Clueless . . Oblivious . . . Engaged !!

Friday morning, July 18th, we got up and had "Family Time" at Chick-fil-a. We ate a great breakfast together at 7 a.m. in Covington and then dropped the kids off at Mom and Dad's house and said our good-byes. Little did I know, the night before, Doug had gone to my son and asked him if he would mind if he proposed to me on this beach trip so that we could get married and become a real family. Little did I know, Doug had already gone on Memorial Day to both of my parents and asked for their permission and blessing to marry me and told them of his intention to propose eventually. At that moment, I was Clueless . . . Oblivious . . . . but, I was about to become Engaged.

We got to Kiawah at 1 p.m. and picked up our keys and went to the condo. We unloaded as fast as we could, fixed a quick drink and ran down the boardwalk to the beach before the sun went in (it was sort of overcast) - we walked on the beach for a little over an hour and just hung out and held hands. Doug wasn't even acting weird or anything - he was cool as a cucumber (how could he be so cool?) Then it was time to get ready for dinner - I went in and took my shower and I guess when I was in the bathroom, Doug slipped the ring in his pants pocket. He had had this ring hidden since July 4th weekend - he had it made for me by a jeweler in Long Island, NY and the center stone was purchased and placed in the ring by a jeweler couple (Dan and Tina) in Alpharetta, GA who Doug met through my best friends Kerry and William.

We drove to my favorite restaurant in downtown Charleston called The Boathouse located on East Bay Street. It's one of the places my late grandfather liked the fried oysters with jalapeno mayonnaise from. Doug had called several days prior and worked out the details with the Chef, the Hostess and our Wait Staff on every last detail of our food and the proposal. We ate our entire meal and when the dessert arrived, the ring was placed on top and on bended knee Doug proposed. I cried for 30 minutes (don't let Doug fool you, he shed some tears too) but eventually he beat an answer of "yes" out of me and the entire restaurant erupted in cheers and applause. It was very "movie like."

The rest of the weekend, even with a tad of overcast skies, was the most beautiful weekend of relaxation and fun, great conversations, great food, laughter and surprises I've ever enjoyed. This was truly a story book vacation for me all because of Doug. I can't wait to marry this man!!