: Engagement

Yup. It's true. Janel and I are now engaged! We're pretty excited about it. I'm not one to tell mushy stories, but I'll fill you in on how it all went down.

Janel and I have talked about getting married for a while. There comes a point when you just know that there isn't a need to continue the vetting process. The person sitting across from you at the breakfast table has seen you laugh and cry, has talked through some tough life decisions and coached you through low points and high points, and you only hope you've done the same for them.

People are usually surprised at how short Janel and I have known each other. Its been almost two years now and I certainly feel like we've done a lot in that short amount of time. We've discussed big goals and life plans and we know that we want to support each other along the way. There were even questions about whether or not we wanted to get married. But in the end, we decided it would be a good thing. I mean, tax breaks. Am I right! :)

We had a ring picked out, so my only job was to figure out how to present it to Janel. I knew it didn't need to be a big hoopla, but I did want it to be memorable. I also wanted it to be a surprise, which was considerably difficult considering how we had the ring picked out.

So, April 5, a Saturday, I was told to block my calendar for one of our date days. We like to set aside times, always on the calendar of course, because if we don't we tend to work away our weekends and wake up one morning wondering when we'll ever do anything fun. This day was meant to be a surprise for me, but I decided I wanted to turn the tables on Janel. Slowly but surely I discovered some of the plans and put a plan of my own together.

We have always wanted to see the sunrise on the east coast of Michigan and then drive to the west coast to watch the sunset. That was the plan for this day. And I decided that I wanted to propose at the sunrise. So, I bought a stuffed owl, attached a Harry Potter styler letter to it, and got ready to say some words. Its funny how there are so many instructions for how to do a proposal out there, but really simple things are great. And the words you have to say don't need to be much. Its hard to remember them. At any rate, she said yes and then we ate breakfast. Yeah, it was pretty much like that. I mean, it was 7 AM. We were pretty groggy. And hungry. But we were excited too. And we shared with people as they woke up during the day.

It turned out to be a pretty chilly day, but we still went to Lake Michigan and watched the sunset. The ice on the lake was pretty incredible. We caught a movie in between with some friends in Kalamazoo and called it a day. Surprisingly, its simple and its cute. Basically, its what we wanted. Two friends getting engaged and sharing with the people we came across during the day.