ENGAGED!

So I haven't actually kept this blog going at all. But it is a great place to share some of my favorite memories and photos from the night Evan proposed. We spent New Years Eve with Corinn and Ray in 2008, and 2009 and were thrilled when they moved to DC in December. My first thought was returning to the tradition of spending NYE with them! We made plans to go to dinner at Dave and Busters, then Evan wanted to check out the celebration in downtown Alexandria.

Corinn, Ray and Evan were so laid back on the trip to Alexandria that I had NO idea what was happening. The metro ride was longer than anticipated, and we almost spent the stroke of midnight on a shuttle bus! Thankfully we were able to get off and walk the final few blocks to the waterfront. Alexandria was all lit up with Christmas lights and was so beautiful.

We made it to the bottom of King street with a little under ten minutes to spare. As we stood there chatting, I still had no idea what was about to happen. Then at the stroke of midnight, when everyone yells "Happy New Year" and the fireworks start, Evan asked me to be his wife!

There were fireworks! But we were pretty oblivious!

And lots of kissing!

Then lots of hugs and FREAKING OUT!!

And phone calls (even though it was late), and oogling at the ring!

When the fireworks ended we took some more photos and started the walk back to the metro. This may have been when I got a bit silly..

There were lots of laughs, smiles, and squeals. Evan may have created a bit of a monster!

For the most part we kept our celebration under control...

Closer to the metro station was an adorable little park with a Christmas tree, so of course we had to take some more pictures!

(You'll note the ring is on my middle finger in this pic! It is a little bit large, so I had it on my middle finger to be sure I didn't lose it!)

We had to head back to the metro, because we didn't want Corinn and Ray to be stranded in VA if we missed the last train. We ended up running down the platform to get on a waiting train. As I ran past the conductor who was looking down the train to be sure everyone was on I yelled some sort of "Thank you!! We just got ENGAGED!!". To my surprise she wished us Congratulations when we started moving, and the whole train clapped!

And we got some pics of the ring in the light!

The side stones were a pair of diamond earrings that were my grandmothers. My amazing Aunt Pat told me a while ago that they were available for an engagement ring. This ring will always remind me of the love between my grandparents. I'm so excited to be marrying my best friend! It was an amazing night, and we are overwhelmed by the messages of love from our family and friends! There are about 90 more photos, and we may post more here in the coming days! We can't wait to share our lives together!

A HUGE HUGE thank you to Ray for capturing the proposal SO beautifully! We will treasure these photos for the rest of our lives!

 Love,
 Jen and Evan.