The Woman of my Dreams!
"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the das of her life... Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the years to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her house hold and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." ~Proverbs 31
Since childhood I have dreamt of marrying and starting a family. I was the kid who was sure that I would get married by the age 18. Many ex-girlfriends later and a broken and then re-broken heart, I decided I would be happier single. That was a couple years ago and about the same time that I began to hang out with Anna. At first I wasn't interested, just kinda fell into a casual friendship. We began hanging out and then hanging out more. Anna's the kind of woman who makes you feel like you are really something special and that you must do something really important. I found myself calling her or hanging out with her every day. We would go on bike rides down town, watch movies, hang out with friends and laugh all the time. I quickly realized that I had found a friend who was more random and crazy than I! Our friendship grew with the passing months slowly but surely. I was really 'girlfriend shy' and terrified of entering into another relationship. 6 months into our friendship and everyone was asking, 'So are you guys dating or what?!' I was able to stuff it for another 6 until I couldn't resist our developing friendship any longer. I asked Anna to begin dating me just before Christmas last year. I was still half-way terrified that dating would ruin our otherwise amazing friendship. Well, it hasn't been the case! Our friendship has just grown as it has been seasoned with deeper love and compassion for one another.
Which brings me to this weekend in New York City! We flew out to shoot my web-designer's wedding on Friday. Anna and Brooke came out as well to play in the city. I did my best to be secretive and didn't even tell Simon I was planning on proposing until Friday's wedding was coming to a close. The next morning we all woke up at the crack of dawn for a morning trip to Battery Park to watch the sunrise and get engaged! Anna pretended her best to not know what was going on. We sat down on a bench and I told her my heart for her and told her that she is the woman of my dreams. Anna is my best friend in the whole world and a true Proverbs 31 woman. I gave her a New York City scarf and wrapped inside was a little red box with a cream colored ribbon. She opened the box and I asked her to marry me! She said something like, 'Ahhhh..... You're asking me to marry you?!' And then she handed the box back to me and told me that I'm supposed to get down on one knee. Oops! I was so worked up... I kinda forgot about the rules! We have been having an amazing time being engaged and hanging out in the city since Saturday. We are flying home tomorrow and looking forward to seeing family and friends. Everybody is excited and some people are surprised, but mostly everybody agrees that it is just the right time and that we are right for each other.
I am so much looking forward to discovering and knowing Anna more over the coming years. We have some awesome adventures ahead that we don't even know about yet. I am excited to start a family, continue our friendship, and learn more deeply the way of love.