Five

What happened 5 years ago today? Hmm...

It was a very special day. Nathan and I were driving to my home town from Bethany to spend thanksgiving with my family. My parents had just moved into town from the acreage so on the way into town, Nathan and I stopped at the old place. Of course, the door was open (we didn't even receive a set of keys when we bought the place...we later bought new knobs that had keys, but we still never locked it!) so we went in to have one last look at what had been my home from ages 10 to 18. We wandered through each room, which were all, of course, empty, and when we got to my old bedroom, I started to cry. I missed it. I showed Nathan my wall, first in my closet and then behind the closet door, where I marked my growth on the first of every month for years. I saw my light fixture that I'd bought at a youth fundraiser auction. I saw my yellow walls and that hideous water filter that took up such precious real estate in my already small room. And I cried.

Before we left for the weekend, Nathan had made me promise that we would take a walk to my favorite place on our yard...a corner of a field. I had promised him that we would, but when I got all emotional, I said I just wanted to go into town. He tried to persuade me that a walk would make me feel better but, being the stubborn person that I am (not really), I refused to go. So Nathan improvised quickly and sat me down in the bay window in the empty living room. He knelt in front of me and said a bunch of nice stuff (which I just wrote off as him trying to make me feel better) and then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. He ended his beautiful speech with the words, "Niki, will you marry me?"

I was shocked (I expected a proposal that weekend, but AFTER he'd seen my parents and asked my dad...sneaky boy went and called my dad on the phone before we left). Thankfully I recovered quickly and hugged him and said, "Of course!"

So today is the fifth anniversary of our engagement. Nathan is surprised each year that I remember this day and celebrate it. I guess it's because I always saw my dad get my mom flowers on the anniversary of their engagement so, naturally, I remember our special day. October 8, 2004. I'm not sure what I'm going to do today that's special. Nathan has class all day and we are having supper with another family here in the court tonight. If I had balloons, I would decorate a bit, but I don't even have that this year. Maybe I'll make a banner...haha. Wish me luck!