July 27, 2010: Engagement Day
The day started out rather stressful, actually. I went to pick up some of our friends from the airport in their FJ, which if you don't know, is a tank. The blind-spots are gigantic, and I may have taken it off roading when I missed the airport exit and had to hustle over three lanes. But, it turned out perfectly when I pulled up to the airport just as they were walking out. Only problem was the puddle of sweat I left in the drivers seat from nerves.
So I went back to the office and my friend Jocelyn was like "hey lets go to dinner tonight," and of course I agreed. On my way out the door my other friend Whitney commented "And lets go get some mani's!" to which I responded "No way I'm on a budget."
So a few hours later I was at home hanging out with Lori whenWhitney texted to see if she could come hang out after work. Of course. So she came over until Jocelyn was off, and we started talking about dinner plans. We're getting ready to walk out the door for dinner and nail polish (because I'm frugal, remember) when I remembered I had been trying to talk to my friend about the MPA program. Suddenly I couldn't think about anything except talking to Annie. So I told the girls I would have to do dinner and nails with them another night.
So I take off down the street to call Annie, because when I have real convos with people I need to be either driving or walking, as many of you know :). After a real frantic call from Jocelyn to Eddie about how I wouldn't get in the car, Whitney ran out the door yelling "Marianne! Wait! Come back... how long will you be?" But right then she didn't answer so I just came back and got in the car.
We headed off for a nail polish place, which I just assumed was a few minutes away. So when we were still driving 30 minutes later, I should have suspected something but didn't. We pulled into Wendy's for some beverages, and kept driving. We ended up in these neighborhoods looking at houses, just cruising. At this point Lori chimed in "we usually do this, we just start driving and end up lost." and I STILL had no idea anything
was up.
I was positive we had passed at least 8 nail polish shops by now so I got on my phone to find directions. Asking Jocelyn what the name was, she quickly made up "beauty brands", which coincidentally was an actual store, only 3 miles away. So I start directing her how to get there but she wasn't following. She starts driving back to the exact Wendy's/ gas station we were at 10 minutes ago, saying she's feeling sick.
Meanwhile Whitney is on the phone with the lady I want to get my wedding dress from, pretending to be me. Because a few days earlier I had called and she said she had no dresses that I would like and said don't even bother coming. Well I still wanted to, so Whitney called back saying all the right things. {Thank you!} Paige you KNOW that would have been you if you lived in Kansas.
So Jocelyn and Lori run into the store while Whitney and I are in the back seat, but we ended up standing outside the car in the grass. A few minutes later Jocelyn comes around the corner, followed by Lori, followed by EDDIE! I was so shocked/ excited. I thought he was 2 hours away knocking doors in Topeka! I had even been texting him about how hot it was and how the doors were. So I stood there for a few minutes so
confused but so excited to see him.
Good thing the girls took pics of the whole thing b/c the surprise of seeing him was one of the best parts. And at that point I had an idea that it may be happening. But at the same time I didn't because we were in normal clothes, and in my mind people were always
real fancy when they got engaged.
Eddie in the gas station before coming out to see me
So he told me to get my purse from their car and follow him. We started walking through the parking lot and I said "where's your car?" and he said "over there, by that van." I didn't even pay attention to it until he was like "And we're getting in it! Going with those people" motioning to the three people standing a few feet away. So this is when I started freaking out a little because I was seriously JUST talking about how awes it would be to take a HAB ride. But I thought I never would because they're a little pricy.
i think he had just pointed out the van
We got in the van and it was actually a pretty quiet ride. As you can imagine, a million things were going through my head. Are we getting engaged? Is this just to kick of an engagement week or something? Is he just being really nice and surprising me because I was talking about HAB rides?
We pulled up to this beautiful field with a pretty lake and waterfalls, and everyone jumps out. The crew starts blowing up the balloon, I go to the bathroom in the woods because a toilet is no where to be found, and we sign all the paperwork. Looking back, Eddie was nervous. He'll probably comment on this blog and say he wasn't, but I know he was :) Because we were standing there in silence! Eddie and I are never silent.
So once the balloon was ready, we jumped in and pushed off! Amanda from the crew was documenting the entire thing (didn't know it at the time.) The first two minutes were some of the most incredible because we barely cleared a lake and trees. It was so surreal and reminded us of those rides at amusement parks where the cable car is on a wire in the air above the park. Except we weren't hooked to anything.
So for the next 30 minutes we're just cruising the sky, chatting and taking it all in. Flying over manicured neighborhoods, horses and barns, lakes and cornfields, and tons of trees. The sun was just beginning to set so everything was drenched in soft light. This may sound like I'm making it up to craft the perfect story, but I'm not, check out the pics :)
balloon shadow
A few minutes into the ride I was starting to think that if he was ever going to propose to me, this would be the perfect time! Eddie's not one to drop the ball, and he of course proposed in the sky~
This marks the beginning of what I know will be an incredible life as Mrs. Prignano!
I really am the luckiest.
The rest of my life will be shared with someone who is kind, honest, so funny, smart, capable, exciting, handy, respectful, encouraging, accepting, and totally loves me.
I LOVE YOU EDDIE
Oh, and P.S.
PRIG(rhymes with brig like brigham)-NAN (rhymes with pan)-O
