Alysia + Michael: Engaged!

I remember the night she called me at midnight.

I was sitting next to Ben on my mom's sofa when the theme song from Bewitched started playing on my phone. When I looked down, I saw her name and immediately assumed she was calling to tell me someone had died. Or some other terrible tragedy.

She was in tears, but they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of joy.

"Michael proposed. We're engaged!" She said.

I screamed on cue. And Ben went deaf.

Alysia and I have been best friends since we were three. We were inseparable until middle school, when I moved to a different town, and therefore, a different school. Our families became each other's families because all of our extended families are spread across the country. We still do Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter dinner together every year.

Having grown up together, I always knew that whoever "caught" Alysia would be very lucky indeed. I loved every second we spent together, playing Barbies, getting in trouble, having sleepovers.  She was the reason everything was fun. She was adventurous and brought everyone along for the ride. And I wasn't the only one who wanted to join in. In second grade, on the playground, she had all of the boys following her, crawling on hands and knees, as her wolf pack. Of which she was the leader, and could get them to do anything she wanted.

Michael is her perfect mate. He shares in her humor. He loves playing Settlers of Catan with her younger brother, or really any board game with anyone. Which is fortunate, because that's what we do after said holiday dinners. He spent months searching for the perfect ring - one that didn't sit up too high and wouldn't poke through the latex gloves that Alysia wears every day at work. He provides for her and their sweet puppy, Zoie. Next to Michael, Alysia loves dogs more than anything else. Without him, she said, they wouldn't have been able to train and care for the love of their lives, their furry child.

Michael fell in love with Alysia and together they are embarking on the best adventure of their lives.

I was fortunate enough to grab them for a hot second during my recent trip to San Diego. When they first moved to California, they lived in La Jolla, five minutes from the shores. Michael proposed on the beach there, so we decided to head to the ocean for their engagement pictures!

To Alysia and Michael: I cannot wait to be a part of your wedding! You two are so special and you have a best friend in each other. Thank you for letting me be a small part of it...and you are certainly the most "unique" and beautiful couple I know!

Where's my ring?

Now that it's on Facebook (and officially official), here's the back story to my new favorite piece of eye candy.

There is an equation you need to know in order for you to appreciate this story. It goes like this:

8 years of dating + 1 girlfriend who is wedding obsessed = infinite questions about the proximity of a marriage proposal

I've been asking Ben for awhile about the time frame of the most important event in any girl's life and when it's going to be me who gets to enjoy it. To the point of being annoying. Actually, beyond annoying. Like a kid in the backseat of a car on a long trip asking "Are we there yet?" annoying. Because that's how I felt. I wanted to know when we would be there. Together.

Ben, being the most wonderful person that he is, accepted this and mostly just laughed at my persistence. Usually, I would ask out of the blue in the hopes of catching him off-guard so that he might slip up and give me any clue of when the day might be coming. He always responded with, "Do you really want to know?" to which I would always say no. He would just laugh and shake his head, knowing that even though I acted like I wanted to know, really, I wanted to be completely surprised. And I am freaking hard to surprise. I've figured out my Christmas present several years in a row. He didn't give me any hints on this one - he didn't want me to figure it out because he knew I really didn't want to figure it out, try as I might to do so.

Until about a month ago, that is. I asked my usual question, and he replied, "Soon," at which point I dove under a blanket from shock and surprise. If he were smart, he would have heeded that reaction and rethought our relationship. He didn't (probably to his own detriment), so I kind of forgot.

Kind of, but not really. We went to breakfast on Sunday morning. We were talking, and I asked him again, the same question as always, and then remembered about that convo from a month ago, and called him on it. He said that he had lied. I thought he was just messing with me. Totally par for the course.

And then that evening, we were sitting on the sofa after dinner, and I was looking through my news feed, whining about how everyone I know is married or engaged and when is it going to be our turn? He laughed at me, like he always does, finished brushing the cat (for the 100th time that day...he had almost as many brushings as I did questions about our future wedding) and came to sit next to me on the sofa. Engrossed by my phone, it was a moment before I looked over and caught him staring at me, lovingly.

"I love you, Honey," he said.

To which I replied, saucily, "Where's my ring?"

And really, this story should end there with him dumping me and swearing I'm the most high-maintenance girlfriend that he ever did have. But instead, he answered my question by digging in his pocket...

And pulled out the ring I had asked for 1,001 times.

Much squealing and joy and phone calls and living happily ever after ensued.

And from now on, the answer to "I love you," is "I love you, too."

Engaged: The Ring

She called me at 7:30 am on Friday morning. I'm not much of a morning person. I thought it was my alarm going off and almost hung up on her.

"Um, I just called to tell you that Jason and I are engaged!" she said.

In my awesome, you-woke-me-up-I-really-have-no-idea-what-you-just-said throaty voice, I think I might have moaned a congratulations (but probably after I made her repeat the news four hundred times before my incoherent brain registered what she was saying). I'm pretty sure I conjured some interest in how he proposed too, but all I remember of the story was something about carnations and a ring.

I think that I talked to my sister at least four times that day, once I fully woke up and put on my excitement. But I still didn't get the full story until she arrived home for her last spring break the next day. Jason made her breakfast in bed, then brought it to her room where she was still sleeping. Sneakily, he set her alarm to go off a minute later and she woke up to a yummy breakfast and a question that would change her life.

Amy and Jason met at college. They share a love of God and working out, among lots of other things. During their freshman year, I drove them home for Easter, and their friendship turned into something more that weekend. Ever since, they have been looking forward to the day that they can spend the rest of their lives together. Both will graduate in May and can't wait to experience all of their new beginnings together.

Now, if there's one thing you need to know about Amy, it's that she LOVES a good thrift store. Last summer, knowing that he wanted to ask Amy to marry him, Jason found a ring in the consignment section of the jewelry store. Which happens to be exactly what Amy wanted. A ring that symbolizes her love for Jason...and treasure hunting.

And...I am so excited to be shooting their engagement pictures sometime this summer! It is my gift to my sister, and the best way I know how to say, "Congratulations!"