Daniel & Tara: Our Engagement Story

How did he do it?

It’s the first question out of anyone’s mouth when they hear you got engaged. Everyone always wants to hear the engagement story (and rightly so), so I’ve decided to write it on here so you all can read just how it happened.

We had both been extremely busy with work leading up to the September 15th tax deadline, and Daniel had another big project that carried over into October as well. He had been telling me for the past month or so that he really wanted to take a weekend and get away once all of our projects were completed and work slowed down, so I wasn’t all that surprised when he asked me in mid October if I would be able to take the 29th and 30th off of work so we could get away for a night. He claimed that his mom had suggested a bed & breakfast that she had a coupon for, for the month of October, however when I asked where it was and what we would do when we were there, he wouldn’t tell me anything more than that it was in Texas Hill Country and that he wanted it to be a surprise…hmm… slightly suspicious. I wasn’t entirely sure why his mom would be suggesting that we go spend the night in a hotel together, and I’d never really heard of a “coupon” for a bed and breakfast, but then again, considering that Daniel had been talking about getting away for a little while, I guess it made sense that maybe his mom would pass on some information if she’d heard of someplace great.

Of course the first thing that shot through my head when he said he wanted it to be a surprise was “Oh my gosh, he’s going to propose!” I’m a girl… that’s just how we operate. So of course then I went through all of the steps again in my head, and since Daniel just bought a house that we’ll be completely renovating in the coming months, I figured that there was no way he would want to spend all that money on a ring right now; he’d want to have a reserve of money in case anything happened with the house, that’s just how he works. So I tried my best to subdue the idea and just go on believing that he was just planning a nice weekend for the two of us.

On Wednesday, the day before we left Daniel emailed me a list of things to pack along with the weather forecast for Thursday and Friday (I of course packed all of the clothing “I would want to be proposed to” in, just in case), and on Thursday morning we set out for Texas Hill Country. It poured for almost the entire 3 hour drive, but as soon as we got into Hill Country it was bright and clear and the sun was shining. As we neared the town of Wimberley, we turned off the main road and drove for about a mile down a small back road, and finally we arrived at a little cabin called “The Little House on the Blanco”. Daniel hadn’t booked a bed & breakfast; he had rented a little cabin in the woods for us. The cabin sat on a property along with one other cabin, but no one was staying in the other house that night, so we had the whole property to ourselves. The property was gorgeous: it was green, and the air was crisp, and there were deer running around between the trees. Then beside the house was a stairway that led down to a little river. It was truly incredible. And the cabin itself was darling. We had a bedroom, a living room with a fireplace, a little kitchen, another little bedroom nook, a dining room and a bathroom (obviously), and outside was a covered patio with a barbecue and a hot tub.

Daniel had brought an ice chest full of rib eyes, vegetables, wine, eggs, breakfast sausage, bread, and strawberries… everything we needed to make dinner that night and breakfast the next morning so we wouldn’t have to leave the cabin. We unloaded the car, and walked down to explore the river. Of course my mind immediately jumps to “he’s going to propose here”, and I’m about ready to jump out of my skin. We walk along the river and talk, and then Daniel says “alright, let’s head back up and start on dinner”. No dice. He’s not proposing right now, and I’m trying to secretly coach myself to stop being such a girl and overanalyzing everything.

We head back up to the cabin, and he starts chopping vegetables, at which time I go in the bedroom to change. Just me, my bags, and his suitcase. Now at this point, I’m thinking that if he has a ring, it’s obviously in his suitcase. Part of me is dying to check his suitcase, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you view this kind of thing) I could never snoop through Daniels stuff. So I leave the suitcase alone and change into my next outfit that I might want to be proposed to in. I was in the room for a solid five minutes, and Daniel never even shouted a little “whatcha’ doin’ in there?” from the kitchen. We all know that if the ring had actually been in his suitcase, he would be freaking out right now, and if I know anything about Daniel, I know he wouldn't have just kept his cool and kept silently chopping vegetables and seasoning steaks. Conclusion: the ring is not in the suitcase, stop being a stupid girl.

We grilled our steaks and vegetables, opened up a bottle of Chalk Hill Merlot and had a pretty amazing dinner. Afterwards Daniel grabs the bottle of wine and a blanket and we headed back down to the river. We laid out the blanket on the grass by the river and we both sat down on it. Then I spotted it: a square object in his left pocket of his shorts. Good God… it’s a ring. He reached into his pocket, and lo and behold, he pulls out A CHOCOLATE BAR to go with the wine. “That’s it” I tell myself, “Daniel planned a really nice weekend for you, and you’re so busy trying to figure out whether he’s going to propose that you’re going to miss it. Stop being a girl and imagining stuff. You’re here, put the idea out of your head and just enjoy yourself”. Good pep talk.

So we laid on the blanket for a few minutes and talked, and then Daniel stands up and pulls me up with him. And then he got down on one knee. I immediately started crying, and apparently I said yes before he could even finish asking the question, typical.

There was never a coupon, he had only said that so that I would agree to go during the last week of October. His mom hadn’t found this place, he had found it himself. He did, however, make her write him an entire email about the “bed & breakfast” and the “coupon” just in case I had asked for some sort of proof (which I would never do, I assure you it never even crossed my mind). He had also secretly flown out to California for the day to ask my parents’ blessing a few weeks prior (which, by the way, when I found this out I of course cried even harder). He had been setting all of this up for almost a month, and although I was slightly suspicious, I had no idea all of this had been going on.

Everything was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, I couldn’t have asked for a better proposal, and I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better fiancé.