AT LAST!
Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long (again). I've been getting harassed (and rightly so) that I haven't posted in so long. But what can I say - I'm in love :) Ryder proposed on Thursday March 5 - it was so beautiful! For those of you who haven't heard the story - here it goes!So as many of you know, I was waiting, ever so patiently (ok, maybe not THAT patiently) for Ryder to propose. I knew that he had the ring and it was just a matter of time. He had made it clear that he wanted to surprise me - and surprise me he did! On that Thursday, I had had a Board meeting in Lansing - while driving back to GR, he called and said he had a coupon to go out to this nice restaurant and did I want to go? I told him that I was a little tired from driving all day and that I had my yoga class that night, and so could we maybe go another night. Ryder insisted that we go that night because the "coupon" would expire. Ok, I thought, I'll go.
So after yoga, we went to Leo's (nice Seafood restaurant downtown GR) - I had eaten my dinner salad and our waitress brought our meal. I was picking at mine because the salad was huge and I wasn't feeling very hungry - but then I noticed what looked like writing on my dinner plate. I thought to myself that this was a fancy restaurant and maybe there was some sort of design or quote from a famous chef or something. I asked Ryder if he had any writing on his plate - he said "no" and said I should find out what it said. So I pushed my food around and found a beautiful poem addressed to me written on my plate with the final line being "will you marry me?"
Ryder then pulled out the ring and our waitress brought over champagne and a beautiful pink rose.
It was so awesome! Can't wait to see you all and show you my beautiful engagement ring!
We left for Key West (a vacation we had planned for several months) about a week later - I'm including some pictures from our trip!
Ryder w/ signs about the distance to different parts of the world from the most Southern Point in the US.
Las Tortugas - beautiful island (with an old Fort) in the middle of the ocean. Used to be heavily populated with sea turtles.
Me at Fort Jefferson (Las Tortugas)
Lots of roosters and chickens roam the streets in Key West - this was a handsome little dude I thought!
Ernest Hemmingway's Home when he lived in Key West. 70% of his writing was done here! Also has 50-60 cats on the property - needless to say, Ernest had a BIG thing for cats.
Random doggie on a roof. Reminded me of Cook's old friend Stevie :)
The "No Name Pub" on "No Name Key"
Inside of the No Name Pub - they say that there's 75k stapled, plastered and taped to the walls and ceiling of this place!
Have a great weekend everyone!
