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The Engagement
Lindsay here...Gary & I got engaged on April 18, 2009 right before my 21st birthday party (Woo!!!). Here's the story...
I'll be the first to admit that it's very difficult to surprise me. Gary did a fabulous job trying to keep his plans a secret, but by April 18th I had several hints that something big was about to go down. Let's go over those really quick:
1. A month before the proposal, I accidentally overheard a phone conversation where my dad confirmed that he and Gary had met, and Gary had my parents' blessing. (Honestly, I was not even trying to snoop!)
2. My sister, Maggie Butler, knew everything. The week before my birthday party she kept asking, "Do you know what you're getting? Do you know what your BIG present will be???"
3. The day of the party, Gary and I were "going out for dinner" before everyone came over. Gary suddenly remembered he had to "stop at church to pick up some cups for the party." Unfortunately, I had noticed 4 huge stacks of cups my parents already had at home!
Gary managed to side step that landmine by making it sound like we still needed to go to church, so we stopped at Eastlake and headed back to the Junior High room...
The first thing I noticed was the table and two chairs in the middle of the room with spotlights shining down on them. I started to take in the candles lighting up the stage in the background, and Gary asked me to have a seat. On the table were letters I had given to Gary over the last year (from breaking in to his room at Christmas, congratulating his amazing laser tag skills, and missing him while I was in Africa) and a box that looking perfect for holding an engagement ring. Gary pointed at the box and let me know, "You're not allowed to open that yet." (SO tempting!)
We looked through the letters and shared our memories of the last year while some of our favorite songs played in the background (If It's the Beaches by the Avett Brothers). After we had gone through each letter, Gary turned off the music, put on his guitar, and sang Sweetness in Starlight by Matt Wertz (!!!). He says he messed up and skipped some parts, but I think he remembers it wrong...the whole thing was fabulous.
Next (yes there's MORE), Gary showed a video of him going to pick up the ring. This was especially fun for me to watch since he was sharing the details of how he picked out my ring (like "the diamond is so much more shiny" than others) by talking to his camera while walking through Bell Square...he got some odd stares from people passing by.
Gary wrapped everything up with a slideshow he made out of tons of pictures of us (alone and with y'all). While we were watching it Gary got the ring ready. After it was over he got down on one knee and asked,
"Lindsay Butler, will you marry me?"
I obviously said "YES!" We kissed and hugged (awwww!) while our friends Raoul, Sarah, and David came out from their secret picture-taking hiding places. The five of us ate some delicious Thai and headed over to my birthday party (and our engagement party!) to celebrate with friends!
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