When I got home, Ryan had two coolers packed (one with food and one with drinks) for us to go on a picnic on the boat. He had built a canvas shade/rain cover for the boat and put twinkle lights up on the inside. He had even bought a camping picnic table that folds up for us to eat on. We grabbed jackets in case it started raining again and headed to the boat but right after we got on the boat it started raining really hard again. I was pleasantly surprised by his romantic idea so i was being a good sport even in the rain...I suggested we just wait and see if it stops raining. After about 10 minutes or so, we finally decided to just go back inside. We headed back inside and Ryan unpacked the picnic for us. He had bought a camping set to pack up our meals and made us Salmon, rice and dill sauce with sauteed squash and zucchini. He had also bought a mixed six pack of beers from ABC so we had some new beers to try.
After dinner, we were just lounging around on the couch and I was talking to a few family members who had called me to wish me a happy birthday. Ryan kept watching the weather to see if it would let up so we could still go drive around (i wasn't sure why but I figured he just wanted to use his canopy and lights he went to so much trouble to put up). Eventually, it was clear that it wasn't going to stop raining so ryan said "ok Ashley, do you want your birthday present?" and I said "i have a birthday present? yay! sure". He made me go sit on a couch and close my eyes while he went to get my present. When he said I could open my eyes, he had a very small box in his hands. He got down on one knee in front of me (I immediately started smiling) and he said "Ashley, I know I don't tell you often enough but I love you very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" And I immediately said "yes, of course" and gave him a big hug and a kiss. Then the excitement started to hit me...I was bouncing around the living room and dancing around and just being giddy. Then the obligatory phone calls, text messages, facebook notifications, etc. Everyone was as surprised as I was and very happy :)
I'm still shocked. And so impressed, he got me a beautiful ring and had a very sweet proposal that I'll never forget. The rest of the weekend was filled with celebratory dinners and drinks and general excitement. Every time I see my ring or its sparkle catches my eye I get all giddy again :) We have not set a date yet, there is a slight possibility of the first weekend of november 2012, otherwise we would wait until next spring. I'm sure there will be many more posts to come about the upcoming festivities. I just still can't believe he finally proposed! Yay!! :)