Our Engagement

Tuesday, July 10th, 2018 started off just like any other Tuesday.. just kidding!

We were in the Bahamas, baby!

Okay, okay, let me back up.

July 2018 we went on a vacation to the Bahamas. We arrived Sunday to the Atlantis resort which was on both of our bucket list. We grew up seeing the hotel commercials and couldn’t wait to explore. Little did I know that this special memory was going to turn into the big one!

I like to think I am a pretty good detective and I usually pick up on things. But this time, I had no idea that Josh had a ring as precious cargo. Looking back, there were so many things I could’ve or should’ve picked up on but I am actually glad that I was completely oblivious.

We had settled in to our vacation and were enjoying our time between the waterpark, beach and casino. The night before what would be our proposal, Josh got super grumpy at dinner because I had grabbed his phone trying to use the internet to prove a point. I figured he had had too much sun and too many cocktails so I just let him pout. Turns out, he was bummed because he had been looking up things related to our proposal and he thought I had just seen them. Well, I had not. Hint #1.

We woke up Tuesday morning and headed down to the pool. He told me he had planned dinner for us and I was happy to not ask questions after what had happened the night before. While we were getting ready I mentioned to Josh that I wasn’t going to have time to curl my hair because I still needed to iron my outfit (that he had picked out). He was super sweet telling me to go ahead and curl my hair and that he would iron my outfit. He wasn’t even ready himself but I was happy to let him. Again, I didn’t think anything of it. Hint #2.

I ended up being ready before him and we needed to get cash out for the night. He asked me to go down and cash in our gambling winnings which was on the complete opposite side of the hotel grounds. He told me he would meet me out front by the taxi line. Normally, this is something he would want to take care of himself but yet again, I didn’t read into it. Hint #3.

We got in a taxi and he asked our driver to take us to Compass Point. Our driver, who was the best btw, was all excited and asking him how he heard about this place. He just said he looked up places for dinner and it was recommended. I had no idea he had planned this location ahead of time. We arrived at this restaurant and walked right through like we owned the place. He suggested we go down on the dock before we sat down for dinner. He pulled out all the camera equipment which is where any normal girl would have known something was up. But this was typical for us. The drone, camera, Go Pro, come everywhere with us. I went with it and you can see me in the video walking around the dock aimlessly just waiting for him to get it together.

He told me he set the camera to just keep snapping shots and we would end up with a good one. So I stood there with him by my side, fixing my hair and smiling big for the camera. He kissed me and then I rambled off something about seeing another drone up in the air. He acted surprised when I showed him and he walked me to a different location. Again, he started kissing me for the photo and seconds later it finally all hit me.

I felt him lower his hand and I could tell he was pulling something out of his pocket. I didn’t want to freak out so I just kept kissing him. He pulled away and dropped down on his knee and asked me to marry him. My reply, “Are you serious?”. I quickly followed that up with YES and dropped down to meet him with a kiss. It felt like I was watching this happen but wasn’t really living it. We quickly realized that we were both shaking as he slipped the ring on my hand, while I was paranoid I was going to drop it through the crack in the deck and into the ocean where Josh would have to jump in and fight off a shark to retrieve it.

I don’t think I really looked at the ring till later. I was over the moon with excitement and it didn’t feel real.

Some lady yelled out congratulations from near by and Josh told me his camera had been recording. Oh, and that random drone I saw.. it was actually our good friend Russ, who popped out of the bushes. He had known the plan and was there to get it recorded for us. It was all freaking magical.

When we walked back into the restaurant and checked in, I quickly realized everyone was in on it. That’s why we hadn’t been greeted when we walked right through the restaurant. They actually don’t even take reservations but they did for us for the special occasion. We sat there in a beautiful spot, soaking it all in, watching the sunset over the ocean. We laughed, we cried and celebrated being in love.

We’re freaking engaged, people.

Oh, and hint #3 - Josh sending me down to the casino to get cash.. that was him getting the ring out of hiding and practicing getting down on one knee. He even gave himself a pep talk. Bless his heart!

Also, how about that ring! He picked it out without any direction from me and I am obsessed.

Turns out, we will always celebrate the Bahamas Independence Day!