96 Days--I said yes!

 
I imagine that I will write on the topic of Valentine's again before the day has come and gone but tonight the day reminds me of Shawn and I. (I know. Duh.) But, more specifically, the day he proposed to me.

  Shawn and I dated for a year before he ever even considered the Army. We broke up because we were at two very different paths in our life. It was after I found out he joined the Army, and the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about him, that I knew I had to contact him again. We ended up meeting for breakfast and it was quite ridiculous because he was forty-five minutes late. But I never left the parking lot, I had to see him. He called me apologizing and told me he'd be right there. I went inside and got a table. The first time seeing him again was like a rush of memories and feelings and emotions, and not all of them very good. But all I kept thinking was "Damn he looks good." Lol. We caught up, very casual small talk, although I imagine anyone who watched us could tell how nervous we were. We left the diner and went to a bookstore where we stood outside (sweating no less) and talked about what went wrong. I confronted him about things that I was told after we broke up. After the conversation winded down we left. And I was so torn. I was so happy to just be near him but was really afraid of being hurt. We talked off and on for a few days until he told me to meet him at Denny's. I knew before he even got to the restaurant that he was going to tell me that he didn't want to be with me.

  So here I am, sitting in Denny's Diner at like 9:00 at night having to ask for extra napkins because I'm already blubbering. He texts me and tells me he's almost there and I'm really trying to clean it up and pull myself together. He walked in and the conversation didn't last very long, he didn't want me. We left and he walked me to my car and as I turned to give him a hug and a moment passes and he tells me to get in my car. And I told him "No, I'm not going to be the one to walk away this time."So he pulled me to him and kissed me. At this point I'm in complete shock, in fact I can't even tell you if I kissed him back. He lets me go and walks away. My knees are cracking beneath me and I somehow end up in the car sobbing. I don't think I left the parking lot for ten or fifteen minutes. I texted him that night and asked why he kissed me and his text said verbatim (I still have it.): "Because I love you, because I wanted the last thing between us to be something good, because I don't want it to be the last thing between us." I am completely confused, I just had the man blitz from Hades. We didn't talk for a few days but I did end up convincing him to go on a couple dates with me, nothing crazy, just enjoy one another's company before he left for basic training.

  Well my plan worked. He fell in love with me again. :) Mwhahahaha! Love you baby.

  Fast forward a couple weeks and he tells me that he doesn't want me to wait for him through basic, that it wasn't fair to ask that of me. After I received that text I went to his place, walked into his room and told him, I was like "Look I love you and I'm willing to wait for you if you want me to because I can't imagine being without you. Either you can take that and run with it or you can choose to not accept it. But if you choose to not accept it then you will not hear from me again. I don't need an answer tonight, take your time, but don't string me along." And I left. The next day he sent me the lyrics to Weezer's "I Want You To."

  Fast forward four and a half months. April 3rd and 4th of 2010. At this point we haven't seen one another in four months but I've sent him daily letters. To the point where I was known as the girl around town who "kissed the envelope" because I would kiss every letter before I sent it to Shawn. We had two awesome days together where we talked about marriage and life and the future and everything. It is probably one of my favorite times with Shawn, that weekend was truly perfect. A month later May 5th I made a 36 hour trip to see him graduate from Infantry Basic Training, truly one of the proudest days of my life. A couple weeks later I made the trip again to see him on a long weekend. After Basic everything was in limbo, we didn't know where he was going or even when.

  A few weeks later goes by and my mom is taking me to work since my truck broke down and I am having a pretty awful day. Shawn calls me out of the blue which always helped lift my spirits and tells me he has a surprise being mailed to me and that it should arrive today. So with that I go to work and my mom ends up calling me and telling me that my surprise was here. I was crazy busy and asked her to bring it inside, well my friend Sean and I were just finishing up a party and clearing plates when I came out of the kitchen and there was this soldier in the lobby and for a second I didn't even recognize him and then....I did. I came running out of the bar and into his arms and just started crying, it was quite ridiculous. But one of the best 40 seconds I've ever experienced.

  I found out that he had two weeks home before he moved to Alaska. And during this time I told him that I wanted to be where ever he was, no matter where that was. And I don't remember where we were driving to but he turned and looked at me and was like "Really?!" And I told him yea, that I didn't want to be away from him for any longer than I had to. On the last day he's in Florida I'm actually quite upset because he hasn't proposed yet and I'm already picking out colors and dresses. Lol. And we're getting ready for his flight to board and he's sitting next to me and I can tell he's getting nervous. And finally he ends up on one knee and looks at me and tells me how much he loves me and if "Would you like to get married?" My response? "To you?" And he pulled me off the chair and I said yes and we kissed.

  A couple months later I went to Alaska to visit him and we went out to a nice restaurant where he ordered champagne and had my real engagement ring put in the glass. We received rounds of applause and congratulations throughout the restaurant and it, too, was a beautiful moment. On October 20th he was approved for leave to get married. And I had a wedding to plan and prepare is 30 days. The wedding was beautiful and my husband looked handsome as ever.

  Shawn really is my Prince Charming and I am beyond thankful that I have such a wonderful man to spend my life with. Now I am just looking forward to getting him home and continuing to write our love story.

  Hope you enjoyed the super long winded story of how Shawn and I ended up getting married. :) Hope you liked reminiscing with me baby. Can't wait to hear your voice. <3