May 8, 2012

Story of Us: Engaged!

So, the Engaged! part of the story was to be prefaced with how we actually met.  As I said, Blogger ate it.  I'll write it up again soon, but you just really need to know that we met at a bar in August 2008 and I was the one who picked him up.  I'm pushy like that. 
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Scott and I decided, within weeks of meeting, that we'd get married.  We were both 22, soon to be 23.  He had a job lined up (the Army is a decent paycheck, I suppose).  I had my teaching certification, and was hoping to get a job anywhere we went.  

I remember insisting that we needed an engagement ring and real wedding plans in order for it to be taken seriously.  People in my town don't just Britney-Spears-it and run off to get married.  They date for 4-6 years (depending on when they met) and then spend another 2 years planning the wedding.

So Scott asked me what kind of ring I wanted.  I tried to describe with words and then it was decided that we should go look together.  We did.  At this point, I think Scott was just confused by the styles, cuts, and whatnot, so he let me pick it.  So I did.  Yes.  I picked out my own engagement ring.  And it was fun.  Normally, I like surprises, but this was just plain fun. (Princess-cut with a complete channel band in case you're curious.  I would be.)

We were dealing with Kranich's Jewelers in downtown State College because it was on the Penn State campus and he just happened to be there everyday.  Plus, we like to give money to small businesses versus large corporations.  Well, Scott does.  I'll shop wherever is cheapest 

The salesman at Kranich's would not let it go.  He called Scott at least once a week asking if he was ready to draw up the paperwork on the ring we had picked out.  It was a tricky situation as we were both semi-employed.  They really do give credit cards to anyone these days. 

And it's true that we liked this particular ring, but something didn't feel right about it, so a few weeks went by without the engagement plan really moving forward.

One day, I was walking by Kay Jewelers in the mall.  I went in and there it was:  the exact same ring, but it looked better.  How this is possible, I don't know.  But it looked so much better!  By better, I mean "more sparkly".

The best part?  It was a couple hundred dollars less.  That's a win for the big corporation in my book.

So at the beginning of November 2008, we went into Kay's, had my finger sized, and ordered the ring.  Scott made a down payment, and then used his brand-new Kay's card to pay for the rest (He really loved making that payment every month.)

I still didn't know when I was getting the ring.  Like I said, we did not live in a military community and dating/living together usually lasts half a dozen years in my hometown.  I knew it wouldn't be until well after Christmas.  We assumed he was going to training the next summer, so we'd probably just get engaged before he left.

In December, Scott said the ring had come in and he made the mistake of showing it to me.  It was oh-so-cleverly hidden in his desk drawer.  Therefore, every time I went to Scott's house from December to February, I pulled it out to look at.

We did things quite traditionally, as you can tell.

We then found out that training was to start in April, not August.  Now plans really needed to move forward.  He gave me the ring on Valentine's Day 2009 and we could officially announce that we were getting married.

SO.  Now that we had been dating for 5 1/2 months, we were engaged and planning a September 2009 wedding.  Why September?  Umm.. because he would have exactly 2 weeks off between graduating Officer Basic Course in Missouri and moving to Alaska by the 1st of October.  That's right, girls.  You don't even really get to pick your own wedding date when the military is involved. 

Oh!  But wait!  We still didn't know we were going to Alaska.  We thought we were going to be stationed at Ft. Leonard-Wood, Missouri for a few years.  (Alaska was a pleasant little....surprise).

Anyway, September 12th fell one week after OBC graduation, so that's what we were shooting for. 

Then, as they often do, plans went awry and we ended up getting married 2 1/2 months later.



Mansfield, Missouri, April 4, 2009 (I could never forget the exact day I got to tour Laura Ingalls Wilder's house.)

7 comments:

  1. that is a fast engagement! but you made it work! that's hard that you had to plan around the military scheduling. and funny that he couldn't hide the ring better. :)

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  2. Love it! We were only engaged for about 12 weeks so I totally understand. I love engagement stories.

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  3. I love reading stories like this! You guys definitely have a unique one!

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  4. What a cute story & your ring...SO damn pretty!

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  5. I love hearing other peoples' love stories. Love the ring, too.

    Oh, and BTW? I picked up my husband too. :)

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  6. Thanks for sharing this awesome story! It is always fun to read about the unconventional lives of others ;-) We were a little "off" of tradition too!

    LOOOOOOVE your ring, WOW! Funny story? I have a saphire ring that is almost identical to your engagement ring (princess with the channel) and when we upgrade, Greg and I want to purchase a diamond "twin" which would look just like yours!! GORGEOUS.

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  7. Your story is verrrry similar to mine! I'm practical though, and it just worked! And I might be somewhat of a control freak..just maybe, but I won't admit that to the hubs.

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