March 30, 2013, is still the day I remember as the day I have felt more loved than I ever remembered.  It was the Saturday of Easter weeked.  We buried my Granny the day before on Good Friday, so it had been a long weekend already.  Ray and I sat with his parents Friday evening and talked about how special a lady my Granny was and how she brought so many people to the church.

     Saturday morning of March 30, Ray asked if I wanted to go over to one of the houses his parents were remodeling with him.  He said his mom needed some help.  I found out later he really thought that I would sleep in and say no...but, I didn't.  Of course I went with him.  We picked his mom up from the house and were riding around running errands.  We passed the Texas College of Cosmetology and Ray asked if I wanted to get a pedicure, his mom said I should get a facial.  I was like, no, no, I just want to hang out with Ray.  Hahaha....apparently that was putting a kink in their plans for the morning.

     So, eventually Ray and I made it back home and landed on the couch about 2:00pm.  Nap time (as most of you know, this is a very special time in Ray's day)!!!!  We both fell asleep.  I one-eye woke up about an hour later and it appeared that Ray had gotten up off the couch.  I closed that eye again and woke up with both eyes at about 4pm.  Ray was definitely gone.  Okay, no biggie.  I called him.  He said he was at the grocery store getting a few things and would be back shortly.  About 30 minutes later, he showed back up with some milk, a few lemons, and one or two other things.  Albertons is about a mile away, haha.  Weird.

     I didn't really bother to worry about where he had been.  I actually thought to myself, "don't ask questions, maybe he is doing something nice for you."  Shortly after, Ray got a text from his mom and said, "Mom wants us all to dress nice for dinner at the house tonight.  Jeff has his camera and we're going to take some pictures."

     Off we went to the Grothaus house.  The whole family was there: Me, Ray, Jessica (with Landry), Jeff, Logan, Meghan, Eddie, Nicky, Jennifer, and Ed...gathered around the long wooden table, glass of wine in hand.  We finished dinner and Jennifer told Ray to hand me an Easter egg.  He handed it to me and Jennifer started talking about my Granny and that they wanted to give me something special to remember her by.  It was a beautiful gold and silver cross with diamonds.  I was touched.  THEN, they gave Ray and I a leather-bound Family Bible.  The big ones you display and keep at your house.  It smelled so good.  I felt so grateful that they did all this in rememberance of my Granny.  Then, Ray handed me a card.

     The card said so many thoughtful and relevant things.  And he added his own words at the end.  Once I finished reading what he had written, I knew something unforgettable was happening.  I looked up from the card with tears in my eyes and Ray had gotten down on one knee.  I looked into his welled up eyes while he spoke the sweetest words to me about Easter and breathing new life and re-writing history with him and asking me to be his wife.  I don't think I even spoke.  But, I sure did nod YES!  I will never forget the overwhelming happiness and love I felt in that moment.  

           There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. I knew that I had found the one. Now came the hard part.

To me there is nothing more important than timing and for this the time had to be perfect. With Tiffany growing increasingly anxious and possibly even perturbed about when I was going to “pop” the question it became harder and harder to plan, where it would be a surprise.

I had been shopping for a ring for quite some time, waffling on what would be the right one because it has to be perfect right?! Of course Tiffany had given me plenty of ideas along the way of what she might like. I even found a card from a ring store that had the price, ring description and size on it at one point…. It excited me that she felt as strongly as I did on where our relationship was going. But it also put some pressure on me to make it right. After finding the ring it was time to find the time and place. As Tiffany mentioned her Granny had just passed so we were in Ballinger with all the family and I wouldn’t have drawn it up this way but the moment felt right to ask her Dad for her hand in marriage. I feel very welcomed by her family so it wasn’t hard to ask but I can’t say I wasn’t nervous. Once I had their permission it was time to plan and if anyone knows me, they know that I fly by the seat of my pants at most times. Planning doesn’t come naturally to me. That’s where my Mom comes in.

I informed her of my intentions and my lack of plan and she came up with some great suggestions. I think she had several that I shot down before she had the suggestion of the family bible and a nice necklace that would be presented in remembrance of her Granny. I liked it. The week had been very emotional and I felt this would be very appropriate and also provide a great intro to ask the question. Having all my family there was special. Fooling everyone into dressing nice for “family pictures” was even more special. (everyone should know how painful family photos can be)

Honestly the rest was a blur. I think I murmured some words somehow and apparently they were the right ones because she said “yes”. I don’t think I’ve ever been embraced by my family more than in that moment. It was the most joyous moment I’ve experience.

The following days were exciting. The phone calls and text messages from all the wonderful people we have in our life were special and meant so much! But what melted my heart was one thing.

               It must have been a day or two later. Tiffany and I were at home when I looked over to see her crying and nodding her head. She was watching a video of the proposal that my Mom had captured. Of course I teased her at the moment but deep down my heart was melting because I got to watch her say yes again!