finally....

alright, alright.... after much harassment i'll now share the proposal story.

oh yeah - JOHN AND I ARE ENGAGED!!!! finally, right?

anyhoo, john suggested that we meet in the city for dinner to celebrate my promotion and the house. i thought this was a bit suspicious b/c we've been saving money like whoa (does anyone still say that?)(it stays), but let's be honest here. i've been expecting a proposal for months anytime we've gone anywhere; mets games, st. john's games, just driving around, etc. john tells me to meet him at 5th and 33rd and we'd walk to the restaurant together, to which i suggested he just tell me where the restaurant was so i could meet him there; my train was coming in an hour before he got out of work. he was insistent that we meet at 5th and 33rd, so i finally acquiesced. being the jerk that i am, i asked, "well where's the restaurant?" he said he couldn't remember. "well, what's it called?" he said he couldn't remember. by the time i asked what kind of food it served he was supremely annoyed and just said, "it's italian. don't worry about it."

after walking around h&m for an hour (where i swear they were following me - my purse was bulging b/c i had brought my scarf and gloves and hat even though it was warm as hell that day)(stupid much?), i walked over to 5th and 33rd, where john was patiently waiting. he gave me a kiss, grabbed my hand, and turned the corner onto fifth, then quickly entered the building on whose corner we had just met. i was confused, especially when i realized it was the empire state building. for a split second i was like, "maybe the restaurant's in here?" but as soon as he guided me toward the observation deck entrance i knew what was up.

again, i'm a jerk, so i asked, "are we going up? why?" he said, "i've never been up there, i thought it would be a nice surprise," with that smirk on his face we all know and love (he is the WORST liar...). as we neared the escalator one of the latina workers (seriously, they were all hispanic with nasty attitudes) said something about tickets and john pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket - he had PRE-BOUGHT the tickets to the top and printed them out. when i saw this i said, still a jerk, "wait, you BOUGHT tickets already?" he smirked, sighed, and shook his head, while i removed my coat b/c i was sweating my ass off from anticipation.

after a convoluted trip up to the top, during which EACH AND EVERY ONE of the slick-haired, long-nailed empire state building employees warned us that there was "zero visibility, just so you know, you can't see anything from the top, nothing," we finally walked out onto the observation deck. it was pretty empty, save a few foreign tourist who didn't speak english and obviously bought the tickets far in advance, and man they were not kidding about the visibility. as we walked down the ramp to the deck, a cloud literally passed by my feet. sooooo cool.

oh yeah, i forgot that after we passed through security john said, "better get the camera ready," to which i asked, "what? you brought your camera? why?" {sigh}. let the boy have his surprise, jerk.

so we walked around attempting to take pictures of the bustling city below, and at first it wasn't so bad. it was pretty amazing, actually, looking down on the millions of lights and the thousands of cars, faintly hearing horns beeping, but generally in silence. it was so calm up there and we felt so alone, which john was thankful for.

after we walked almost completely around, john shut off his camera and put it in his pocket. with that smirk on his face he said, "now for the real reason we came here," and pulled the box from the inside pocket of his jacket. i was choked up and put my hand over my mouth - i felt so awkward, i didn't know what i should do at that moment. i mean, i had imagined it so many times, but when it actually happens you feel so out of it and nervous. the altitude and lack of oxygen to my brain probably played a role, as well.

anyway, he casually leans on the cement wall overlooking the city, now mostly covered in soft gray clouds, and says, "no speeches, that's not my style" (NOW who's the jerk...). still standing, he opens the box, looks right into my eyes and says, "regina linge, will you marry me?"

wait for it... wait for it......

i say....

"wait a second, aren't you going to get down on one knee?"

john: "are you serious??"

me: "uhhhh yeah."

john, sighing, quickly looks around then drops to one knee and says, "let's try this again. regina linge, will you marry me?"

then of course i squealed and grabbed him and said something along the lines of "yes, yes, yes, of course!" and cried and hugged him and kissed him. he reminded me about the ring, which i had barely noticed (to his relief)(yeah, he knows me well, huh). it's a little big, but that's my fault - i gave his sisters the wrong size (that's another story for another day).

so we descended back into reality, now engaged. we called each other "fiance", like they did on seinfeld, for a few days, which was fun. oh, and when we got back down to the street john says, "sooooo where do you wanna eat?" {sigh}. heartland brewery was right next door, so we settled down for some beers and greasy bar food. he said that his sisters would be horrified that he didn't take me somewhere "nice," but i think that night prefaced what will be a drastically different wedding from theirs'. i mean, their weddings were beautiful, but wayyyy more expensive and formal than ours will be, believe me.

so that's my story, finally. i'll be posting pictures of dresses, don't you worry, and updating y'all with wedding info. just a warning: we are severely low on funds, what with a house, student loans, and the babe, so we can't invite everyone and their mother. if you don't get invited please know that we love you but are sadly very VERY poor. just a disclaimer.

anyhoo, time for bed. tar-gay tomorrow morning. boo.