Reflections of My Life: I'm the Luckiest Girl in the World!!!

In case you haven't heard it from me, Adam, my family, his family, Facebook, or word of mouth.....
ADAM AND I ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!
On July 3rd, I experienced one of the most important days of my life (a day I have been dreaming about since I was a little girl) - the man of my dreams asked me to marry him, and I said YES!!!! I can't wait to tell the wonderful story, but I must preface it by saying it was a COMPLETE surprise! I wasn't expecting it at all, which is exactly how I wanted it.....

Last weekend, I flew down to Maryland to celebrate our 1-year anniversary and the 4th of July with Adam and his family. Adam and I started 'officially' dating on July 5th last summer after we had known each other and been friends for a few months. I flew in around dinnertime Friday night suffering from a lack of sleep and a fried brain I had gotten from taking my 2nd Anatomy test earlier that morning. Adam was also going on little sleep because he had been getting up at 4:00 for work at the Naval Academy every morning, and staying up late at night to plan the special weekend :) We ate dinner Friday night and hung out with the fam for a bit before going to bed fairly early since Adam had to work the next day from 5 am to 5 pm (yes, he was working on Saturday).

When Adam finally got home from work Saturday night, he seemed really tired and didn't want to do much of anything (little did I know this was all part of his plan....). I was a little bummed because I hadn't seen him all day, but I knew he was tired. So, I volunteered to read him a few excerpts from a book on maintaining a God-centered relationship, Going All the Way by Craig Groeschel, Pastor of LifeChurch in Tulsa, OK. I fully expected him to be as enthusiastic about it as I was. I mean, what guy doesn't want his girlfriend to read to him from a book on relationships? Unfortunately, he started to fall asleep while I was reading it (again...all part of his little scheme). I'll admit, I was getting pretty upset at this point. All I wanted to do was spend time with him since I hadn't seen him all day, and all he wanted to do was take a nap! So, I left the room, feeling unimportant, so he could take his nap.

A few minutes later, he comes to his senses and suggests we go to Starbucks to grab some coffee so he could stay awake while we discussed the book I wanted to read to him (again...all a part of his planned ruse to keep me from suspecting anything). As we walk out the door, his mom yells, "stay focused, Adam." I thought that was strange at first, but I just assumed she knew how tired he was and there could have been a possibility of him falling asleep at the wheel. We drive to Starbucks in silence. I was still a little bummed, but I was getting over it. Then, Adam realizes he forgot his wallet, and I hadn't brought mine either. He says he doesn't want to turn around and go back, so we can just sit outside at Starbucks and read the book. I also thought that was a little strange since he was the one who obviously needed the coffee, but I pushed that thought aside and didn't think twice about it.

As we are getting out of the car at Starbucks, he pulls a sack out of the back seat of his car. I was unaware that we were exchanging anniversary gifts early, but he said he was really excited to give me my gift. So, we sat down at this table and I opened my wonderful present!

A brand new camera!!! It's a pretty blue color, it's waterproof and can take video underwater, it's shock resistant (b/c I don't have any problem with dropping and damaging technological devices), and it has really good zoom. I was super excited! As a matter of fact, it didn't even dawn on me that the camera already had a memory card in it, it was fully charged, and the date and time had been set. I just assumed the Panasonic people wanted me to get full use from my camera the minute I took it out of the box.
I'm admiring my new camera and Adam is explaining all the features to me when he suggests we take a picture. So, he extends his long arm and takes our picture.
(side note: I feel like most girls are dressed nicely and look stunning when they receive their engagement ring....not me. I had been at the pool all day, I had on dirty clothes, chlorine in my hair, and had yet to shower)

So, we take this picture and as Adam is showing me the picture, I get distracted by something I notice: His hands were shaking like crazy, and since my eyes are level with his chest, I realized I could see his heart beating through his shirt. "Wow, he's super excited to give me this camera!" I thought to myself. Again....totally oblivious.
He decides he doesn't like the picture and suggests we take another one. So, I smile, he takes another picture with shaky hands, and I think "it's a good thing he didn't get any coffee. Who knows how bad he would have had the shakes?"
Still oblivious....as always.
He hands me the camera and I look at the screen....it's not a picture of us; it's a picture of a collage of words. I do a double-take and reread the words as Adam is getting down on one knee, "Will you marry me, Laura Beth? I love you."

I was shocked speechless and words were not coming out of my mouth right away. Finally, I screamed "YESSSSSS!!!" and told him I loved him for the first time! It was a complete surprise, and for once, I'm thankful I was oblivious to the little signs. So.....we took another picture! If you look closely, you can see the smile that was stuck on my face for the rest of the evening, and still creeps up every time I think about that moment :)

We spent the rest of the evening celebrating with his family and chocolate cake, spreading the news to everyone we knew, and saying "I love you" to each other. Those 3 words mean so much more when you save them for the moment you know you truly mean them.

I'm currently wearing a "temporary" ring because Adam specifically thought of and sketched a design idea for my real ring, and it's being specially made with unique features that are all symbolic of something. The "temporary" ring is beautiful sterling silver and CZ from Amazon.com, but it is still very special to me. When he described what he had designed for my ring, I bawled like a baby because it was perfect; exactly what I wanted, and we had never even discussed rings! When it's finished, I'll put some pictures up, but below is a good shot of the one he proposed with: