JULY 8.

i honestly cannot even believe i am writing this post.  

we are engaged!!!!

a little back story for those who have requested: when b and i moved in together in january 2011, i was very open and honest about what i wanted from the relationship. aka, i knew he was the guy i wanted to marry. {let's be real, i knew that about three weeks into it.} but b needed his own time to get there. and so i waited. sometimes patiently, sometimes not.

camp is incredibly special to b and his family. it was a safe bet that if it were to happen anytime soon, tupper lake would be the place he would pop the question. so, what does a girl do? well, if you're me, you ask if it's coming. yep. i just flat out asked if we could possibly be getting engaged while we were at camp. b gave me a long, sweet response about how he was saving, but now wasn't a good time. i was sad, but understood and totally bought it.

we do a canoe ride, just the two of us, every year at tupper. on sunday afternoon, b asked if i was ready to canoe and we took off, stopped at sheppey island, and climbed to the top to check out the view. {here's a mention of sheppey in an article about when president calvin coolidge visited!} unlike year's past, the grass and trees were super dry, making it a hard hike in flip flops. the branches were cutting me and i kept asking b if we could turn back and leave. he was encouraging, but not insistent, and finally we made it to the top, to take in this: 

beautiful. but after 10 minutes of just standing and looking, i was humming the jeopardy tune. i asked him if we could go {again} and he said "let's just enjoy the view". then i asked if we could sit down and got a strong no. this is when i started wondering what was going on.

b was standing slightly behind me with one arm around me. he asked me if i loved him and i turned around to give him an "of course" and the ring was in front of my face. i'm pretty sure i momentarily died of shock because i don't remember him asking me to marry him, though he says he did, or saying "yes", though i must have at some point! after crying and laughing and me asking about 300 times if it all was really happening we took some photos and paddled back to camp.

b told me on the way that his parents had helped him through the ring buying process {since it was a family-friend jeweler where b's dad bought the engagement ring for b's mom} and that he had told his mom, dad and sister that he was going to propose when we canoed to sheppey. so, when we pulled up, i was nervous that everyone knew. {i have no idea now why this is nerve wracking. obviously, i had a lot of emotions going on.} all the ladies on the dock turned around and asked how the ride was and i just blurted out "we got engaged!" his parents and sister had kept it a secret, and so his aunt and cousins were all so surprised! champagne was opened and all of us stood on the dock and looked at the ring and smiled and took photos. i was so glad they were there. i am crying just thinking about how special it was to be surrounded by the love of his whole family.

i still feel really shocked that it happened. and really happy. it was a simple proposal, and it involved our families, and was more perfect than i could have dreamed up. also, the ring is pretttyyyy stunning.

our spot, taken from the boat ride on the way back to the mainland. we actually share a similar story with b's uncle rhodes and aunt lisa, and they are getting ready to celebrate 30 years of marriage. we called to tell them and got to hear about their sheppey island proposal and it makes me smile to know that it's another way i get to be connected to b's family. 

thanks to each one of you for the facebook messages, tweets, texts, calls and general well wishes. we didn't have internet access or phone service while at camp, so i am trying to catch up now and make sure you know how much i appreciated each and every one. 

i have never been so happy.