The proposal

The surprises started on Christmas Day, 2007. A traditional, yet not unwelcome, routine involves breakfast and unwrapping the mountain of gifts with my family. If I see Steve at all, I usually go to his house or wait until the day after Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised this year when he decided to come visit me on Christmas morning.

I handed him a stack of gifts to unwrap from me and my family and he, in turn, handed me a small gift bag. I don’t like to consider myself a selfish person, but I have to admit I was a bit disenchanted with the difference in our number of gifts. He encouraged me to open mine while he worked on unwrapping his. I obliged. Funny enough, when I opened my bag, it revealed a collection of scrabble pieces. That boy knows how I love my puzzles! I immediately got to work trying to unscramble B H T E M A A S H A (Probably not the precise order, but you get the point). It didn’t take as long as he had anticipated to pull out “T-H-E” and deduce “B-A-H-A-M-A-S” from the remaining blocks. I think amid my shrieks of joy and constant “Seriously?”s, I asked when we were going. Boy was I wrong in thinking this was a spring break trip. “We leave January 25^th,” he remarked. Unfortunately, my common-sense side took over when I realized I would be leaving right in the beginning of the semester. My worries were alleviated by my professors and we were off to the Bahamas (Atlantis resort on Paradise Island, to be exact).

It promised to be a relaxing, easy-going trip with no plans except for a top-secret excursion planned for Saturday, January 26^th. Again, I let my common-sense side get the best of me when I asked “Should I shower or look nice?” He assured me that it wouldn’t be necessary. The morning of the excursion, he promised to clue me in on what we were doing. As it turned out, he had planned for us to do a Dolphin Encounters Swim on an island not far away. My excitement peaked when I remembered how disappointed I was to miss out on the dolphin swim while we were in Bermuda. We took a short ferry boat ride to Blue Lagoon Island. Our swim groups were given a short presentation on the best behavior for interacting with the dolphins, we suited up in wetsuits (yes, the water was cold even in the Bahamas) and climbed down to our docks. In my group was Steve, myself, a father-son duo and 2 individuals whose spouses had decided to watch. After a nice water shower to the face, courtesy of “Jake”, we slipped into the icy water of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Jake” and “Stormy” passed by us a few times so we could rub their backs and bellies. Then we were each given the opportunity to kiss, hug, dance with and feed the dolphins. The only other girl in our group went first. After the tricks, the trainer told her dolphin to “find a gift” in the pool. He came back with a rock. Everyone else took their turns and it was time for Steve & I. We kissed, danced, hugged and fed. When the trainer told “Stormy” to find me a present, I expected a rock as well. Surprisingly, he returned with a plastic container in his mouth. Completely oblivious to a now-congregated group of women employees around our tank, I immediately thought I had scored a free souvenir. When the trainer said “Maybe you should open the box,” I got a little suspicious. I opened the box and inside was a stunning diamond ring. I suppose I can forgive Steve for not getting down on one knee in the tank when he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said “yes”. Normally, I would have been a blubbering idiot, but it was difficult with 4 other people taking in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I saved the blubbering for later.

The ring:

That night, Patty (Steve’s wonderful sister who lives in Colorado) had reserved a table for us at Fathom’s – a gorgeous restaurant at Atlantis with a wall completely composed of a fish/shark/ray tank. We sat right next to the tank, basking in post-engagement glow.

The remainder of the trip brought rain and cool temperatures with brief moments of sunshine, but it didn’t matter. I was on cloud nine. In fact, a hurricane could have ripped through and I wouldn’t have cared. We did manage to get some sun on our last full day when we finally got to lay by the pool and take in some of Atlantis’ fabulous water rides. Of course, the best part of our trip is documented in pictures and full-length DVD, for which I am very grateful. Not to sound high-and-mighty, but it was one of the criteria for our engagement. I had to have pictures and he came through!

The ring has since been downsized since he asked my Dad and purchased it about 2 months ago. I suppose that’s another upside to losing weight – smaller fingers! So far one of the best moments has involved Dana’s excitement. Dana, as my dearest girlfriend, will be my Maid of Honor (unless she walks down the aisle first which will make her my Matron of Honor. Hey, you never know. Henry could move quickly!). She already has ideas bubbling in regards to bridal showers, bachelorette parties and spa days. I have to remind her that we don’t have a date set in stone yet, but it will probably fall around May/June 2009.

Here’s to more than a year of stress, craziness and absolute joy. I can’t wait to become Mrs. Steven Mulholland.