the question

there are many stories to still be told of my two month travels abroad in greece and italy. but the story i have now trumps by far any of those which i have been intending to post when i got the chance.

jonathan had told me about a week or two before that he had a big welcome home date planned out for us when i got back home. of course, it made me very happy to know that he was already putting so much thought into a special date. he planned to pick me up at 8 a.m. on saturday and had tossed around some different ideas of going on a hike in north georgia or going to athens and sorts.

i was up for 24 hours traveling on friday and didn't crawl my jet lagged self into bed until about 1 a.m. so i called him up as i was going to bed and asked him to push it back one more hour so i could get some extra rest. i still didn't sleep well, anxious to see my boyfriend after not seeing him for months. when i finally got to hug him again on my driveway, he was just as handsome as i had left him, but 17 lbs lighter :).

we swung by chick-fil-a for some chicken biscuits...so much better than the rolls with chocolate spread i've been having for 50-something days in a row! we got on the road by 10 and started driving up i-85 north. i had no idea where we were going, so i just settled into my passenger seat and we talked the entire way. talking in person is so much better than over the phone. i had really missed that. we pulled of the interstate in north georgia and stopped at a publix to get some of our traditional picnic food: turkey subs, snapples, and chips.

as our drive continued, i realized we were heading for chattanooga. it was kind of drizzly, so jonathan casually asked me whether i wanted to go to ruby falls because it was in a cave out of the rain, or rock city on lookout mountian and hope it doesn't rain. i thought my indecisiveness just lead him to choose rock city so we didn't push our luck with the weather holding up, but it turns out that was the plan all along. we pulled into the parking lot and jonathan seemed pretty upset because there were a lot of cars there, meaning there were a lot of people there as well. i just couldn't understand why this would make him so annoyed when it was a tourist attraction on a saturday in the middle of the summer.

we bought tickets to both places and then began exploring rock city. it was adorable, with all the trails paved with stone and the paths leading between walls of rocks that you had to suck in and shimmy through sideways to get through. jonathan had a backpack on, so it didn't seem much easier for him. we wandered and took some pictures along the way-i was happy because i love being outside and doing these kinds of things. he knows me well :). our destination for our picnic was lover's leap, the place where theres an overlook where you can see 7 states: georgia, south carolina, north carolina, tennessee, virginia, kentucky, and alabama. the view up there is amazing, even on a cloudy day.

i was carrying some umbrellas in case the sky decided to break loose and jonathan carried the cooler and his backpack. we found a nice picnic table with an umbrella that could keep us out of the light drizzle and sat down to eat our turkey sandwiches. as we were eating, jonathan kept watching the overlook and complaining when groups of people would trickle in and crowd up the place. he had taken about 3 bites of his sandwich before declaring that he was full, while i was just taking my time enjoying the wonderful date we were having and being happy to be with him again. i believe i have picked up a bit of a european habit of taking forever to eat lately.

meanwhile, jonathan is telling me about how excited he is to give me my welcome home presents and is trying to jump at every opportunity for us to go over there as soon as people leave. he also keeps telling me that he is excited about it because one of the gifts he made himself and it was really special to him-its nothing really expensive or anything. because he was so anxious, he had me open a card he had written for me while i was still eating. finally, i decide that i guess i could be done and just wrapped up the rest of my sandwich and we walked over to the ledge. he had me put everything down, including my camera, and opened up his little shopping back that held my gifts.

he first gave me a t-shirt that he had designed for his youth group. he had mentioned it a while ago and i was excited to finally have gotten it. he had me close my eyes for the next gift. i did so gladly because this is how jonathan likes to give gifts. its more fun than wrapping paper anyway :). when opened my eyes, he had placed a car charger for my phone in my hands. he told me he wanted me to have it because, since i'll finally have a car at school, he wants to be able to be there for me and protect me any time i need him. again, he had me close my eyes and placed a journal in my hands. i flipped it open as he was telling me that it was a collection of his thoughts and prayers for me while i was gone. he prayed for me everyday while i was gone and was going to pray for me for the rest of my life. i loved it and gave him a huge hug and told him how i couldn't wait to read it. i thought that was it. i thought that was the big gift he was excited about.

but then he said "and the next gift i have for you" and went on to explain how much he missed me over the two months while we were apart and how he loves me and never wants us to be apart again, how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, as he lowers himself to one knee and asks me to marry him!!! i was so overwhelmed and it was all such a blur after that- all i remember is that i immediately blurt out "YES!" as i lunged on him to give him a big hug...of course, the white bling of a sparkling diamond in the box he was holding caught my eye on the way! i gave him a good squeeze for about a minute, hanging on his neck mumbling who knows what along with "oh my gosh's" and all. after awhile, i heard jonathan say "can i put the ring on you now?"

it is absolutely gorgeous! he picked it out all by himself and there couldn't possibly be a more perfect ring for me out there! my hand was shaking from adrenaline i guess when he put it on...i was in shock and it was so surreal. i hardly remember what all went on in the minutes following, but i made sure i had someone take a picture of us right away and then we wandered around the park on cloud 9 just talking about everything.

but oh, the story continues! we later leave for ruby falls and enjoy that together. i was amazed that my ring could still sparkle in a dark cave! anyway, we finished wandering around and finally got in the car and started heading back. we stopped at olive garden along the way and picked up some chicken parmesan to go, i had no idea why it was to go. we had gone to olive garden for our first date. we end up at his sister jessica and brother in law's place where jonathan had them set up tea candles and 4 dozen roses everywhere with romantic music playing and everything. it was so beautiful. so we had a private romantic dinner. jonathan tried moving the vase of roses over a bit because he thought they were getting burned and accidentally spilled the water, but it was kind of funny in a way and it didn't spoil anything (just so jonathan knows).

we finally got back to my place and i had to drag my mom downstairs after she changed out of her pjs to tell her the news! becca and her date michael came home some time after that and she flipped out...it was the best reaction ever. the next day i had to keep it a secret at church so i could get together with the girls later that night and tell them the good news!

its been crazy the past few days trying to call everyone and let them know. we're working on a date and already checking out reception venues and everything. its funny how new this is all to me. i don't know how to be engaged. its one of those things you can only learn by doing i guess. as for now, its still sinking in. i can't believe that i am engaged to such a loving, wonderful man who makes me laugh and couldn't make me happier.