Another one bites the dust...

So, there is no really comfortable way to come out and say this, so I’ll just go straight to it: DJ asked me to marry him Friday afternoon :::smiles and blushes:::

We started ring hunting in March and wrapped it up in April. I started my initial ring search with the internet, because, hello Google images! I also became much more cognizant of my friends rings and rings I saw on other women. I wanted something more antique, yet sturdy enough to withstand my klutzy-ness. A friend of mine’s asscher cut diamond sparked my interest, but I wanted to try on all sorts of stuff before selecting a ring.

Oh, yes, by the way, I was involved in the ring selection. DJ wanted it to be a ring we both liked, and didn’t know where to begin so he asked me to participate.

I spent a few months perusing websites like www.antiqueengagementrings.com (still a favorite!) and Google imaging rings. When we went to try on rings, I insisted on purchasing a ring from a shop on Main Street instead of a mall chain. Call me a local-yokel, but I like to give the little shops business when I can (or DJ) can! Main Street shops keep our historic main streets alive :::ok, I’ll get off the soapbox now:::

We stumbled into, I’m not kidding you, “The Jewelry Studio”, (no, really, that is its name. Innovative, huh?) on Main Street on St. Patrick’s Day and were instantly drawn to some of the simpler pieces. The salesman we spoke to happened to also be the designer of those pieces and the owner of the store, and expressed enthusiasm for working with us. We left the first store with a good feeling, but I wanted to see what anyone else up and down the street had to offer.
Over the next two weekends we checked out the other stores, but kept coming back to the Jewelry Studio to look at the first ring again. By early April we were sold, and it was up to DJ to work with the jeweler to decide stone size and quality.

Then I looked at our summer calendar and realized that there wasn’t a free weekend between mid-May and Labor Day weekend and had a bit of a meltdown. When would DJ have time to propose!?

I’d like to think I kept my shit together getting through the summer lineup of events, which were very fun by the way! But every Sunday night I’d get a little bummed out about the lack of left hand shiny.

Once DJ’s condo sold two weeks ago, house stuff started falling together hot and heavy. We decided to build a house, which means (as you know) that as of August 31, when we close on the sale of the condo, we are homeless for three months. Ahh, the apartment living reprise. Hopefully they’ll start digging foundation for our house on September 1.

So last Friday DJ came into my office and mentioned that we needed to meet the builder on our lot to discuss grading. As a budding gardener, I’m concerned about long term landscaping, so was eager to meet the builder there. I left work a bit early, and met DJ out there at about 4:15pm. I should add that it was hot hot HOT. Like 92, which at this altitude and despite the lack of humidity is HOT. It feels like the sun is searing your skin instantly.

DJ beat me to the lot, and got out of his truck to walk around on it with me. We hiked around and I got annoyed with the contractor for being late (did I mention it was HOT!). DJ points to this brown box under a flowering weed and asks what it is, and I’m like “babe, its construction debris from when the built the house next door… now what would you say to a smaller deck and a larger lower patio; maybe in pavers?”

He’s like, “uhh… ok.” And we keep hiking around the lot. Finally we come back to about the same spot and he picks up what I think is a filter or some piece of rubbish and hands it to me, saying “I really think you should look at this”…

Dun dun dun, ENGAGEMENT! And fater about 5 minutes of hugging and kissing we went back to discussing lot grading. Yep. Because we are romantic. And practical.

The ring is an asscher cut. I have no idea what size it is, but it is perfect. It looks great on my little-smokey sausage fingers. I love the mirror within a mirror effect of an asscher and its symmetry. The band is platinum, and a more square shape, which is (for me) more comfortable than a round band. As DJ said in April when we finalized that this was the ring for me, “it’s basically sweatpants for your hand.”

I’m happy to say that it is comfortable enough for this no-jewelry-to-bed girl to have slept in since I received it. Now DJ just needs to insure it and we’re good to go!

I took the photos using the bouquet I caught at Katie’s wedding a week before DJ asked me to marry him. Nice aim Kate!