The Engagement Story

I know that most of you are wondering a lot of things about the engagement. Not surprising. Something so amazing and a big step does invoke plenty of questions from the friends and family involved. I don't have many of the answers yet, however. Falling in love with someone from another country does not make it easy when you want to get married, especially if you're not already living in the same country as the other person. It's frustrating, the days seem ever long, and all you can think about is that eventual end.

The Engagement

I kind of knew that Paul planned on proposing Monday. Well, it was a knowing hope I guess. I knew that he'd been working up to it the whole two weeks I was there, and the recipe was perfect Monday. We drove into Stirling to visit Jenny, my landlady, then went to the shops (where Paul said we had to separate), and then planned to go on to the Wallace Monument. I think he wanted to propose at the top, but after a few delays, we got to the monument a bit too late. The woman at the desk told us we could basically run up the hill and see if they would let us in, but I made it about half way and felt like dying.

For those of you who haven't been to the monument, to get to the top you've got to climb 246 winding stairs. And climbing the pretty good sized hill up to it is a feat alone. Wallace Monument sits on top of Abbey Craig, a rock that just juts out in the middle of the landscape around it. Since I was too tired to climb both the hill and the stairs, I asked Paul if we could just walk around the hill instead. There are several pathways you can take, so Paul and I veered off to a path without anyone else on it.

We hadn't walked far before he turned and looked at me, grabbing my hands, and told me that he had a question for me. I pretty much started crying right there. He asked me if I would marry him. I of course said yes and just as we were kissing, a random jogger ran past us. Ah, the weirdness of the different moments in our lives. But even with the strange interruption, it was perfect. We walked around the craig, eventually making our way to the top where we sat in front of the fence (rebels!) and gazed out at the perfect view. From up there you can see almost everything in the Stirling area, and the castle across the way was clouded in a gorgeous mist. It was all very picturesque and beautiful.

Why the Monument

For those that don't know, the monument holds special meaning for Paul and I. We had only been going out for a week and it was our fourth date. We decided to have dinner and watch a film at my house, then walk to the top of the monument craig. You can't get inside the actual monument at night, but you are free to walk about the craig itself. Anyway, it was just dark, and we had meandered our way to the top. We had only been standing up there looking out for a few minutes when fireworks start going off in the distance. It wasn't a holiday, there was nothing going on at the university, but there they were. It was obviously a very memorable experience, and I'm really glad that Paul proposed there as well. Kind of brings the whole relationship full circle, because after that fireworks night, we decided to 'go steady' or be in a relationship, whichever term you prefer.

The Details

A lot of people are asking me when and where in terms of the wedding. Honestly, that's a very good question. We are both hoping for end of summer. With visa paperwork, deciding where exactly we want to live, and everything else (Paul getting enough time of work, picking a time that works for our families, etc), there's a lot to go through. I'm pretty sure we're going to get married in Kansas, but we do want to have receptions here and in Scotland. It's hard because we want all of our friends and family to be involved in everything, but distance becomes a very big factor in all of this. I will probably be constantly blogging for the next few months (obviously), so there will be plenty of updates.