Every man and his dog bet his bottom dollar, that Todd & I would get engaged on our dream trip to America back in May. I'd be lying if I didn't have multiple conversations with friends about the outfits I'd wear and the places it could potentially be. But in doing so, put so much pressure on it to happen and if you were to ask Todd, he'd probably say the thing he dislikes the most about me, is that I try and plan every inch of my life - so I probably should've known he'd want to do this his way, and I couldn't be happier that he did.
It was a lovely Sunday morning, that Todd wasn't working, so we decided we would go to the annual Frenchie Summer fun fete, in Chieveley - Newbury. Now my dog, has the body of a french bulldog but the spirit of the devil, he is always so energetic and I didn't want him to go bounding into the fete, piddling on anyone who looked at him and annoy us - so we went for a walk in hope that he would be a bit worn out by the time we got there.
Little did I know, we were always going to go for this walk. Todd had told me, a bloke at work recommended walking around HighClere and the surrounding areas. Todd also thought it might be a nice idea to use the picnic basket I had bought two years ago that had been sat in the junk cupboard ever since (a tendency of mine). I genuinely thought nothing of this, other than, after a recent argument he is really making an effort to do things I want to and spend quality time together, how nice? So I packed up a simple picnic of fruit bars, fresh fruit, crisps & bubbly, packed up the dogs things (seriously, God help me if we have kids i'm going to need to wheel around a bloody suitcase for all their stuff!) and off we went. Now last year at the fete they took a heck of a lot of photos so I wanted to look semi fashionable just in case we entered Gibson into any competitions etc, so I wore heeled sandals, what an idiot.
We weren't going for a little countryside walk, we were climbing a great big feck**g mountain, Beacon Hill. I'm exaggerating but it was pretty steep. I moaned the entire way, in fact I moaned about anything and everything that there was to moan about. I moaned it was too hot (whilst wearing a thin jumper) I moaned we would be late (after taking forever to get ready and prepare food) I moaned that the sun was in my eyes (whilst my glasses were on top on my head?!) I moaned the dog was being a little s*%t (even though Todd did the majority of the walking) and finally whilst clambering through branches and up 542653 steps, moaned that my feet hurt (whilst wearing stupid heeled sandals for a dog walk) fashion first right? Anyway I couldn't help but notice the smug look on Todd's face when after eventually getting to the top, I twisted my ankle and fell over, he probably thought "serves you right you moaning little *beeeeeeeep*". I've seen some beautiful views in my time, but this just beat all of them. I was with my little family, on a beautiful day, about to eat some food & appreciate some amazing views of the country side.
I still had no clue, even though Todd & I have our life panned out, by me (no he does get a say actually) and we talked about marriage/kids often, I thought maybe he simply wasn't ready and couldn't commit to things like the above, he works so bloody hard, he's a plumber and spends so much of his attention and time earning money for us, so he can give me everything (aw - he really is one in a million!)
It sounds so ridiculous, but I can't tell you how much of a lovely feeling I had, just to sit with my boys, admire views & talk. I find it's what we take for granted - the simple special moments, that don't cost a thing. We laughed and ate, Todd has his arm around me the majority of the time and I just felt so relaxed for once. Spending weekends together is such a big deal for me, as I said he's always working hard so this meant a lot to me.
The Frenchie fete was about to start so we needed to set off, after all, if it took us as long to get down as it did to get up Beacon Hill we needed some time! Todd was fumbling around and me being me, lost my patience and said "Will you hurry up, what the hell are you doing!?" whilst holding the picnic basket, the dog's bag & the dog who was desperate to leave.
Then it happened, from sitting down, he put up one knee, looked me in the eyes, pulled out the most AMAZING ring and asked me to marry him. I immediately dropped everything, including Gibson's lead and nearly pushed Todd off the bloody hill from leaping on him, I was so excited. Of course I did the typical girl thang, shouted YES! & cried.
He knows me better than I know myself, yes I wanted to be proposed to on that hot summers day rowing through central park in our little tin boat, or, when we were stood hand in hand in front of the Bellagio in Vegas. But I didn't need all of that in retrospect. The most important things to me are Todd, Gibson & our time together, so for him to ask me the most important question he would ever ask, when it was just the three of us and nobody else around, was just perfect.
Love, Rey x
