It’s obvious when I’ve been busy at work…my blog posts are fewer and farther between. Nonetheless, here is our proposal story that I promised. I hope to find a better balance between working and managing this space very soon!

Earlier, I talked about how Matthew and I got our start. The post mentions that we had the wedding of our dreams in just a few short weeks. This is not a joke. Matthew proposed on July 12 and we were married on July 28, 2012. I should also mention that this was after dating for only 3 months!

Before you starting thinking that we were complete idiots, refer back to the beginning of our story. During those three months, we spent every single day together. Not only were we together, but those days were filled with tons of teamwork and learning experiences. We weren’t skipping through fields of flowers. We were working hard…together. Nonetheless, I don’t have to explain myself. When ya know, ya know, right?

Let’s talk a little about how this plan to marry came to be. One Sunday afternoon, we were sitting on my bed chatting away. (We had likely just finished hanging or unpacking something, as I had just moved into a new rent house.) We were both off work the following Monday, and one of us jokingly said we should go to Arkansas and come back married. This was another one of those moments where we both laughed and then suddenly got serious. (Like the one mentioned in the puzzle/rug discovery…there’s currently a puzzle under my living room rug by the way.) Why Arkansas you ask? Well, Arkansas and Vegas are the only two places that I know of that you can show up, get a marriage license, and get married that same day!

After a few minutes of testing the waters to see if one or the other were indeed serious, we came to the conclusion that we were both ready to commit to spending the rest of our lives together. Not the rest of the year…the rest of our lives here on this earth. We also decided that we loved the idea of shocking the world by just showing up married one day! We both love to do things to defy the norm. However, we decided that we wouldn’t break our poor Mamas’ hearts by not telling them ahead of time. Plus, Matthew insisted that I have a ring and a “real” proposal story to tell. Rather than going that next day in secret, we decided we would tell our friends and family first and go later that month. We spent the next week telling our loved ones of our plan to get married in just a few short weeks. I should mention that prior to this day, there had been no direct talk of marriage. While we both knew it was coming, we hadn’t spoken a word of it. Talk about zero to sixty!

I spent the next week scouting for the perfect vintage engagement ring. (Would you really expect me to have anything else??) I found hundreds that I liked but couldn’t commit to any. Of course, I’d be able to pick the man, but be unable to decide on a ring…so very typical of me. Matthew and I went to Baldwin’s Jewelers, an estate jeweler in a neighboring town, and found the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. I looked through the cases and found 20-30 that I wanted to try on. After trying them all, Matthew said he found one that I should try. As soon as I put it on my finger, I was in love. (With him AND the ring!) I wanted to “think about it some more,” so we walked some through some of the shops downtown while we talked. After being gone for less than 5 minutes, I started to panic! I was so afraid that someone was going to buy that ring before we got back! (No kidding…I started to sweat. That could have been the July heat in Louisiana, but I think it was from fear of losing my ring.) We knew right away that it was the ring we wanted. I should also mention that it fit my size 4 finger perfectly! Sadly, Matthew wouldn’t let me wear it until he actually proposed. It was terrible knowing that my beautiful ring was sitting in the console, and I couldn’t even wear it!

We had agreed to host a party when we returned home to celebrate this special time with our friends and family. On the way to show the ring to my mom, we stopped at his family’s lake house to scope it out for a potential party venue. As we walked around, Matthew told me stories of his childhood. I looked at the stained glass door showcasing a “P” for the family’s last name. It immediately hit me that Petrus was about to become my last name too. The stories Matthew was telling were going to become my stories too. This name that he was so proud to bear was going to become my name too. What an amazing, profound moment! As we stood on the balcony of the barn, overlooking the lake, Matthew continued to tell stories of Easter egg hunts and family gatherings. Next thing I knew, he was down on one knee, asking me to be his wife!

Luckily, I only had to wait 2 hours for the proposal!

From day one, a girl envisions what this day will be like. You think about where it will be and what he will say. It was nothing like what I had imagined…it was even better! I was so happy to leave that lake house with a gorgeous ring on my finger and a plan to marry the most amazing and inspiring man I’d ever met.

And that’s how Matthew Petrus and I decided to get married in 12 days after dating for only 3 months. If I could go back and do it all over again…I wouldn’t change a thing! Some may think it was crazy idea…I think it was fantastic! Our one year anniversary has been a wonderful time to reflect on this special time in our lives. Thank you for reading along! I’ll try to post more about the actual wedding and our one year anniversary soon. If you missed Part One of our story, read it here.