Fun fact about me: as a kid, I didn’t really understand what went into proposing to your significant other. I honestly thought that people would randomly decide they wanted to get married, ask the question and hope for the best.
Needless to say, as I got older I realized there’s a little more planning than that for an actual proposal.
About a year and a half into dating, Jacob and I were seriously considering getting engaged. Secretly, I knew I wanted to marry Jacob three months into dating him, but it took him a little longer to decide if I was going to be his future wife.
After deciding that we were committed to each other and wanted to pursue engagement, Jacob got my parents blessing, bought a ring, set a date, and made a plan - all without me knowing a thing.
The morning of May 19, 2016 I rolled out of bed and tried to put on something cute, but ended up just lugging on an oversized t-shirt and leggings with chacos. I waited downstairs in my apartment building for his little red Mazda to pull up and hopped into the car, asking “What are we doing this morning?”
We were celebrating our two-year anniversary and Jacob had told me to be ready for a surprise date. He liked to do those. “Surprise Dates” he called them. I liked the mystery to them, and I also loved trying to guess what we were doing for the day. Most of the time when Jacob planned days like these, I was able to guess what we were doing – partly because I’m a good guesser, and mostly because Jacob has a bad poker face and would give everything away if I even got slightly close to guessing correctly.
“You’ll see…” Jacob said to me smiling. He was at ease, grabbed my hand and started driving north.
Hopping onto the highway I tried my luck again, “Sooo, do I get any hints today? Are we going to the movies?”
Jacob shook his head.
“Are we going to grab food? I’m starving.”
Jacob’s started to smile.
“We ARE getting food. I knew it! ” I exclaimed, “Where at? Are we going to the Domain? Are we getting Kona?” I kept asking.
“Can you please just stop guessing and let me surprise you for once?” Jacob responded, blushing. Which was all the clues I needed to know I was right and sunk back into my seat with a big grin on my face.
“You never let me surprise you.” Jacob complained.
“Well – just get better with your surprises!” I teased, winking back at him.
Little did I know I was going to have the greatest surprise thrown my way later that day.
After grabbing lunch, we walked around the Domain, one of the outdoor malls in Austin, and window shopped. It wasn’t until I tried on a cute black dress that Jacob decided he was going to buy it for me.
“Just because,” he said, swiping his card at the register. “You can wear it tonight if you’d like. We’re going to grab dinner.”
Now mind you, Jacob and I were flat out broke with a capital B. We were leaving for Europe for a post graduation trip in a few days so I knew that our bank accounts were being saved for our trip, not random shopping adventures in Austin.
However, I did let him buy me the dress - after all, I did look pretty cute in it.
After our shopping endeavors, Jacob dropped me back off at my apartment to get ready for dinner and went to his house, unbeknownst to me, to help set up our surprise engagement party later that night.
Later at dinner, Jacob and I had so much freaking fun. We had a gorgeous view of downtown Austin, ate delicious food (Thanks Geraldine’s!) and even received complimentary dessert and wine! I felt like a true princess, but I also was starting to get a little skeptical.
“Either Jacob really loved 2 year anniversaries or something big was about to happen.” I thought to myself.
After dinner, we walked around the rooftop bar and pool area, taking photos (like the one below) and I continued to figure out if tonight was the night I’d become an engaged woman.
As we were walking back to the car, thinking it was the end of our night, Jacob said we had one more place to go and started driving towards the State Capitol.
(A little backstory here - the Capitol is where Jacob and I had our first kiss.)
As we walked up to the Capitol and walked through security, I turned to Jacob, who was very pale and said, “I have to pee - can I go to the bathroom really quick.”
Jacob looked like he was about to kill me.
“Are you serious?” He said, “Can you wait, like, 20 minutes?”
I could not wait 20 minutes, when you gotta go you gotta go and so I walked through the Capitol hall towards the restroom. As I was walking I saw sunflowers placed on each bench in the rotunda. “That’s weird - I love sunflowers, I wonder who those are for.” I thought to myself.
As I sat down, mid-pee, it dawned on me...I was officially about to get proposed to.
And then I started happy crying as I pulled up my literal and figurative big girl panties, washed my hands, and walked back out to the rotunda where I saw Jacob sitting on a bench with a sunflower in hand.
Once I sat down (still crying) Jacob pulled out a card that was attached to the stem of the flower. He had taken letters that he had written to me in our first few weeks of dating, and re read them to me, reminiscing how he was feeling about me and our relationship at that time. Then we walked over to another bench, with another sunflower and another card. Then another, and another, until we got to our final card, which Jacob read out loud to me while I was still crying. He wrote about how the rest of our date was going to focus on our future together and asked me to walk with him.
Jacob took me to the middle of the rotunda, had me spin around, and by the time I was back to where I began, he was on one knee, opening the ring box, and then proceeded to drop the ring.
Yes. You read that right - my husband dropped the engagement ring.
Picking it up quickly and laughing, Jacob asked me to marry him. Of course, I said “YES!” and of course, I was still crying.
After many, MANY more tears, our photographer took more photos, gave us a big hug and left us to have some quiet time together. Jacob and I hopped in his car to go back to his house (affectionately nicknamed “The Monster”) where I was told, “a couple of” friends were there to celebrate.
As we pulled into his driveway and walked into his house we were greeted by over EIGHTY people who were SO excited for us. I have never felt more loved by my family and friends
The next morning as I walked across the stage, accepting my diploma, I couldn’t help by get mesmerized by the shiny diamonds that were sitting on my finger. I knew that as my chapter of undergrad was coming to a close, my life as a fiance and future wife was only beginning.
Xoxo Kara