Sorry for the sabbatical!

I realize I've been extremely remiss in my blogging. I've been sort of up to my ears in wedding stuff for part of the time (more on that in a future post) and the other part I spent just being tired from all the stuff going on in this thing called life. Sidenote: living in Ukraine- where traveling just takes so much more time- got me accustomed to a little less hustle and bustle. I was busy and doing things in Ukraine, but the fact that I had to wait on things like buses and trains or had to take the time to walk places seemed to cut down on the ability to commit to too much activity.

Anyway, today is a confession post: I have discovered that I'm a little bit of a snob. Why is that, you may ask? Well, this week, I had a student in my office, chatting about Thanksgiving. She was telling me that she was asked to make the "homemade, from scratch" pies for her holiday gathering. She then followed that with this statement, "I told them that if they'd get the Pillsbury dough and the pie filling, I'd be happy to!"

I mentally scoffed at Pillsbury dough and pie filling constituting "homemade, from scratch." Seriously? I didn't do just a ton of baking before Ukraine, but when I did get thrown in the deep end (that would be the cooking and baking processes of Ukraine), I had to figure out how to make things from actual scratch (sidenote: my mother did try to teach me these things as I grew up, but I didn't take the time to learn). I spent a lot of time pulling up recipes on the internet and gathering them from my mom to learn how to make my own Bisquick, pie crusts, pie filling, pumpkin puree, and a myriad of other things. That whole making-things-from-scratch business is exceedingly time consuming (and complicated when you're learning to read packaging in Russian- or worse, having to learn to ask for those things in the market!) and deserves a great deal of applause, in my opinion.

So, for all my ex-pat friends and non-ex-pat friends who take the time and effort to bake from ACTUAL scratch, I applaud you.

Pictures!

Brad and I didn't get pictures during our actual engagement, so we asked our friend, Hunter, to help us "recreate" engagement night. I'm including those pictures for your edification. Brad already put these up on Facebook, so I'm also adding his captions for the process. Enjoy!

We arrive at Union for a short walk before the "movie" we were going to instead of Wicked. Unfortunately they had "double booked" our seats for the show at the Orpheum in Memphis. Sad...

She has no idea what's coming.

No idea at all.

I did my best to listen intently to our conversation about the day's happenings.

I was succeeding at listening VERY intently.

The time comes... We stop abruptly. She's puzzled.

Brad: So, I've been lying to you. I never had tickets for Wicked tonight.

Erin: *Confusion*

Brad: I always had tickets for tomorrow night.

Erin: *Confusion.* What a mean trick!

Erin: Wait a minute... I think I know what's going on!

I had to make a move fast before the opportunity to surprise her afforded by the confusion had passed!

Marry me!

Yes!

And now we're engaged.

Wicked, Deception, and Proposal

I'm so sorry for the lengthy delay in writing. I've had a really good reason!

Short version: I got engaged! And, I saw "Wicked" for the second time!

Full version (get comfy- it's lengthy):

I LOVE "Wicked." Love it. I sing "Wicked" songs on an almost daily basis. Then, "Wicked" decides to come to Memphis for the month of October! Brad, knowing my deep and abiding love for the retelling of the witches of Oz, booked tickets and informed me that we would be going on Friday, October 29. I started counting down the days.

Logo for Wicked. Elphaba on the left, Glinda (Galinda) on the right.

To read about it, click here. One of my favorite songs: "The Wizard and I." It's just great. And fabulous. And nothing like The Wizard of Oz, which is good, because that one frightened me as a child...and I've never recovered.

So, last week, I was thinking of "Wicked" around the clock. I had a less-than-awesome week, and it was the light at the end of the tunnel. My supervisor let me leave a little earlier than usual so that I could get ready (not only is she a fellow "Wicked" enthusiast, she also knew the grand scheme of the weekend).

Now, sister had had a traumatic medical "emergency" last week (don't fret- she's doing much better now), so my parents had a legitimate reason for coming to Jackson (they were planning to come all along, but Amiee's little problem gave them a valid reason to publicly arrive in Jackson and hang out at my house). I'm pretty sure Amiee didn't plan that, but it would have made the story more impressive.

