We're Engaged!

After 2.5 years of dating, Richie and I are finally engaged. It has been a long, but God guided road. I guess the only place to start is the beginning….

It all started when I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. I don’t know what the motivation was. It was just something I wanted to do for myself. I had borrowed a guitar from the church and was going to teach myself. Richie heard about my new endeavor and offered to teach me how to play. For several months I would go to his apartment and he would teach me various cords and rhythm methods. At the time it was strictly platonic. Then one day I wanted to thank Rich for all the time he spent teaching me, so I took him to the amphitheater where we saw Spiderman and ate hot dogs. This was the first time we had truly hung out with out the common denominator of guitars. We talked about our families, friends and ourselves. This was the first time that I thought of Rich as possibly more than a friend.

Halloween rolled around which meant carving pumpkins. So after our lesson, Richie and I carved one. We were pulling out the guts when I held up a pumpkin seed and dared him to eat it. And amazingly he just ate it! This, for me, was when I knew I had feelings for Rich.

A couple more months passed and we continued to hang out on a regular basis and we continued to have our Wednesday guitar lessons. It was such a great time to just enjoy each other's friendship. From a girl's point of view, it was terribly romantic to be serenaded every week as I tried to learn "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Then one day we were watching the Steelers/Ravens game and I asked Rich if he wanted a Moose Kiss. He was reluctant but finally gave in. I licked the side of his face and said, it’s a Moose Kiss! He was kind of grossed out at first, but then his demeanor changed. He got fidgety and kept saying “So….” And wouldn’t finish his sentence. So I just asked, “Do you want another Moose Kiss? Is that why you keep saying so?” And he said, “No, but now that you mention kissing….” He explained that I had once said I wouldn’t kiss anyone who I wasn’t in a relationship with and he wanted to know if instead of Moose Kissing I wanted to be his girlfriend and kiss him for real. And I guess you could say the rest is history…..So if you hear us mention mooses or Moose Kisses, you know what it's about.

Now, to the good stuff, right? What you all wanted to read about. The Proposal. I guess, I’ll let Rich tell this part of story…..

(Rich)

Well, to be quite honest I hadn't planned things out to the N'th degree. I had tried over and over again to think of something that was super creative, but at the end of it all I decided that it would be best to just be spontaneous and wait for the "right" moment. I had purchased the ring over a month ago so it was ready whenever I was. The day that I popped the question I wasn't 100% sure I was going to do it until it happened. I knew we were going to hang out that evening and we would be downtown. I kept the ring in my pocket just in case. There were so many places that it could have happened since we have memories spanning almost all of the city, but at the end of the night as we were walking to the car we decided to take a pit stop in the Flagler West Lawn to enjoy the great weather. 

I started to think about all of the memories we had at Flagler. Spending lunch time soaking up some rays on the West Lawn, graduation for the both of us, and countless others. The weather was perfect, the lights were low, and it was one of the most peaceful moments I've ever witnessed downtown. It was then that I knew that now was the time. I said "I've got a surprise for you." I listed off the number of things that made Danielle special to me. Her unwavering support, her way of making sure I never took myself too seriously, making me laugh, and her steadfast godliness that always encourages me. I got down on one knee as asked her to marry me. The rest is history... After all of that, we met for a drink with Laurie and Adam Pierce (who would be soon leaving for the Peace Corps) and an impromptu photo shoot where the action happened. It was at Scarlet O'Hara's that we all witnessed the most entertaining rendition of "I Feel Good" done during karaoke (we got a picture with the performer).  And that is how this stage of the fairy tale ends... Now we plan!

Danielle & Laurie at Scarlets

The Excellent "I Feel Good" performer