Engaged!

Adam and I got engaged yesterday!! I’ve been walking on air ever since! It’s been a whirlwind of activity since I got here and I have a ton of pictures to upload. I just wanted to log in and tell you all! He asked me yesterday afternoon at this botanical garden. We got to a secluded area where there was a little fountain and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was a little suspicious when we went to the gardens that he might ask me… but he kind of took me by surprise!
Isn't it gorgeous?! I love it. He really outdid himself. It's exactly what I would have picked. He's a brave man because we only looked at rings together once online for about 15 minutes. We were both picking out the same ones when we looked together, so I figured he'd probably pick the right one!

Apparently he’s had the ring for a while and has been carrying it around in his pocket – even when he was out to visit me in DC in July, he had the ring in his pocket the whole time and was just waiting for the right time! He said he was debating waiting till we were in Hawaii, since the beach is so beautiful and would be the obvious place to propose, but I’m really glad he didn’t wait.

I’m glad we got to be here with his family to celebrate and I know they were happy we are here! We went out to dinner at this Brazilian barbecue place last night and drank some wine and ate a ton of food and today his mom had his whole extended family over for brunch. I met about 70 people today – and that’s not even all of them! Everyone was asking when and where the wedding is. We haven’t figured anything out yet. I’m just trying to enjoy the engagement for right now!

I’m so excited and happy to finally get engaged to this man. We’ve been through a LOT of stuff together the last almost five years. It’s brought us so close together and I just can’t imagine my life without him.

This picture is actually the spot where he asked me! Afterwards, we walked around the rest of the gardens - both of us were giddy and just enjoying the moment. Then we decided to go back and take a picture at the spot where he proposed.

This is another spot in the gardens after the proposal.

And check out this rose!

This is at the Brazilian restaurant where we had dinner - 18 different kinds of meat they bring around to your table to try! It was definitely an experience ... we sat there and watched Adam's two brothers Blake and Garret eat their way through all of them. And Adam's dad held his own too - he said he's still not feeling well 24 hours later. Blake and Garret weren't feeling so hot this morning, but by brunch-time, they were chowing down again... they are big boys. Blake played college football and weighs 250 lbs and they are both about 6'5".

Here's the whole family at the restaurant. From left to right dad Greg, Garret, Inga (Blake's girlfriend), Blake, our meat-carver Juan, me, Adam and mom Diane.

Last one for tonight - me, Adam, Blake and Inga at a local high school football game Friday night. That was a LONG day. I was up at 3:45 am to drive to Baltimore to catch my flight and didn't end the night until around midnight. One of the teams playing was the school where Adam was in high school.

Ok, no more for tonight. I have a ton of stories and pictures from the rest of the trip, but I'll put them up later. Hope y'all are having as much fun as I am!