Brad arrived a little later than I had expected him to (seeing as how we had to drive to Memphis, eat, and get to the theater), and when he walked in, I thought that something truly dreadful had happened. His entire countenance looked grief-stricken, and I promise he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Me: What's wrong?? (you have to imagine that extra question mark- it was the urgency in my voice)

Brad: Erin, I'm so sorry. I got this email before I came over.

(Brad pulls out an email and hands it to me)

The Orpheum (theater in Memphis) had sent him an email apologizing for double-booking our row for the show. They asked us to call Saturday morning for an update on available seating for one of the other showings that weekend.

I felt my stomach drop, and I think little tears started welling up in my eyes. But, no. Brad looked so sad and despairing that I didn't want him to know how sad I was.

Me: Oh, that's ok. We'll just call tomorrow...pause...Can we still have a mini-date?

Brad: Yes! Definitely! Anywhere you want to go.

We decided on a restaurant, and I said I would change clothes. My mother was insistent that we both stay in our dress up clothes. She thought we just looked too nice to waste it.

Um. Ok...

We had dinner (a LOT earlier than normal), and the plan was to go to a movie. There was a chunk of time between dinner and the movie, so Brad suggested that we go to Best Buy and play Guitar Hero (we like to do that sometimes. we're cool. we know.). After dinner, I realized that I needed something from home and asked to make a quick trip home before going to Best Buy.

Brad became extremely defensive, questioning why, exactly, I needed to go home. For those of you who don't know Brad, you should know that that was terribly uncharacteristic. I explained that I needed something that I'd left at home. He continued acting agitated, and when we stopped at a traffic light, he sent a hasty, hurried text, mumbling something about Hunter (his roommate) and needing to respond to an earlier text.

As we got close to the turn to my house, I noticed that he wasn't slowing down, seemingly because he was playing with the iPod.

Me: Brad, you totally missed the turn.

Brad: Oh, man. You're right. Sorry...I was just trying to find the "Wicked" soundtrack.

We turned around in a nearby driveway and drove VERY SLOOOOOWLY to my house. When we got to the house, I went back to my room to find my tights; because I wasn't allowed to change, I was really cold. I couldn't find my tights and came out grumbling about it. We said goodbye (for the second time) to my family and Mary Ellen and headed out. Back in the car:

Brad: Hey, I had thought about going to Best Buy to play Guitar Hero and then going for a walk around campus. Let's go walk before it gets cold.

Me: It's already cold...and I couldn't find my tights.

Brad: It'll just be a short walk...

Me: (pitifully) Ok...let's go for a walk...

We got to Union and parked in the teeny tiny parking area near the bell tower. We started walking to the bell tower, and I was chatting about the long work week I'd had. I reached a stopping point, and Brad stopped walking.

Brad: So, I have a confession. I've been lying to you for a while. We never had tickets to "Wicked" for tonight.

WHAT?? How does a person respond to that? Lying? NO "WICKED" TICKETS??? What a mean trick!

Me: I'm sorry?

Brad: Well, we've always had tickets for tomorrow night. I had something else in mind for tonight...

...insert really sweet and awesome things here...Brad get on one knee...

Brad: Erin Elizabeth, will you marry me and be my wife?

Me: YES! Yes. Yes.

Brad stands up. We hug.

Me: You are such a liar! (I hit him)

At this point, I started going through all of the deceptions that had taken place (there were a lot!), and I realized how much effort he'd put into making sure that the proposal was a perfectly surprising moment. He had also planned an after party...which is why he'd freaked out about swinging back by the house- everyone was setting up for it! They covered so nicely, and I had no idea.

Lies:

1. The Orpheum hadn't double-booked our tickets: Brad had been in cahoots with the ticketing lady, and she'd sent him the bogus email so that he could show it to me. WHAT?

2. He wasn't texting Hunter: he was texting my mom. Text said: "We're headed to the HOUSE. IT HASN'T HAPPENED YET!" This was because they were setting up for the party.

3. He didn't accidentally miss the turn: he intentionally picked up and fiddled with the iPod so that he could "miss" the turn and kill a little time.

4. We were never going to the movie: he just needed to make me think there was a plan for the evening until he could propose.

Sneaky.

And that's where we began all the craziness that is the post-proposal life. I'll do a part two about the actual "Wicked" experience- it's a good story.