More "Us"

Okay, I would just like to say that I am at work for a 16h shift after getting around 4 hours of completely interuppted sleep yesterday, so some of this might not make sense. I will edit anything after getting some sleep much needed Valium induced sleep. :)


Okay, so the journey of our story continues: Kent and I had been dating for about 6 months when the talk about marriage casually came up. We weren't too serious about getting engaged right away, but secretly it wouldn't have bothered me. I knew then and I know now. However, Kent really wasn't ready to pop the question, and I knew that so I was okay with it. I was living in Cullman then and decided that I would move down here, so I essentially bought a house so that I could be 10 minutes away from him. I closed on my house on my 23rd birthday. That was something I never thought would happen so quickly!! I loved it! Talk about some responsiblity. So Kent and I dated for the next almost 2 years. Then we get to our great proposal story.

For Christmas 2006, my immediate family came to my house for lunch on Saturday, the 23rd. I don't even remember what I cooked, but I bought my cute santa apron and cooked all morning. If you don't know me-I love Christmas!!! I love decorations, I love Christmas lights and I am somewhat on the extravagant side. I bought all new decorations for my tree that year in all bright colors and got a great deal on the tree skirt and stockings from Pier 1. My Dept 56 Christmas village was sprinkled throughout my house and my tree had 1400 lights on it, and it's only 6ft. (Kent always calls me Clark at Christmas.) Anyway, after lunch, everyone was just hanging out chatting and I could tell that Kent was getting anxious. He really doesn't do well in social situations, especially for extended periods of time. Kent left before everyone else, saying that he still had to wrap my presents and get some stuff ready. In the meantime, we are all just sitting around, I think that we even watched The Devil Wears Prada. At around 4 he starts texting me have they left, tell them they need to go, we have plans. It kind of irritated me. Really, am I going to tell my parents to leave my house after our Christmas get together. I highly doubt it. Kali, my sis, knew that Kent and I were doing our presents that night, so I texted her everything that Kent was saying. She starts laughing and about 30 minutes later they start heading out. My parents followed shortly after. I called Kent and told him that they were gone and he said he would be on his way to my house in a little bit. I won't lie, I kind of thought that it was "the night." But I had my hopes up before, so I couldn't get too excited. When he got back to my house, he opened his presents first. I don't even remember what I got him. Minor details compared to the next ones. :) He had me three presents. I opened the magic bullet which was the mini blender that I saw on an infomercial that I just had to have. The next was an envelope. There was a single piece of paper that said: "Go alone to (our address), your next gift is waiting in the mailbox." I leave, all nervous, call Kali and tell her that Kent has me on a scavenger hunt so she better keep her phone with her. They had gone to Academy shopping so she was still around. I get to his mailbox and there was another paper that said, "I am now laughing it up at (my address), come back home, thanks for buying me some time." I speed like a bat out of you know where to get back, call Kali and update her. When I got back, there were a ton of candles lit and he handed me my last present. It was a Bible with the inscription Mary Reid Hall on the bottom. I gasped, he got on one knee and I of course said YES!!! He had us a bottle of champagne chilled to enjoy with some new flutes. I then proceeded to call Kali, my mom, several other people, texted about 10 others. Kali had stuck around town, so that they could come back and be the first to see and congratulate. His family had gone to our church service and came over afterward. My sister-in-law brought me like 3 Bridal magazine/catalogs too. It was definitely a night that I will never forget. Here we are red eyes and everything on that night: