Our Engagement Story

Today marks NINE YEARS since Ry and I got engaged, so I thought it'd be fun to share our engagement story. I'm not sure if I've told it before, and was too lazy to look before I started typing, so I'm sorry if this is a re-run for some of you ;)

This is one of the pictures from our 'engagement' photo shoot
(that we did with a tripod & a point-and-shoot camera w/ a timer)

As some of you may know, the hubby and I started dating our sophomore year of college. I had 'noticed' Ryan because he actually liked the girl who lived across the hall from me freshman year and was always hanging out over there. Fortunately for me, she didn't like him 'like that' and I was able to swoop in ;)

There's the stud I thought was so dreamy... and artsy... and skater-ish... and God loving... and so unlike anyone I had dated before

We both went to Orlando with our college campus church during the summer between our freshman and sophomore year as part of a leadership training program. As part of the program, we were required to work full-time jobs. Universal Studios had a 'deal' with the organization that they'd hire as many of us as they could - so instead of hunting for our own jobs, the majority of us decided to work at the theme park for the summer. Ryan and I carpooled every day to and from work and got to know each other. Love blossomed and we started dating the beginning of our sophomore year.

Not sure if you can tell, but we were secretly holding hands behind Ryan's leg... Yup, young love ;) 

We look like BABIES! This was 14 YEARS ago! WE WERE BABIES!

Let's stop right here and mention a few things. First, before Ryan and I even started dating, I told the girls in my summer small group that I could see myself marrying him (apparently it would take a little more convincing for Ryan to believe it for himself). Next, it is MY PERSONAL OPINION that you date someone to decide whether or not that is the person you could spend the rest of your life with. Okay, now we can proceed.

Halloween 2006

At this point in our relationship (February 2008), Ry and I had been together for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS. We had dated while living in the same dorm, while living across the country from each other, while moving across the country from everyone we knew but still living in different cities, etc. I felt as though we had dated through just about every phase and I still knew I wanted to be with this man for the rest of my life... WHAT WAS TAKING HIM SO LONG?!

Celebrating our birthdays in 2007 (they are 3 days apart)

Although I am NOT a Valentine's Day celebrator, I thought that this would be a decent time for Ryan to propose, but alas, he did not. I remember being so frustrated with the situation that I called my mom and told her that I thought I was going to have to break up with him because obviously the relationship was going NOWHERE. She tried her best to calm me down, to tell me to 'stick it out' and reminded me how much I loved him. (Little did I know he had already called and asked my parents for my hand in marriage and she was trying her hardest not to spill the beans just days before.)

Ryan's sister and her hubby were in town that following weekend, visiting San Diego, so we were planning to head down to spend some time with them. On the way, Ryan thought we could do a little geo caching. (If you don't know what geo caching is, it's sort of like high-tech treasure hunting. You use coordinates and GPS to find caches that could have tradable items or just a log to sign showing that you found it. It was something we enjoyed doing because it helped us discover areas we may have never found on our own. Being in a new city and state, it was a great way to adventure.)

A picture of us geo caching from 2007... I thought RC Pirates was the perfect name for
us because R = Ryan, C = Carlee & Pirates look for treasure like geo cachers!

We stopped at Kate Session's Park to grab a couple caches before meeting his sister for a little sight seeing downtown. When he was ready to pop the question, he called me over (normally, once we got to the location we would divide and attempt to conquer, looking around to find the cache) saying he had found it, and had the ring in his hand.

I always poke fun at him because he was down on both knees, but really it was such a cute proposal, and so US, that he could have been standing or speaking Spanish and I still would have said YES (or maybe sí).

Thumbs up for love

And how fun is it that two of our friends ended up going to the geo cache we got engaged at after our wedding and grabbed the coin we left?! (PS We got married 6 months to the day after we got engaged - note the dates in the log.)

And now you know ;) It might not be uber romantic or what little girls dream about when pondering the way their prince charming asks to spend the rest of his life with her, but it was PURE PERFECTION for me and the man of my dreams!

How did you get engaged?