Since I’ve neglected my poor little blog, many noteworthy life-events have occurred. In an effort to play catch-up, I’ll start with my favorite news…
As my 24th birthday approached, I found myself hesitant about entering my mid-twenties. What’s there to look forward to on your 24th birthday? Six years from 30? One year from a discount on my insurance? Woo hoo… Little did I know, one of the most exciting days of my life was quickly approaching.
I celebrated my birthday weekend at home with my family and friends. A few great gifts and dinners wrapped up another year of my life. The only gift that was missing was from Chase. He informed me if I could wait until the following weekend for my gift, it would be well worth it. Having no other choice but to agree, I anxiously awaited the weekend.
As instructed, I headed up to Chase’s hometown (about two hours North of Atlanta) on Friday. He had told me we would be taking a weekend trip, so I had my bags packed with every combination of outfits I could think of. I was clueless as to what plans he had in store for us. Even if a small part of me thought he may propose, we had already spoken extensively about waiting until next year to get engaged, so that possibility was off the table in my mind.
After driving through the North Georgia mountains for about half an hour, we pulled into a resort on Lake Chatuge that I have always wanted to visit! I was so excited — the weekend was definitely shaping up. After we checked in, we decided to drive around and check some things out. Chase took me to a local winery to go wine tasting, and they happened to be hosting a Tomato Festival that weekend as well (I LOVE tomatoes)! After a few glasses of wine and an amazing day of tomato tarts and live music, we went back to the resort to get ready for our dinner reservations.
After enjoying an amazing dinner on the lake’s shore line, Chase and I walked around the resort’s campus. Let me preface this with a fact about myself…I LOVE boats, lakes, marinas, etc., and Chase was well aware of this. As the sun got low in the sky, Chase and I walked down the pier and sat on the lounge chairs to watch the sun set. We were enjoying the evening, taking pictures and talking about nothing and everything…when all of the sudden Chase turned to me. All I remember is “I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you”. I don’t think I noticed the BEAUTIFUL ring in his hand or anything else around me for a good minute. The first words out of my mouth were “::gasp:: how did you pull this off!?“ I think Chase was a bit concerned I didn’t give him an immediate “yes”, but that followed shortly after the shock wore off! About 10 minutes of tears and hugs later, Chase and I returned to the room to call friends and family. As I made my calls, Chase brought me a glass of wine from one of the two bottles we had picked up that day. The second bottle remains unopened. We’ll save that for the wedding day :)
Well, I thought the surprises were over. Chase had successfully pulled off an AMAZING day, and I didn’t think it could get any better. We were planning on heading home the next day after brunch, so I packed my bags and prepared for our departure from beautiful Lake Chatuge. As I walked into the restaurant for brunch the next morning, all the servers were waiting at the front to hear the good news. I had NO idea everyone at the resort already knew! They then took me to our table, and to my surprise, my entire family was waiting there for me! Of course, I broke down again and couldn’t believe how perfect everything was at that moment. After a wonderful brunch with the family, we all were given a tour of the resort by the wedding planner :) Of course, I couldn’t think about a wedding just quite yet (I was still in shock from the engagement), but the weekend couldn’t have been more perfect. I am so lucky to have such an amazing fiance and family!