Engaged!!

We're ENGAGED!!!!! I can't even begin to describe how happy or excited we are. Every precious moment reminds me of the boundless love of God and how much I don't deserve the gifts and blessings that have been given to me through my relationship with Ben. And now I get to spend my life waking up to my best friend's face beside me and traveling through life making a difference in this world with a man I respect, value and love. My soul is singing, my heart is overjoyed!

We had been talking about getting married for quite a while before Ben proposed and I had secretly hoped (and expected) that we would get engaged on Christmas. The holidays are such a magical, special time and Ben definitely understands the significance to me. However, a few days before Christmas he told me point-blank that a proposal in the next few weeks would not be possible. He created an impressively elaborate story about problems with shipping on the ring and stated he only told me about it so I wouldn't get my hopes up for a Christmas engagement. I tried to not let my disappointment get to me and was still pretty flippin excited about spending some quality time together with his family and mine.

On Christmas Eve, the city of Midland looked like a Christmas card with blankets of snow on houses, trees, and fields. The snow continued to fall softly, transforming the West Texas desert into a winter wonderland. Ben and I had decided to work on wrapping Christmas presents for his family and just spend the rest of the time celebrating the holiday by ourselves. He was very secretive the whole morning with "Christmas surprises," something I took to mean Christmas presents that he hadn't wrapped. The only clue he gave was mentioning a Christmas letter he wanted to write for me and continue the tradition every year. Other than looking forward to reading what he had to say, I didn't give it a second thought.

After I came inside from straightening up my car, Ben led me into the living room and handed me a folded letter. Standing by the blazing fire, surrounded by Christmas decorations and a beautiful tree, I read his thoughts about the meaning of Christmas and the light Christ brought into the winter of humanity. I was crying by the time I finished his letter, but I couldn't stop myself from crying so much more when he took my hand, got on one knee, opened a small dark blue box, and asked me to be his wife.

The proposal and the rest of Christmas Eve were more perfect than I could possibly have imagined...and we perfectly filled the rest of the afternoon with snowball fights, snow ice cream, dreaming about our future, Arrested Development and homemade broccoli cheese and rice soup.

What an amazing, unforgettable Christmas! Ben and I are officially engaged and more than ready to begin our life together as husband and wife!!!