The Matchbook Diaries: April 25 is indeed the perfect date

Cheryl was right.

Image result for april 25 miss congeniality

On April 25, 2015 (around 10pm) Milton and I got engaged!!!

It may seem sudden, but it's not. We've actually been talking about this seriously since around February. I didn't want to be that girl who's delusional about her relationship status and starts blogging about her engagement before anyone's asked her to marry them, so I've held my cards a bit close to my chest. That being said, things have progressed very quickly since we first started talking about the whole marriage thing. We've covered all the big stuff - everything from how many kids we want (pretty important) to what kind of icing we want on the wedding cake (monumentally important). We haven't settled the kid issue just yet - Milton wants two, but I want seven so we can dress in hillbilly lederhosen (basically just bedazzled overalls) and perform all over Oklahoma as the Mid-West Von Trapp Family. Mostly we'd sing Garth Brooks covers, but I haven't really thought about it that much. Luckily we both agree that buttercream icing is the bomb.

But all this was premature, because Milton hadn't actually asked me to marry him yet. I kept reminding him of this minor, but important, detail on pretty much a daily basis. I think my persistence is something he really ~~loathes~~ loves about me. I had this desperate desire to preserve all the mystery surrounding the eventual proposal, but that sometimes conflicted with the control freak that lives just beneath the part of my personality that is normal. I didn't want to know when it was going to happen or what the ring would look like, but that didn't stop me from thinking about it pretty much every second of every day.

I had decided that Milton was going to propose next month. All signs pointed to it. In three weeks we were going to be on a family vacation with his mom and sister at a seemingly proposal worthy venue. He said he wanted to ask my father's permission in person since they'd be visiting me next weekend. Let's just say I've never been happier to be wrong about anything in my life!

Let me start from the beginning. Just think of this as the ultimate date diary.

I crashed at Milton's on Friday night, because we'd been hanging out so late. I stayed in the guest room - That's just how I roll. When I got up, Milton had coffee waiting for me. It was really sweet and reminded me of my parents' morning routine. We cuddled on the couch and made plans for the future. We'd been talking around our impending marriage for months, so we've gotten pretty good at this game. We talked about how it was a good sign that we didn't hate seeing each other first thing in the morning. Milton talked about starting a Saturday breakfast tradition with our family. I could almost smell the waffles and hear the children laughing in the background. I wanted all of it real bad but especially the waffles.

Finally I went home to shower and get ready for our day. Milton picked me up around 2pm so we could run some errands before an innocent date night that he had planned. We were headed to At Home (used to be Garden Ridge and I'm probably going to keep calling it that) to look for cushions for his patio furniture. Ever since we'd started talking about getting married, Milton has included me on every major or minor home accessory/furniture purchase. Milton is a smart man. We stopped at Sonic because I needed a large drink to keep me properly hydrated during the marathon that is Garden Ridge. I wasn't sure Milton would be up for walking every aisle, but he was such a good sport. We had so much fun just taking our time looking at throw pillows and garden statues.

We took the cushions back to his house and hung out for about an hour. We talked about what a perfect day of nothingness our Saturday had been so far. Our ability to make a fun day out of mundane activities is probably one of my favorite things about us.

Milton was excited for dinner. We were going to try a restaurant neither of us had been to before - Jazzmo's in Bricktown - and then catch a movie - Age of Adeline. I was a little on the fence about going to Bricktown since the arts festival was going on and I knew parking would be kind of a mess, but I decided to just go with the flow. It turns out parking was a total mess, but the restaurant was amazing! Bonus - it was prom night, so we got to share our table with about 30 high school kids wearing various inappropriate dresses while pretending to be seasoned at eating in a fancy restaurant. Milton and I reminisced about our own proms. It was a short conversation since neither of us went. Then we had a lovely discussion about whether high school Milton would have dated high school Mariah. Let's just say in relationships, timing is everything. I'm glad we met now and not then.

The movie was kind of dumb. The bright spot was when the main character revealed that she had named her daughter Flemming. I turned to Milton with a big, hopeful smile. He immediately started shaking his head no. I guess we're still undecided on future baby names.

Milton suggested a stroll along the river walk after the movie. I mentioned it was kind of cold, but he promised to keep me warm. How could I argue with that? I was still totally oblivious to his master plan. We walked hand in hand along the river. I was enjoying the peacefulness of the evening when all of a sudden Milton started talking about how this particular part of the river walk was unique because you got to see the backs of so many hotels. It seemed like a strange topic of conversation, but I had to admit, it was pretty special to see so many dumpsters in one place. I was just starting to wonder why he was talking about hotel asses when I noticed that we were in a very secluded part of the river walk. I had never been that far down the river, and I was actually starting to get a little leery. I decided that Milton was either going to propose to me or murder me. I quickly dismissed the first option since I just knew he was going to make me wait a few more weeks. The second option just seemed slightly out of character.

Finally we found ourselves at the Centennial Park monument - It's basically a garden with various large statues of horses, covered wagons, and Sooners (the land rush kind, not the football players). I proceeded to read the really lame plaque when all of a sudden Milton started kissing me. I just went with it. I try to encourage his enthusiasm for historical sites. The rest is history, but here's a transcript - it's a bit paraphrased since I was too shocked to get an accurate mental recording:

Milton: I have an ulterior motive for bringing you here.

Me: Oh really?

Milton: I actually talked to your dad on Thursday.

Me: Okay. (internally - ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh)

Milton: I'm not going to get down on one knee.

Me: You will if you expect me to say yes.

This is my only proposal. I wanted the full show. In his defense, his knees are sort of messed up right now from some rigorous tennis matches. He laughed and ushered me over to a bench so he could kneel down properly. It involved some grunting.

Milton: (very ceremoniously) October 2, 2014 turned out to be the best day of my life, because I met you. You are the most incredible person I've ever met, and I love you so much.

At this point, he opened the ring box he had stealthily pulled from his pocket.

Milton: (very seriously) Do you like it?

Milton had severe anxiety over picking out the ring. I gave him some instructions, but I refused to go with him to pick it out. I know I was being difficult, but he was getting a guaranteed yes. I didn't want to make it too easy for him.

Me: I love it! It's beautiful! (it really is!)

Milton: Will you marry me?

Me: Yes, of course!

-- pause for requisite kissing and general merriment --

I had thought about this moment a lot in the last few weeks. I had this whole plan to keep it together and tease him by saying no. In the moment, I was too busy trying to not cry to do anything but say yes. Lame. But perfect.

After trying unsuccessfully to take a selfie to capture our big moment, I waved down a few drunk girls passing through the park. The resulting picture turned out surprisingly perfect! And yes, you can finally see Milton's face! Isn't he cute?