Nicolette & Brian: Sneaky boy

Let's try some wedding math!

Major DIY bathroom renovation (going on month 2)

+
45 days til Christmas
-
no income for 3 months
=
engagement ring (?!?)
Ehm, I'm not known for my math skills. To me, it doesn't add up. Still doesn't. But it did to Brian in the fall of 2009...

After the initial shock of the proposal wore off, I immediately wondered when the magical money fairy visited us because, at last count, things were going to be tight for awhile. And, like any classy lady, I voiced those thoughts. Brian's reasoning was sound. After dating and living together for almost 4 years, we agreed marriage was on the horizon. We were ready but felt no immediate pressure. Even a just few months prior, when his mom privately asked if he had any plans to propose, he brushed her off because "I wasn't going anywhere."

For Brian, this whole marriage thing crystalized on a visit to New Jersey. His grandparents, married 68 years, were forced to spend their days and lonely nights apart while she was hospitalized. He saw how miserable they were without each other and knew he felt the same way about me. We were waiting for no good reason.

Once back home, he used the guise of working on our bath reno to slip away for some ring shopping. (Boy, am I glad I never complained about how slowly the bathroom was coming together!) He knew I had a wedding folder buried on my computer. He had seen it a year ago when I helped a friend synthesize her wedding vision. Sneaky boy copied the entire file onto a thumb drive the first chance he got. Among other things in this folder, were pictures of rings I adored (subdivided by cut and labeled). All the images were printed out and brought to the jeweler.

The (very helpful) print-outs
Brian and his friend (presumed helping with said renovation) spent many afternoons in this jewelry store inspecting diamonds with loupes, discussing metals and looking at settings. He even asked my co-worker to find out definitely what shapes I liked, just to be sure. When she asked, I thought nothing of it since I had just bought a wedding magazine and kept it secretly stashed at work. (If that's not a sign of our shared readiness, not sure what is!)

Was your engagement a total surprise??

If you're curious how the renovation turned out, keep scrolling.