The weekend of May 9th-11th, 2008 changed my life forever. You see, it started out just like any other weekend. Friday was my sister's birthday. The whole family got together to celebrate. I remember it being such a great day. That Saturday we went out of town to visit my great-grandmother and family for Mother's Day. What I didn't know is that while all of the girls in the family were sitting around the lunch table eating dessert and drinking coffee, Justin was asking my dad in the next room if he could marry me. I believe their conversation was short but sweet. My dad wholeheartedly gave his blessing.
On Sunday morning we woke up and went to church. We had been planning on going to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens here in Richmond for a Mother's Day jazz concert with Justin's parents. They talked it up and Justin and I were excited to go celebrate with them. We went to the parking lot and Justin took about five minutes deciding whether or not to bring our own lawn chairs to the concert. He decided against it and grabbed a small gift box and a bouquet of flowers to give to his mom.
We paid our entrance fee to the garden and I asked the ticket lady where the concert was being held. Justin said first he wanted to walk around for a second so we took off down some paths. He walked really, really fast. I followed behind him not thinking a single thing about it. We walked onto a bridge and Justin turned to me to speak. He told me that his parents were not coming and that we weren't going to a jazz concert. My heart sank into my stomach because I knew that something was going on. Just then he gave me the flowers and told me they were for me and not his mom. He then took a small box out of the gift box and dropped down to one knee. He told me that he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me. He gave me the most beautiful ring that I had ever seen. When I saw that it was Hearts on Fire I literally squealed. I was in utter and total shock. Of course, shaking, I said yes! We looked over the pond we were standing over and a whole group of people had gathered to watch us and were cheering. It was completely surreal.
A really sweet couple had taken a few pictures of the proposal and sent them to us a few days afterward. We walked around the gardens together and I felt like I was floating on air. Usually no one can get anything past me, so how he pulled off the biggest surprise of my life is beyond me, but I am so glad that he did!
Of course no proposal story would be complete without some ring shots!
(Sorry about the quality. This is before I added my Nikon to my life!)
Here we are a year later on June 13, 2009 after we were married, standing on the same bridge where he proposed. These are truly some of the best memories of my life. This is a very special place to us.
