It's A Wonderful Life

I'll just get right to it: for those wonderful loved ones of mine who haven't yet heard the news, Daniel proposed to me last night. And I said yes. :) We don't have a date set yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Storytime? Yes, I think so...

************

Prologue

In order for you to have a well-balanced appreciation for this story, I have to back up a little bit and lay down some plot exposition.

One night, back when Daniel and I were still in high school, we went to Taco Bell with a group of friends to grab a bite after church. I was having a conversation with someone else, but I was vaguely aware of the fact that Danny was keeping himself entertained by handing out little hot sauce packets to our friends. Have you seen the ones Taco Bell has? They have little messages on them...like so:




He handed one out to a girl that said "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine", and he handed one to a guy that said "The feeling's mutual", and then he came to my table and interrupted my conversation with a most fervent, "Ashley! Ashley! Hey Ashley! Look over here! Hey! Ashley! Ashley!"

Finally I turned from the friend I was talking to and, rolling my eyes, asked him what was so urgent. When I turned to face him, he was on one knee in front of me, holding a packet of hot sauce that said "Will you marry me?" He didn't say anything, but just cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow with an impish look that said, "Well...?"

Now, truth be told, I had a MAD crush on Daniel back then. and I was thrilled even by the joke. But I wasn't about to let on. So I tossed my hair and said in the most cavalier fashion I could muster, "When, this weekend? I think I'm washing my hair then..."

Would you like to know a secret? I covertly swiped the packet off the table before I left that night, and I kept it until the day I lost it when I moved out this year.

Needless to say, the Taco Bell hot sauce has been a running gag between Daniel and me for the better part of our relationship. Every time we go there, he sneaks one onto my plate, and sometimes he leaves them for me to find in odd places around the house.

And now that you have the background story...


Chapter 1

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to Daniel that it might be nice to go out on a date one night during the upcoming four-day weekend I would have off work over Thanksgiving. He agreed and promised to take me somewhere nice on Saturday. As the day approached, he kept asking me if I was looking forward to our date, and telling me he was going to make sure it was special.

(I suppose that should have tipped me off...but whatever.)

So last night, he took me out for dinner at Benihana. This was especially special because Benihana was where he took me for our first Valentine's Day together.

He wore a collared shirt and tie and looked especially nice. I wasn't quite as dressy...but I still think we pulled off the "special occasion" look alright together.





Chapter 2

After we left the restaurant, Daniel told me that he didn't want to just end the evening with dinner, so he thought maybe we could do something else before he took me home.

He drove me to Addison Circle Park (which is one of my very favorite places, although he says he didn't know that...) and took a walk around the water gardens and down a paved path through the park called the "Cotton Belt Route". It had the names of Texas cities set in the concrete (though I'm still not entirely sure why).

We walked up to where the amphitheater is highlighted by lamp posts and he danced with me under the streetlights, even though there was no music.

Then, we sat at the edge of the amphitheater, and I remarked that Addison is such a nice town...very clean, very safe..."Sure," Daniel replied, "it's great. The only drawback, though, is that you can't see the stars. Even on a clear night like this." I told him that was no problem...any time you want to see stars, you can just drive an hour or so north and find them there...just like we did on our first date.

I had no idea that I had just given him the cue he needed for the unavoidable segue...


Chapter 3

"Since you mention it," Daniel said, "I was thinking that for the next phase in our date night, we can do one of two things: we can either drive to Oklahoma for a little bit and see some real stars, or..." Daniel moved from his place by my side and knelt in the grass in front of me, "...we can spend the rest of the night making phone calls to announce our engagement."

And with that, he reached into his pocket and held out one of those familiar little orange packets, bearing the message "Will you marry me?" I gasped and trembled and sniffled and made all manner of unintelligible noises before I could actually muster up an articulate reply. Once I did, all I could say was, "I like the second one."

Then I took the packet from him, and I could tell that there was something inside. Yep...that was my ring. (I know. Ridiculously, romantically original, right??) I'm not sure how long it took him to get the inside of the packet all clean...but it was pretty tidy in there. And WAY cooler than your standard ring box, if you ask me.


Prologue

Daniel and I are looking at the calendar and we're thinking maybe early April...we'll let you know. Also, can anyone recommend a good cake designer?

(Also, for anyone interested, more pictures can be found here.)


************

And on that wonderfully happy note, I bid you all a warm and lovely evening.

Until next time, I remain,
Quintessentially yours,
~Ashley Michele~