We had picked it out over a month ago. A month of secret keeping. A month of not-so-patiently waiting. A month of begging. Begging to see it. Begging for clues. The only clue I got was "snow." He said it had to be snowing. I naively believed. I accepted the fact that I probably wouldn't be engaged until Christmas break. I got excited about how magical a Christmas engagement could be. And I completely let my guard down. Silly silly girl. Smart smart boy.
Now before I tell the rest of our story we have to rewind. Rewind to April. A few weeks before our first date. We were all at Andrew's house sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows and chatting. Somehow the fact that Andrew could fire knife came up and of course we begged him to show us. I had never seen fire knifing before and to say the least I was very impressed. As I sat completely mesmerized watching him toss and spin the burning knife, one of my very best friends, Jane, leaned over and whispered, "oh my gosh Beth you should go for him." I quickly replied no, no he was totally off limits. He was one of my best friend's older brothers. But nonetheless the boy who could make fire dance had caught my eye. And when he called a few weeks later asking me on our first date I was hardly excited.
Now fast forward. Back to November 30th. (my now favorite day of the year) We were sitting on the porch waiting for my family so that we could go down to the beach for a little fire spinning show. It was nothing out of the normal. He had done it once before for my family and my mom was determined to get it on film this time. As we waited, he practiced and I watched. And without a clue of what would happen next I reminded him that "his first fire spinning show was what caught my eye." He just smiled. Probably stoked out of his mind about how perfectly my comment fell into the plans for the night.
He did his show on the beach. Not only was my family watching but a crowd of bystanders had gathered to watch on the boardwalk. As he spun I was completely preoccupied trying to get a good picture that I had been insisting he should instagram. He ended and still clueless I became worried that his one-knee ending had gotten him stuck. When he called me over I went over with every intention of helping him get up without scorching his legs off. But instead out came a little black box. My mind went b l a n k. I was taken completely off guard. As usual NOT what I had planned. "Elisabeth, will you marry me?" The world seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time. Instant tears, a "yes," more tears, a few screams, and even more screams.
And now I am engaged. To my very best friend… the boy who made fire dance.
To watch a video of our proposal click the following link…
