Ductape and Pearls: You have bewitched me body and soul

Ok... I may not have ruined Christmas... but I certainly ~~ruined~~ altered Tommy Thompson's plan for asking the biggest question of his life.

Long story short - I SAID YES.

Long story in Shannon terms...

We've been talking about marriage since the day we decided to be an 'us'. It was always our plan. The last few months conversations about this moment started happening frequently and we even went so far as to talk dates. In Shannon land that means Game.On. It's one thing to be a woman pining for her wedding day, add in that said woman plans events for a living - watch out. Poor Tommy Thompson has been the most patient man ever.

After many conversations about the wedding I began not sleeping worrying about not having enough time to find the perfect wedding dress. It is beyond insane that those pretty little things take six months to arrive! While driving to work in March I asked Tommy Thompson if he would be ok with me making an appointment to buy a dress - no pressure. Like most things he said if it made me happy he supported it. I set a date a month out for a day of dress shopping with my girlfriends and mama. A month came and went and the day before shopping day (coincidentally our birthday) I decided to cancel the much anticipated event. Weather was bad for friends to drive up , some could not longer make it - bottom line it just didn't feel right. Tommy Thompson had yet to propose and I was starting to think that it would never happen (can I get some cheese with this whine???). When I told him I canceled he emailed back 'WTF!'. (Seriously??? What on earth does that mean?)

We had a nice quiet birthday evening at home that night, however I couldn't help but think I had ruined his moment by setting up dress shopping. And to my defense Tommy Thompson certainly added to that thought. The next day I had brunch with some girlfriends, after which Tommy Thompson and I planned to have a picnic on Castle Gray-skull (our 'fort' on the front of our property - this is one of our favorite past times). I came home from brunch resolved to not mention the word wedding ever again.

Tommy Thompson was running errands so I relaxed on the back patio until a young boy came running through our yard. If you know our house you know that this is not normal - you don't 'accidentally' come onto our property. An argument ensued with this boy and I called the police. Tommy Thompson pulled up as the officer was meeting with us. Shaking like a leaf I went inside thinking the whole weekend was a bust. Tommy Thompson suggested I pack a picnic and we go ahead with our plans and make the best of the day. I thought it was odd that he was pacing outside while I was making lunch but chalked it up to frustration over the trespasser. We loaded up in to Bessie (our farm vehicle) and instead of driving to Castle Gray-skull he headed down to the lake.

About five minutes after arriving there I asked Tommy Thompson to hand me something (I can't remember what) and in his hand was a beautiful ring shimmering in the sun. I must have stared at it for five minutes before I looked up - in an emotional voice he asked me by my full name to marry him. Best moment ever. After all the feelings that I had ruined it and that it would never happen he managed to completely surprise me in the most perfect way possible. He popped a bottle of champagne that he had hidden in a box of tools and told me about the moments he asked my parents permission to marry me, about asking The Little One before anyone else, about the ring he picked and all the excited friends he had told. My face hurt from smiling so much. We are getting married!!!

I later learned that this was his Plan D to propose, I had interfered/changed plans (unknowingly) for his multiple plans to propose leading up to this day - and while I regret that to an extent our perfect moment happened just the way it was always meant to be. (Previous plans included our birthdays, even the morning I was to go dress shopping - hence the 'WTF!' email.)

I knew the moment I met Tommy Thompson that he would be in my life forever - him being my husband forever is a dream come true.

As it turns out we were able to spend the day together - just us two, there's no other way I would've wanted it. The next morning my three amazing parents came over for brunch (served on my Grandmother's china!) and a 13 year old bottle of Dom Perignon mama has been waiting many years to pop. We drank more champagne over the weekend than I ever have. Just as it should be.