Champagne in the Snow

When I predicted that my holiday season was going to be a bit different than usual, I really had no idea just how different it would be. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day passed by pretty uneventfully, as we readied ourselves for a week of vacation in Wisconsin. The day after Christmas, I started packing up the dinner that we made to share with family in Oconomowoc after our gift giving concluded. Mike went missing in the midst of it all, and when I called him, he said he was running an errand. I thought nothing of it, and loaded the last of the gifts into the car so that we could get on the road when he returned.

Later on, as night fell across the snow-covered fields in Oconomowoc, soon after we started in on the gifts, and as I took the lasagna out of the oven and readied the tiramisu cake, Mike announced that he had one last surprise to unveil outside. My family started trading confused looks as we bundled up to leave the barn and go outside into the snow.

Once we were out under the sky, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I don’t remember much after that, as I was in such a state of surprise and shock that I started sobbing (ugly crying, really, and there are unfortunate pictures to prove it) hysterically. Of course, after nearly nine years together, I don’t think I even needed to say yes for him to know my answer to his question.

As it turned out, my dad was the only one in the immediate family who knew it was coming. The only other person to know was a relative who owns a jewelry store down in Cincinnati. In keeping with family tradition, Mike got the ring there, after making the 5+ hour drive down and back in one day while I was at work. As for that mysterious errand that he ran earlier in the day…

It was to pick up a bottle of champagne, which he hid in the snow until it was time to celebrate our engagement.

We’re thinking about setting the date for this fall. So, now you know where I’ve been for the last few weeks!