Dreams Really Do Come True!

The Disney photographer was awesome.  He captured every moment perfectly!

What better reason do I need to get back into blogging than when I start planning my wedding!?  My dreams came true on April 6th, 2013 at the happiest place on Earth.  A lot of people have asked "how did it happen!?," so here goes....

Denny and I went down to Florida to spend a few days with his dad and Carol.  We had planned to go during my Spring Break because I couldn't take any other time off from school and Denny would be in between jobs (PS - Denny got a new job!)  Back in February or March, he asked if I wanted to drive over to Disney for the day and meet his sister and her husband for lunch.  Of course I said yes...if Disney is involved I always say yes!  We had planned to ask his dad to borrow their car to drive over for the day and then fly back home on Sunday.  A few weeks before we were to go down, his dad offered to drive us over to Disney and we would stay the night in Orlando and fly back the next morning.  I'm a little bit of an impatient person when it comes to travel plans.  I like to know who's driving, when we're leaving, etc.  So to wait until we got down to Florida to find out our flight home info was a little nerve wrecking BUT Dennis and Carol pulled it off perfectly.  The night before we were leaving, Carol told us she checked us in with Delta and we would just pay for our luggage and check-in when we got there.  I was clueless...

We left at 6am Saturday morning headed to the Magic Kingdom.  I was giddy as usual because I truly love Disney World.  We stopped about 30 minutes after being on the road at a rest stop.  I was a little confused but I was the only one who hadn't had coffee so I didn't complain.  Denny had wanted to get to the hotel and drop our bags off so we could catch the 7:40 bus but I knew we weren't going to make it.  He played it cool the whole time and when we got to the hotel, he said we would just take the 8:20 bus.  We had planned to have our luggage stored and I was a little iffy about that because I had my laptop with me and it is my pride and joy.  When he checked in, the receptionist said,"Oh! The room is ready!"  I was thanking God that it was "magically" ready and we didn't have to leave it in the lobby.  We threw our bags into the room and took off to the bus.  When we got to the park, a few random events occurred and now that I look back at them, I can't believe I didn't pick up on it.  Denny and I always go through separate bag check lines so we get through quicker and when we went through his line, the guy was really talking to him.  Denny isn't shy so I didn't think anything about it but later learned the guy was telling him to make sure he grabbed a Disney photographer when we proposed.  (He saw the ring box in his bag.)  While I was picking up our tickets, he went to call his dad (which really meant he was getting the ring out of his book bag and putting it in his pocket.)  We walked in and we decided to head to our "spot" and get our usual picture made in front of the castle.  He wanted to call his mom and let her know we had made it (which I had just texted mine as well....)  His phone conversation went as so..."Hey Mom - yup, we're here.  Walking down Main Street towards the castle. Aight, talk to you later. Bye!"  Denny doesn't usually make "short phone calls" and I looked at him funny and said, "did you just hang up on your mom!?" What I didn't know is that the phone call was to alert some special people who were hiding out near by. 

Here we go....so we get in front of the castle and we're taking our usual "castle pose picture."  He had his book bag on and said he was going to take it off.  I stood there waiting and turned to look around us (every time I go I feel like it's the first time all over again!)  When I turned back around, he was on one knee. (BEGIN FREAKOUT MODE!)  I just remember going "HOLY CRAP!!" and screaming and laughing and then the tears started.  He said something to the effect of "I love you....I want to spend the rest of my life with you...**insert my full name** will you marry me?"  I was still totally freaking out and flailing around at this point but I did say yes!! I jumped and hugged him and told him I loved him (lots of mushy stuff...) and he said, "there's one more surprise. Turn around."  I had no idea what he meant and when I turned...the real tears started.  My three best friends, Laura, Bone and Josh, were standing there taking pictures.  They had driven down the night before, went to bed around 3am and were up and at the park around 7:30am to spend the day with us.  The "mom phone" call was to Bone to let them know we were there and en route.  I was so happy I just hugged La and cried.  We were with La and Bone when they got engaged and even though we had only known each other for a short period of time at that point, it was so special and I always knew I wanted them to be there if Denny and I got engaged.  So after I got done hugging and crying to everyone, Denny asked me if I wanted to put my ring on.  This is where I freaked out again because I never really looked AT the ring, I was freaking out about the whole process.

IT. WAS.PERFECT.

I had always said I wanted something "different."  I have never been one to stick too much to the trends so I wanted a ring that you wouldn't see just anywhere.  Oh boy did he make that happen!  I just stared at it forever.

Why do pictures of hands always look horrible!? I'm 27 with 87 year old hands!

I called my mom and tried to play it cool but I was still in shock.  Talk about sensory overload.  You go to Disney with your boyfriend and 15 minutes after you walk through the gates, your engaged to the greatest guy ever, your best friends are there, and Space Mountain is SCREAMING your name.  I told my mom I loved her but that we had some rides to get to!  We literally took a group picture in front of the castle and took off to Tomorrowland!

So that's it!  We spent the rest of the day riding and snacking and riding some more.  I also realized we weren't flying home on Sunday.  We had a great time riding back and singing along to N'sync Radio on Pandora.  Now the fun begins...