The News…finally

So remember when I said something really exciting happened on my birthday like, oh I don’t know…two weeks ago? Well I have been waiting to share it because I had to depend on someone else to give me the pictures and they took a little longer than I expected. Fun stuff. So now that I finally have them, I can go ahead and tell you what happened! Eeek!

Back in May, Brandon’s dad sent him tickets to an Aggie game for his birthday. Since we would have to travel back to College Station for the game, he also booked us a room at Messina Hof which is a quaint little vineyard in Bryan, Texas with a nice restaurant and bed & breakfast on site.

Messina Hof

Messina Hof was one of the first places in Texas that Brandon took me after he moved there to start graduate school {we lived apart for one year} and the picture below is from our first trip there in September of 2008.

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Five years later…the Aggie game happened to fall on the same weekend as my birthday and although I was suspicious about the Messina Hof part of our trip {a little romantic for Pop’s taste}, Brandon said that his dad knew it was my birthday so he planned accordingly. Hmmm… {tapping finger on chin}

Messina Hof 12

Then, about a month ago, I got a text from one of my friends in College Station telling me her husband won a spa day at work and that she wanted to take me along as a treat for my birthday. Of course, I didn’t want to believe that she would lie to me but the whole thing sounded a little fishy. As time went on, I decided that all of this might be Brandon’s plan to treat me for my birthday. However, what I couldn’t figure out was why he wouldn’t just tell me it was his idea to plan all of this. Hmmm…

After landing in Austin Thursday afternoon, we drove to College Station through a heavy downpour and arrived at Messina Hof. I had already looked up the forecast for the weekend and saw that it was going to rain almost the entire time we were there so I immediately set out to take pictures of the grounds while the sun was somewhat shining. Sigh…a blogger never rests. ;)

Messina Hof 1

Meanwhile, Brandon went to check us into the B&B which turned out to be very homey and inviting.

Messina Hof 14

Fast forward to Friday {my birthday}, we had a relaxing breakfast together before I went to lunch and the spa with my friend and Brandon went to catch up with a few of his former colleagues. Later in the day, we met back at the B&B to get cleaned up for dinner at Messina Hof’s restaurant.

The entire time we were getting ready, Brandon was acting very strange. He seemed extremely jittery and was sweating profusely, although he was sweet enough to shut of the AC because I was cold…always a gentlemen. Of course, I asked him if anything was wrong and questioned if he had too many espressos at lunch which he replied with a no and assured me that everything was fine. Eventually we made our way down to the wine tasting room for a complimentary glass of wine that the B&B offers their guests. They also offered us a free cheese tasting which Brandon promptly and politely declined.

This was when I really started to suspect something was off…Brandon never turns down cheese. I thought to myself, I don’t know what the heck is wrong with you but we’re getting our free cheese and asked the waitress to please bring it anyway.

After she brought us our wine, she handed me a photographer’s business card and explained that they were also offering complimentary photos to their guests and that we could go to the website listed on the card to view them at a later date. Brandon suggested we go right away so we made our way into the back dining room where the photographer was waiting.

B & S

As I was thinking to myself that it was a little strange that we were the only two people in there, Brandon started to get down on one knee and stick his hand into his pocket.

proposal

B & S

Although my hair was in the way, I can assure you I had tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face. I had been waiting for this moment for eight and a half years and it felt so good to finally have my dream come become a reality.

proposal 2

I remember feeling so happy and excited that I was literally shaking in these pictures. Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t put my wine glass down but I guess I was too wrapped up in the moment to even notice.

B & S 2

Brandon told me that we still had dinner reservations to get to so, unfortunately, we had to leave the cheese behind and head over to the restaurant.

On top of the surprise proposal, he also arranged for all of our friends to come out and celebrate with us at dinner.

engagement dinner 4

engagement dinner 1

engagement dinner 5

It was so good to see all of them and I barely ate anything that night because of all the excitement.

After we said our goodbyes and thanked everyone for coming, Brandon and I went back to the room and he explained to me that he had been planning this for over a year. He said that his original plan was to propose under the gazebo that they have outside in the vineyards but that it was completely ruined by the bad weather.

Then he gave me an incredibly touching card {that he had printed himself} which explained that he chose this spot because it was somewhere special from our past and also somewhere he hopes to bring our children in the future. {For a football game, of course!}

card

It finally stopped raining on the last morning we were there so we took a walk back to the vineyards together. He told me that for the past six months he had dreamt of how special it was going to be and that he imagined it happening with the sun setting behind us.

Messina Hof 6

He was pretty upset that it didn’t work out as planned but I tried to assure him it didn’t matter to me. I was happy just knowing that he put so much thought into it and that I could finally call him my fiancé!

Bran

So that’s it. That’s the big news I’ve been waiting to share!

I think some of you may have assumed we were married because we live together and have been dating for so long but clearly that wasn’t the case. For the past several years, I had been patiently waiting for Brandon to finish graduate school so that we could open the next chapter in our lives and it feels amazing to have made it this far together. It was well worth the wait. Oh, and I almost forgot. Some of you ladies might want to see the ring!

ring

For some reason my camera doesn’t like to focus on it.

I even tried taking a few pictures of it on the grapes at Kendall Jackson last weekend but I still couldn’t get it to come out clear.

ring3

Anyway, he picked it out all on his own and I couldn’t be happier!

We haven’t set an official date yet but we’re shooting for April since that is the time of year it is least likely to rain or be sweltering hot in Florida, where all of our family lives. It will be interesting trying to plan a wedding from across the country in six months so we’ll see how things go.

 

Do you think six months is long enough to plan a wedding?

If you’re engaged or married, tell me your proposal story!