a VERY important DATE

Today is a good day because it's the anniversary of two very important events.  First, it's the third anniversary of the day I became a mother.  Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea.  I love you.

Second, it's the seventh anniversary of the day Dustin and I got engaged.

Details?  Okay, here's the juice.

To understand the full story, I need to back track to a few weeks before January 17, 2005.  I believe the date was December 23, 2004.  Dustin and I were out to dinner with a friend of ours, Ashley.  Things had sort of "happened" with Dustin and me.  And when I say happened I don't mean in a sexual way, just in a way that one day he was just my friend and I thought nothing more of him to all of the sudden one day, out of the blue {literally} I knew I was meant to marry him.

During dinner I half jokingly said we should all go look at rings.  As in engagement rings.  And, of course, Dustin and Ashley were on board.  So, we hit up the mall and checked out all the different jewelry stores.

I have unusually small hands.  And, because I've played the violin since I was six years old, I bite my fingernails.  In other words, I have ugly hands.  Because of this, I've always been weary of wearing a wedding ring, and always knew I wanted to pick out my ring because, if not, I was afraid I wouldn't like how it looked.

Luckily, Dustin entertained my weirdness and didn't have any preconceived ideas about surprising his future wife with a ring HE and ONLY he picked out.  I know some guys like that.

Anyway, after looking at a few stores I was getting frustrated at the thought of never finding a ring I not only liked, but that looked good on my short and stubby fingers.

We decided to look at one more store before heading home.  We walked in and said hello to the salesman.  Dustin and I started browsing, our heads down looking inside the display cases, when all the sudden we both stopped and pointed to a ring and said "Let's look at that one."

True story.

I put it on my finger and I just knew it was the ring.  It was everything I wanted.  It was simple with a touch of a vintage/antique look, but not boring.  Best of all, it was custom made which meant no one would have one just like it.  It was absolutely perfect.

Then reality set it.  My mind was racing with thoughts like, "Crap, I found the ring of my dreams and I'm pretty sure I'm suppose to marry Dustin, but I haven't quite figured things out yet."  And, "What happens if we walk away from this ring and then when we are ready to get married it's gone?"

We left the store, but didn't get too far before returning.  Dustin bought the ring that night.  But, there was a catch.  The ring just had a CZ.  Dustin said he would buy a real diamond later and propose when he felt it was right.

As the weeks went by, I tried my best never to ask to see my ring.  It was so pretty, that whenever I was at his house, I couldn't help but ask to wear it.

Then, one night {January 17 to be exact} Dustin and I were chillin' at his place when I asked if I could see the ring.  He said  yes, and went into his room to get it.  He came out and handed me the ring and said, "You can look at the ring, but this time I don't want it back."

I looked at him and smiled and probably said something like, "No way!?"  Then I'm pretty sure he asked me to marry him, and my oh so romantic response was, "Of course I will, ya geek!"

He then told me about the night he went back to the jeweler and bought the diamond.  It was the same night my friend Karen and I went out to dinner and a movie.  Those two were so sneaky.  After he bought the diamond, Dustin drove to my parents' house and asked my mom and dad if he could marry me.

We were married six months later.

{P.S. Enter my GIVEAWAY here!}