"She Said Yes," or The Boy Who Couldn't Wait

It's been almost a week and half later, and I still can't believe it! So much has happened since we got engaged, and I can't wait to share it with you! But first, I want to tell the story of how Ben proposed. Let me start by saying that everyone in the state of Alabama (and some in other places) knew about this ring...except for me. He just couldn't help it- he was so excited! He had planned to get the ring the day after Christmas and propose New Years Eve. Then, as a surprise Christmas gift, I gave Ben tickets to go see the Saints play the Panthers New Years Day. At that point he changed his plant to propose after the game, dinner, and a carriage ride Sunday night in New Orleans.

He then decided he wanted to do it before we went on the trip and decided to do it at a nice restaurant on the water at Alabama Point (which I still haven't been to Ben-hint hint!). I decided to come down a day early, and well, he just couldn't wait! He told me when I got there that we were going to go out and that he wanted me to get dressed and ready. He asked me if I wanted to go to The Hangout (a local restaurant/bar in Gulf Shores) to have a few drinks. I said yes and we headed on down to the beach.

When we got there, he asked me if I wanted to walk on the beach first. We hadn't done that in a while and I was excited to go. So we took off in one direction, stopping along the way to admire some lights left over from Christmas decorations and watch a few fireworks, then kept on walking. All along the walk, Benjamin was telling me how much he loved me and why (which really isn't out of the ordinary for my wonderful man), then stopped and hugged and kissed me. He said "Courtney, can I ask you a question?" To which I responded "What Ben?" (Clueless...) Then in the most perfect moment in history, my knight in (very tall) shining armor got down on one knee, pulled out the most beautiful ring, and asked me to marry him. In all the scenarios I could have dreamt up, nothing could have compared to the most perfect, intimate, and romantic proposal in the place near where we met.

So the boy who couldn't wait surprised the girl who thought she had it all planned out. Oh, and of course I said yes :)