Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you!

I'll never forget that time Joe and I went to Vegas and got married--it was the best day of my life. It wasn't some drive-thru, spur of the moment thing--it was planned out for months ahead of time. We invited our family and some close friends, packed up, and headed to Vegas! Lets back up a little and start with the proposal. Most of you don't know this story..

It was Thursday, April 10th. Yes, I said Thursday (random day to get engaged, right?). I'd had a terrible day at work and I called Joe to vent. He suggested that we go out to dinner that night instead of cooking at home. I agreed, then asked him if he had any suggestions. "Edgewater Grill" (in Seaport Village, a 5 minute walk from our apartment). Whoa, that's kinda a fancy place to go on a Thursday night, I thought.

...lets back up one week prior. Since Joe and I were living in Downtown San Diego, we walked everywhere. We'd get off work, then decide to walk to a Padre game just spur of the moment. Living downtown was such a fun time in our lives :). Anyways, back to the story. We were walking to a baseball game, and Joe asked me "do you have to have that specific ring you sent me a picture of, or can it be something like that? 'Cause if it can be something like that, I could buy it soon. If it has to be that one, it might be a while." I told him that it could be something similar (I'm not picky whatsoever), and we left the conversation at that. Shortly after asking me this, he pulled out his phone and texted someone; I was very curious. Once the baseball game was over, we walked home and he went to bed (I was nosy and stayed up and snooped through his phone--I needed to know what was going on!). He had texted his friend who worked at the nearby jewelry store asking him when he was working next because he wanted to buy a ring. They agreed that Sunday would work because I would be working and "have no clue." You better believe that ALL day Sunday I was distracted at work, thinking "is he at the jewelry store now? Did he find a ring? Did he buy it? Does he get to take it home today, or do they order it?" ...I was going stir crazy. Knowing what I knew, you can imagine how anxious I was all week, wondering if today was going to be the day.

Fast forward a few days back to Thursday night, you can imagine my suspicion when he suggested a nice restaurant to eat at on a Thursday night. TONIGHT WAS GOING TO BE THE NIGHT!! Oh my god! As soon as I got off work, I went home and started getting ready. Of course I needed to look cute--I was getting engaged that night!! I'll never forget the look on Joe's face as he watched me get ready.. he sat on the couch with this sweet, sly smile on on his face, as if he knew something that I didn't know (but I actually did know). My heart was racing the entire night. We got to the restaurant and sat at a table outside overlooking the Coronado Bay--it was nighttime so all of the lights were reflecting off of the water--it was gorgeous. We ordered our food and neither of us talked much because we were both so nervous and excited. The entire time we were eating, I kept wondering "when is he gonna do it?!" Dinner came and went--no ring. Then he suggested dessert. He never orders dessert--MY RING WAS COMING IN THE DESSERT!! Almost immediately after we ordered our shared dessert, he got up to "use the restroom." Yeah, right. I watched him walk in the restaurant and stop to talk to a waiter. Oh my god, he must be giving him the ring and telling him to hide it in the dessert. I cant watch this! I immediately stopped looking inside and turned back around to look at the water. I felt like I was going to throw up; I was SO excited. A few minutes later, he came back outside and our dessert came. I know how weird this must sound, but I ate that dessert as fast as I could but also as slowly as I could--I didn't want to swallow my ring!! Every single bite I took, I made sure to swish it around in my mouth to make sure the ring wasn't in there. We finished our dessert and there was no ring. Are you kidding me?! Nothin? I was sure he was gonna do it! Turned out, when he went inside, he was actually asking the waiter where the restroom was. Once we finished up and paid our bill, Joe asked if I was ready to go home. My whole demeanor immediately shifted--I was more relaxed and at ease. Maybe he wasn't planning on proposing tonight; maybe he knew how bad of a day I had at work and just wanted to make me happy. What an awesome guy!

Before we walked home, he asked if I wanted to walk along the water. Sure, I thought. This was a great night, and it totally turned my day around. I wasn't expecting a proposal whatsoever at this point--and was completely caught off guard. He stopped, leaned up against the wall, and we stood there cuddling and talking. We had a 'saying' that we would say almost every day: he would say "will you marry me" and I would say "of course! Just get me a ring" ...so, following suit, as we were cuddling there on the water, he quietly asked "will you marry me?" ...and I followed with "of course, just buy me a ring." As soon as I said that, he slipped a ring on my finger. OH MY GOD! THIS WAS IT!! I was over the moon--we were both so excited and couldn't wait to get married!!

So lets fast forward 4 months to August. It was finally Saturday, August 16--the day we were going to get married. We drove into Vegas on Thursday with some of our friends, some other friends were going to meet us there, and our families were arriving on Friday. Friday evening, Treasure Island sent us off in a limo to the Las Vegas court house to get our marriage certificate. I was not prepared for this--as soon as we walked out of the court house with our license in hand, we were bombarded by Elvis' asking to marry us. Are you kidding me? Um, no thanks. Saturday morning arrived and it proved to be a very relaxing day. We hung out by the pool with our friends while our families did some sightseeing. Around 3:00 we decided that we should head up to the rooms to get ready. My sister-in-law did my hair and makeup for me (she's an amazing makeup artist; if you ever need your makeup done in the San Diego area, hit me up and I'll get you in touch with her). I put my wedding dress on, called Joe to make sure he wasn't lurking around in the hallways, then headed down to the wedding chapel.

We had spent weeks planning this wedding; I had picked out my bouquet and was going to walk down the aisle to Etta James' At Last. They put my family and I in a bridal suite while while our friends and rest of our family was arriving, and then it was time. Everyone left besides my dad, and I was so nervous to walk down that aisle. We stood behind closed doors, waiting for the song to cue up. Once the instrumental intro to the song finished, the opened the doors and I started to walk down the aisle. I felt like I was going to throw up. Getting married is nerve-wracking; not because I was nervous to get married, but because everyone's eyes are on you. Ahh! We started walking down the aisle listening to Etta James sing.. "At lasssssst... my love-----" the music cut out. THAT WAS THE SHORTEST FRIGGIN AISLE I HAD EVER SEEN. They didn't even fade the music out--just a blunt ending. Boom, done. I got to the front of the aisle and we all started hysterically laughing--it was hilarious. I'll never forget that. We said our vows and our "I do's," then sealed it with a kiss. We were married! After taking pictures with the photographer, we went back to our room for a quick change, then headed down to some Hawaiian-themed restaurant in the hotel. We had all of our family and close friends there with us, eating dinner, sharing toasts, and having a great time. August 16, 2008 is absolutely a day I will never forget. 

...see how small that aisle is?!