yup, it's still there

thanks for all the well-wishes and congratulations... i'm still in a daze (having some issues with sleeping too, wonder why) but am extremely happy, and honestly - quite giddy... i keep looking down to make sure i'm not dreaming and yup, it's still there - pretty breathtaking... :)

3 months after meeting eric (back in april 2005), we were going to pittsburgh for the weekend (which also happened to be around my bday)... on the way, the snow began to fall and then for some stupid reason i said, "my sister doesn't live far from here, we should stop by and surprise them"... the snow was piling up pretty fast and yet there we were - in his little chevy S10 pickup, charging up hills, sliding all over the place, and having trouble seeing the road... we stayed at my sister's for like 15-minutes tops and then hit the road again, only to be faced with 1 open lane on the highway and snow coming straight at us... cars were spinning-out in the median, traffic was crawling, and i was a mess - but he was steady as a rock and said everything would be okay... i sat there crying at times, with my eyes closed, and he just keep talking to me and trying to make me laugh... by the time we got to morgantown, wv - the snow had finally stopped... when we got out of the car to get something to eat, i think i bent down and faked kissed the ground - i couldn't have been more happy to see concrete... by the time we made it to pittsburgh - it was pretty late so we didn't get to meet rigel and austin until morning... his brother had his hands full, to say the least, so eric and i took turns holding and feeding them... at one point, eric had them and he began singing to them - that was the moment that i knew he was the man i was going to marry... i have always wanted to get married and have children and seeing this, well - it was like icing on the cake for me... it was sort of like seeing into the future, if that makes any sense... :)

fast-forward to sunday night (4.5 years later)... we went out to dinner for eric's birthday - he had mentioned that he could go for some seafood, so i suggested this place mccormick and schmick's... it wasn't that crowded so the service was good and we had a nice, corner booth - i had salmon stuffed with crab, shrimp, and brie (yes, it was yummy) and some wine... i gave him his smoochy-noise birthday card and one from the cats (signed, of course), and as i was putting them into my purse - i turned and noticed the ring, in the box, on the table... he goes, "how did i do?" and i think i said, "are you kidding me?!" and just stared at it... sort of like - is this really happening, is that really sitting on the table, did he really just do that? and then he goes, "well, are you going to put it on?" and i said, "aren't YOU going to put it on me?" so he did and i was crying because it was so beautiful... then he asked me to marry him, so i jumped up and said yes, and we kissed, and then lived happily-ever-after... okay, we're still working on the last part but everything else is accurate... :)

after things settled down - we had some champagne and dessert (on behalf of the manager), and then headed straight to my mom's house... she was thrilled, of course, and was anxious to start calling my relatives... we also stopped by my oldest friend's mike's house (on the notion that i needed to get our depeche mode tickets) and ended up staying for a few hours, drinking, and talking... they were thrilled too since every time i saw them, i got a lecture on why 'it' hadn't happened yet... anyway, it was a totally unexpected evening but one that i will never forget... I LOVE YOU DARLIN! :)

needless to say, yesterday was a blur - between the lack of sleep, a terrible headache (which i still have remnants of) - i can't tell you how many people emailed and called... i haven't had this much attention EVER, so it's weird and cool at the same time... my other close friend stopped by last night to get a glimpse of the ring in person (which she approved) and told eric, "it's about damn time"... :)

tonight is the depeche mode concert (can i get a HELL YEA) and then my mom and i are leaving for NC bright & early tomorrow morning... i'm not sure what kind of internet service my cousin will have but i will post, if i can, and if not - i'll talk to you when i get back next week... thanks again for all the well-wishes... so does this mean i'll have to start a new blog? oh, how exciting! i can't wait! :)

happy tuesday...