Allison Ezell: Show & Tell Tuesday: How We Got Engaged

I'm linking up with Momfessionals again today to share for Show and Tell Tuesdays! I am excited to read today's posts because who doesn't just LOVE a sweet love story?!! This week's topic is on how you met or got engaged to your spouse, and since our story about how we met isn't super exciting (mutual friend at happy hour), I am going to share our engagement today.

The story really begins after just six months of dating when, unbeknownst to me, Blake had asked for my parents' permission to propose in February of 2009. He knew we needed to secure a date with the church WAY in advance because I was a teacher at the time and had to get married during the summer, and on top of that, I wanted to get married at basically the most in-demand church in Dallas, Highland Park United Methodist. So, after a mere six months, my parents gave him their blessing and they secured June 19, 2010 as our wedding date. (Note to future son-in-law...we most likely will NOT give a blessing that quickly. Now thinking as a parent, that was SO fast!)

Flash forward to May, and he went on a family vacation with me and my parents out to LA to visit my brother, Stewart, and his wife, Gillean, for Memorial Day. The trip was going very smoothly, and Blake had decided to propose on Saturday night when we all had reservations at the Chart House, a beautiful restaurant in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean. My parents were in on it, but my brother and sister-in-law were not, and he was planning to surprise them.

That morning, we took a bike ride through Santa Monica where Stewart decided we should pull a prank on my parents and started devising a plan. Gillean and Stewart are MAJOR schemers and love pulling jokes on people, so as we rode down the bike path, he started convincing me and Blake to have a very serious (and loud) pretend fight and break up at dinner that night. I played along and thought the plan sounded hilarious, but looking back, I remember Blake being very ambivalent and almost irritated at the whole idea of a prank. We concocted a whole story, and I clearly remember Blake simply smiling and nodding...he was clearly NOT excited about this idea. ;)

Throughout the rest of the day, we perfected the plan, and Blake continued to play along, all the while knowing it would never come to fruition because he had an even bigger surprise. As dinner approached, I remember my mom making a BIG deal about what I was going to wear, and we got into an argument because she wanted me to wear heels and I wanted to wear flats. She was ADAMANT that I needed heels, and I remember being so irritated when I caved and then Gillean picked us up in flats. (Girl mom problems!)

As we were getting ready to leave, I remember Blake insisting that he needed a jacket. (It was 75 degrees out...and Blake is NEVER cold.) I remember we got into a little scuffle because I absolutely detested the windbreaker he had brought, and I did NOT want him wearing it to a swanky Malibu restaurant. I ended up reluctantly relenting,although I was quite angry during the drive there, and little did I know, he needed the jacket to hide the ring!

As we arrived at the restaurant, we walked in to check in for our reservation, and Blake immediately asked me to come outside "to take a picture." I told him sure, but that we needed someone to come with us to take it. He insisted we didn't, I protested (I'm stubborn, y'all), and he finally just pulled me outside. Blake had never been to this exact restaurant before, so he didn't really know where he was taking me, but we walked around the side of the building...to a parking lot.

Lucky for Blake, there was a little bench there for the valet customers, so he sat me down there. I kept asking about the picture, and he kept talking about how special the last nine months had been...said a lot of things I don't remember...and then, all of a sudden, there he was, down on a knee. In a parking lot. On a cliff in Malibu.

I don't remember exactly what I said, but Blake swears that my answer to his proposal was, "Duh! Of course!"

Really?!

Who says "Duh!" when they get a proposal for marriage?!!

This girl.

(My brilliant answer became the theme of a few engagement parties.)

As Blake went to open the box and put the ring on my finger, his hands were shaking so much that it dropped onto the ground. We both absolutely PANICKED because were up on a cliff in the dark with nothing but ocean below us, and we were both convinced it was a goner. Thankfully, Blake has eagle eyes and found it, and as we stood up to kiss, the four valet guys erupted into applause.

We walked back into the restaurant, and to the absolute SHOCK of my brother and his wife, I proudly displayed my gorgeous new ring. The prank died pretty quickly after that, and we spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, and sharing the news with our family and friends.