The Engagement

I noticed the fever late on Monday afternoon…sitting in my office, I was shivering under two layers of clothing while everyone else was comfortable in short sleeves. It finally hit me that I could be getting sick and asked a coworker to check my forehead. I did, in fact, have a fever – though I worked through the rest of the day I could tell this wasn’t going to turn out well.

It happened to be the busiest week at work and home that we had in a long time. Two off-site events for work and a plan for every night – dinner with the Waggoner children, concert, dinner with Mike’s parents then my dad and his brothers…all of which I missed. Why? Because it turns out…I had the SWINE! Five straight days of laying in bed, drinking Gatorade and eating very minimally (which you know, for me, is a challenge) I was finally feeling better on Saturday (10/3) – enough that we were able to check out an open house and grab a smoothie.

My appetite was back and as I prepared for bed that night, Mike offered to make me breakfast in bed the next day – anything I wanted since I was finally hungry again. I certainly took advantage…ordering pancakes, hash browns, bacon, fruit, scrambled eggs and coffee. Mike got up early to start cooking and left me to sleep until around 10:30a when he came in to the room with a tray full of plates (literally…there were like 7 plates, parts of each hanging off the edge of the tray) and a dozen roses. I never get roses - and I don’t ask for them, so to be clear, that’s not a complaint! – so I knew something was up. Placed in the roses was a note, which I grabbed immediately. Three lines in, I knew what was going on …and sitting in front of my face was the most beautiful piece of jewelry I have ever seen…held by a shaking, nervous Mike, asking me to marry him. While we both knew this is where we were headed and likely soon, since we had discussed getting married in fall of 2010 – I was totally surprised! I said YES and we started making the necessary phone calls and text messages required for such an occasion. And that day, Sunday, October 4^th, 2009, is where the journey begins!