{ENGAGED}

{12.23.14} My mom had gotten tickets to the Nutcracker since Kelsey has never been! We went to see it with the Phoenix Symphony and Ballet Arizona....holy cow it was stunning! The music was outstanding and not to mention the professional level of all the dancers, I was in heaven! We drove back and I got dropped off at the Bowlers. Robby and I got in the car and he asked me where we should go grab dinner. Which is something we always do, deciding in the car last minute :) So I suggested Zupas and so off we went! We got it to go and got back in the car, and Robby still wouldn't tell me where we were going/what we were doing! I started guessing in my mind, maybe that tiny mountain we walked up on his "last night" in Gilbert (before we started our long distance)? But he said he had hook-ups so what does that mean?? We drove back into his neighborhood and then into a gated neighborhood section. "We are going to someones house!" I was so confused, once we pulled up he said how this was a family friend with a boat. (Val Vista Lakes has houses on the man-made lake, it is so darling). We were going to have a picnic on a boat and look at the Christmas lights on the houses! Ah dream date!!! We walked through the house and the boat was all lit with Christmas lights! He had blankets in the car and so we cuddled on the boat and set a blanket down. We ate some delicious sandwiches and dipped them in tomato soup. Robby parked us in the middle of the lake after we had rode around for a bit. He had a backpack with him as well and said he had some surprises in it! I was thinking he couldn't be proposing tonight it would be so obvious to put the ring in his "back-pack of surprises" :) Well he pulled out surprises one at a time, the first was a bottle of Martinelli's. Sadly we couldn't open it haha, but it was so adorable. He was being so romantic and it just kept getting better. Next he pulled out his speakers and started to play our playlist. He took me by the hand and asked me to dance. He is so cute! And dreamy!! I was telling him how amazing and special all this was and he kept hinting "Well just wait! Pretty soon there will be a night a bit more special!" Our song came on and he asked me if he could tell me what he loved about me. He talked about how sweet and loving I was, and "Well I actually have one more surprise and before I could react he was down on one knee with a little black box in his hand. My heart couldn't handle this! It was actually happening! He was PROPOSING! He asked me to marry him and I think I interrupted whispering "Yes! Yes! YESSS!" through my all my tears. I couldn't help it I was bawling like a baby :) Well he couldn't really hear me but he got up and hugged me and kissed me! He showed me the ring that I couldn't really see through all my tears either. In fact my first thought was "Oh he picked a different one than what I tried on!" When it was actually my dream ring! I put it on and we couldn't stop saying "Oh my goodness, we are really engaged!!!" I felt like I was in a perfect fairytale. He said how he knew how I wanted it to just be us two so we stayed on that boat and hugged and kissed. We talked about when we thought we'd get married and he even brought up what names I like to name our kids :) Robby talked about how nervous he was all day and how he was pacing the house. :) My heart could've stopped it was SO full of love and pure joy! I stared at my perfect ring and we joked about our friends hiding in the water singing around the boat. We cuddled some more and let it all sink in. Pretty soon I was wishing I had my phone so I could call my mom and family! I wanted to tell someone so bad! But I left my phone in the car so Robby said lets just keep enjoying the moment then we could go call everyone. He started driving toward the dock at the clubhouse and said we should get out for a minute and go look at the Christmas lights on the hill. Once we got a little closer Robby said "Ok, ok I have one more surprise...see those people standing on the dock? That's our families!" I broke down again, crying tears of joy of course! I couldn't believe it, it was beyond perfection! I distinctly remember feeling like I was in a movie...stuff like this doesn't happen in real life?! We pulled up close and the Bowlers were all there with my parents. They cheered and I was shaking and still all teary eyed! We hugged everyone and Paige's friend Sara took pictures of it all. We told the story a little bit, then Joey, Kelsey and William got there! Everyone got on the boat and we told the story in more detail while we enjoyed the Christmas lights. I called Rochelle and Chelsea but only Rochelle answered I think Chelsea text me cause she was at work. Then once we rode around for a little while longer we went back to the clubhouse and had hot chocolate and talked some more. Robby and I rode the boat back and I texted my friends in the car. We got back to his house and had a dance party :) I love that about the Bowlers...the spontaneous dance parties are the best! A handful of Robby's close friends came over and we told the story again :) It never gets old! It was a night I could never forget! I love Robert Marshall Bowler so much! And I get to be his eternal companion!!!