Our anniversary is February 8th so when we found out that it fell on a Saturday this year we thought it would be the perfect chance to go out together, especially since we were apart for so long while I was in Australia. We have been talking about getting married for a while now so I knew that it was coming sooner or later, but I never saw it coming when it did & how he did it.
I decided I wanted to go to the Melting Pot, which is a fancy fondue restaurant, for dinner; so I asked Ben to call & make a reservation for us on the 8th. Little did I know, he had something else up his sleeve.
The day started out pretty normal; I slept in, lounged around in bed, watched some shows, did my nails, took a shower - the usual stuff. We planned to meet at our church at 5:15 & drive together to the restaurant. We got to the restaurant & the waitress starts leading us to this table that is covered in rose pedals, has a huge beautiful bouquet on the table, 2 champagne flutes on the table & a bottle of sparkling cider in a chiller off to the side. I honestly thought she had taken us to the wrong table…until I looked at Ben & saw his cute little smile - he was proud of himself. I told his how surprised I was that he had done that.
Now I know what you are thinking, "Hello?! Red flag!" & you would be right, it is a huge red flag, & the thought did cross my mind, but Ben would never do it in public, he's too private & shy for that. Plus, I didn't want be thinking about when he was going to ask or how or what he'd say or this or that the whole night, I wanted to enjoy myself & be present in the moment, so I just pushed the thoughts aside.
We orded & ate our cheese fondue appetizer & then our main course of different kinds of chicken, beef, & pork. The meal was so incredible & delicious & I just couldn't wait for our white & dark chocolate fondue for dessert! I noticed that Ben was acting different than he usually does; he was pretty quiet & really fidgety & he kept checking his phone which is very unusual for him. He's the kind of guy that is never on his phone when we are out at dinner or on a date, so this was very odd to me.
A lady who I think was the manager brought out our desserts for us. She put down the pot of chocolate fondue & the plate of dippers explaining what everything was. Then she reaches for another plate & begins to put it down on the table. It had 2 chocolate covered strawberries & said "yes or no?" written in chocolate. I immediately looked at the waitress & then at Ben with a "what is happening" look on my face. Before I knew it Ben was reaching in his pocket, pulling out a right & getting on his knee right there in front of me in the middle of the restaurant! I seriously could not believe what was happening!
I think the first words out of my mouth after he said "will you marry me?" were "are you serious?!" Haha, but then of course I said yes! He was shaking so bad he could hardly get the ring on my finger! Then he kissed me & quickly went back to his seat on the other side of the table. After the initial shock wore off & we both had the chance to catch our breath & slow down our heartbeats, we got to finally eat our chocolate fondue. Ben kept saying, "Can we eat our dessert now?" haha.
The restaurant was so sweet. We got to take home 2 champagne flutes, a box of chocolate covered strawberries, & the flower bouquet that was on our table. We left the restaurant & walked back to our car in the snow & it was magical & perfect - I wish I could have captured every moment on video so I could replay it years down the road.
The night took quite a turn when we ended up having to sleep at our church with the youth kids & staff because the roads were too slick & icy for us to drive home in. When we got to our church Ben looks at me & says, "Well this is romantic", but hey, it's better than getting in a car wreck or stuck on the side of the road! We woke up in the morning, had church (in the same clothes from the night before) & then went back to Ben's house to do some brainstorming & initial planning for the big day!
It was one of the most incredible, magical, emotional, whirlwind 24 hours of my whole life! Ben surprised me more than I thought possible & I feel so beyond blessed & honored that he asked me to be his wife for life!
