Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Story of Us - Our Engagement

I thought I'd continue the story of us sharing our engagement story.  You can check out the abridged version here but there is a longer version too that's a little funny, and a little sad at the same time. 

We had this cruise planned for about a year. It was during Valentine's Day week of 2011. We were going to Nassau, St. Thomas, & St. Maarten and Joe's sister Melissa and her husband Emery were going to come with us.  This was our second cruise together and I was excited that another couple would be joining us!  They had never been on a honeymoon or anything so we were really excited that they would be able to experience their first big vacation with us!



I was really hoping and praying that Joe was going to finally propose on this trip.  We had been living together since August of 2009 and I was more than ready to be married let alone just be engaged!  I had a good feeling, but I honestly did not know for certain if it would happen on this vacation, a celebration of our 3 year anniversary and Valentine's Day, I mean you couldn't ask for a better time to be proposed to!

We flew down to Orlando the day before embarkation got a few drinks and dinner, and went to bed early so that we could be up and ready in time to take the 50 mile trip to Canaveral where we got on the ship.  So far we were having an absolute blast!  Once we got to the port we got in line and before you can even go inside a lady asks for your passport.  Joe and I had passports from our previous cruise, but Melissa and Emery decided to use their birth certificates (which was Ok'd by the travel agent) to board.  Everything went fine until Emery was asked for his ID.  He ended up having the wrong birth certificate, it has to be the one with all of your vital statistics on it, not the commemorative one.  Immediate panic mode set in, it was a Saturday and we had no idea how we were going to get someone to find Emery's certificate and get it down to us.  We called all the family that we could, we spent a few hours trying to make arrangements to get his paperwork, but we just couldn't pull it off.  We ended up boarding at the last possible time that we could and had to leave them at the port.  It was the saddest thing to watch them standing while the entire port was deserted as we left for our vacation. They ended up getting a really nice hotel room for free at the Orlando airport because Southwest felt so terrible for them.


this was our sad faces for Melissa & Emery
then we quickly realized we couldn't let it ruin our vacation

A couple days into the cruise was Valentine's Day.  We were at sea that day traveling from Nassau, our first stop, to St. Thomas, our second.  It was a little cool and cloudy that day but we spent the afternoon on the deck trying to catch some rays before dinner.  We went back to the room to get ready, Joe jumped into the shower while I took a nap.  I got in the shower and while I was in Joe went down to get some roses and a bottle of champagne.  I got out and started getting ready, Joe came back to the room with the Valentine's Day surprises which I thought were really sweet.  I was sitting at the vanity applying my make up and combing my hair, sitting in a pair of shorts and a bra, to my right I look over and Joe is down on one knee, I was totally caught off guard!  And of course I said YES!

please excuse my awful, unpolished fingers, my manicure only lasted like a day...





He told me that Melissa actually had the ring in her carry-on bag the entire time and he had to sneak it from her while we were at port and keep it in his pocket all afternoon until he could get a second to put it away.  I couldn't believe he pulled it off.  I immediately fell in love with my ring.  The diamonds are from the engagement ring and band that my dad gave my mom.  Joe brought it to a local jeweler a year prior in February of 2010 and started working on redesigning it.  I couldn't believe that he took so much time and put so much thought into making my ring special and something I could call my own.  It's not the most romantic story, but it's definitely memorable and one I'll never ever forget!

St. Thomas 
St. Thomas
St. Thomas
St. Thomas
St. Maarten
St. Maarten
 St. Maarten



17 comments:

  1. Aw your hubby is so sweet and you guys are just the cutest!!! Looking at your pictures makes me want to plan a cruise now :)

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  2. Aww what a cute story! That sucks the other couple wasn't able to make it on board but it sounds like it was still a great trip! And how awesome is that ring!? How sweet is he to redesign it for you!!

    <3, Pamela
    sequinsandseabreezes.blogspot.com

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  3. I just loved your story. And girlfriend I so envy your abs :D you guys are the cutest.

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  4. That is just the sweetest story!! Sorry to hear his sister and her husband weren't able to go with you - but at least you guys did really make the most of the trip!! And girl - that body!!!

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  5. That is so sweet that he put so much time and thought into the ring! And damn girl-look at that body!

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  6. oh my - i can't imagine that happening - not being able to go on vacation. I would be so upset!!! However, glad y'all still had a great time - sweet story and great pictures! We LOVE the beach :)

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  7. I love this story and you guys are just precious together!

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  8. You guys look HAWT! But seriously, how did you like the cruise (obviously it was awesome since you got engaged!). My husband and I did a cruise for our honeymoon, and it just wasn't what I was expecting. I did enjoy all our excursions and time off the boat, but the boat itself just seemed so crowded, even though we went during an off-peak time! A lot of sloths, in my opinion! :)

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  9. That is so neat that he put that much thought and work into your ring, how special! What a good looking couple you guys are! :)

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  10. That is a sweet thing to do. Now you have a pice of your parents with you at all times.

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  11. What a sweet story! And I just love that the diamonds have extra meaning! How special!

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  12. awwww this is so sweet! i love your ring, beautiful and meaningful. so sad that your friends didnt come, i would have been so upset but i guess at least they had a mini vacay :(

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  13. Seriously photogenic couple!

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  14. Something similar with the birth certificate happened to me on my first cruise! My birth certificate was a copy and wasn't notarized... I made a million calls and it was determined that I wouldn't be able to go. My hubby's step-dad worked for Delta and went and picked my passport up from my parents house in Michigan and had a flight attendant on a flight to Florida fly it down that same day... Thankfully I got it in time!!

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  15. Your ring is gorgeous! I love this story, so fun to read how people got engaged :) Also, you and your man are a couple of hotties, holy hell!!! ;)

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  16. Gorgeous ring & an absolutely sweet story! :)

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  17. I just wrote this big long comment and it deleted itself. Grrrr! What a beautiful story! So sad about the other couple tho! Beautiful ring and beautiful couple!

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