Two engagement rings…

After some thought and a few days of engagement bliss Amanda and I decided that I should have an engagement ring as well… I mean we are both the bride, and the bride should get to wear an engagement ring, right?? Who knows… we just both wanted to have a visible token of our engagement, and since we can do whatever we want we did. I got a matching smaller width tungsten ring to go with hers. I returned the two previously purchased rings that did not fit her and ordered my ring. I know I mentioned before, but the ring company we purchased from (EMBR) was really helpful and easy to work with. The rings are inexpensive, the company is great with communication, and they deliver quickly. When we got my ring Amanda wanted to put it on me, so she took her turn proposing, and of course I said yes 😉

Here are our two rings together and I like mine so much I will probably just switch it to my right hand when I get my wedding ring.

She said YES!!!

After a week of not sleeping well, having no appetite, and probably making Amanda think I was crazy because I was being so sensitive it was FINALLY Sunday morning. I am a horrible secret keeper and I just like to tell her everything and it was really hard to omit something so exciting and big from our interaction.

We got a little bit of a late start down to the parade which was probably good because I was so anxious waiting to propose. We had two good friends from portland in town with us as well as my two co-conspiritors (her mom and one of my best friends, Shea- whose proposal at Disneyland we were present for). When she went to use the bathroom one of our friends went after her to keep her distracted (brilliant work Christina!) while I went to talk to the announcers at the stage. I got them on board with my plan, they were excited too, and they said they would call us up to the stage right before the parade started.

The announcers began warming up the crowd and said that pride was all about love and that they had some friends who wanted to give us a real life demonstration of love and could Sara and Amanda come up to the stage. I pulled her up there- she definitely knew what was going on at that point.

I had about 5 different variations of my proposal planned out but I told myself not to overthink it and just go with the flow once it was happening. I told a little story of how we first came together, only stumbling over my words a little bit and taking her wrong hand, then asked her if she would marry me. I had more to say but I was afraid I would start rambling and I didn’t want to keep her up there forever. My beautiful princess said yes, and I felt so relieved that I had pulled it off and had given her a proposal that I thought was worthy of her love.

We got to walk back to our friends and her mom (my future mom too!!) and get hugs and pictures. Her mom had gotten us “bride to be” sashes to wear for the day and she put them on us. I asked if we could have a quick little walk so I could have a minute to decompress with her. I let her try on the second ring I had brought with me that day but it seemed like the size 6 fit best. I got to hug her and cry for a few minutes and apologize for being difficult that week. She said she had no idea I measured her finger (not that I recommend that as an accurate technique).

We got to spend the rest of the day with our people and lots of little moments hugging and kissing and being excited together. It was a pretty great day ❤

Thank you to our dear friends Shea, Adrian, Trish, and Christina, and of course MOM for helping make this day so memorable and special. We love you.

 

If at first you don’t succeed buy a few more rings and hope for the best…

So after ordering Amanda (aka sleeping beauty)’s ring I was sent a shipping confirmation and eagerly awaited delivery. When it arrived on Tuesday I was so excited I ran upstairs to the mailbox to get it and barely made it in the door before opening the mailer envelope. I loved the interior envelope it came in so I did make sure to stop and catch my breath long enough to grab my camera and grab some photos.

I love the ring and the packaging, not to mention the speedy service and I would definitely recommend this company (EMBR) to anyone looking for a tungsten steel ring. Unfortunately after trying it on my finger I knew it would be too big for Amanda’s delicate alien fingers and I was going to either have to propose knowing the ring was too big or try to get a smaller size before Sunday.

Here is the ring perfectly fitting my child sized sausage-like fingers

So I contacted 2 people- My future brides mom, and the company (via Facebook) and they both replied within the hour. Mom was on top of it by helping me reassess ring size by measuring her own ring since their hands are similar sizes and agreed that having a ring that fit her that day so she could wear it immediately would be ideal.

I started to think I would be safer having two more sizes of ring when I proposed, so if the first didn’t fit I could have a second option and hopefully at least one of the THREE RINGS I will have in my possession will fit her perfectly. The Company representatives at EMBR were really nice and said that any ring that didn’t fit could be returned for a full refund, so I felt really safe placing an order for another two rings. Hopefully they will arrive by tomorrow to ease my anxiety about having the right ring in time.  Note to self and other sneaky proposers- string is not the most accurate way to measure someones finger, especially if you are trying to do it without them noticing!

Cross your fingers that she says yes and all my frantic measuring and ordering pays off!

 

How to somewhat successfully get your girlfriends ring size without her knowing

This week Amanda, hereafter referred to as Sleeping Beauty and her other aliases, started a new job. She has been working hard, getting up on a new early schedule (as she used to work evening shifts), and has been riding the high of the stress and excitement of a big life change.

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Let me diverge for a minute- about 6 months ago I found THE RING. I saw it online in an instagram ad… note to small business owners, apparently those sometimes work. I knew the second I saw it that this was THE ring for Aurora. See she’s not your typical girly girl. She wants a more simple band, she doesn’t wear jewelry in general, and she doesn’t like to wear feminine things in general. So when you are a girl proposing to another girl, and she’s not the blingy engagement ring type, what do you use to propose? I want her to be able to select her own wedding band. I feel like that is something you will be wearing every day for, hopefully, the rest of your life and it has to be perfect for your hand. So I wanted her to have an engagement ring and a wedding band as two separate entities… unless she just really loves the engagement ring so much that she doesn’t want a second band.

I saw the perfect ring that just called to me for SB. It is black tungsten steel, won’t bend or scratch, and it has a red anodized interior. Black and red are her favorite colors. Now this may or may not sound like a plus to you but for Aurora it is- it was inexpensive and easily replaceable. She sometimes loses things and is not used to wearing and keeping track of a ring. I wanted this to be something that she would not have to stress about ruining or losing. It could happen, and I want it to be easy to replace while she gets used to having a ring. The only thing that was keeping me from buying this ring was that I was unsure of what size to get. I would have had it for months waiting for the right time.

I have been thinking about the proposal for awhile. When to do it? How to do it? While I am an introvert, and would probably like to be proposed to in a more intimate setting, SB is not. She is an extrovert, she likes big, bright, loud, shiny! I knew that the perfect proposal for her would have to be something largely public and grand. Of course I think she would accept any proposal but I wanted to make it perfect for her. I finally settled on a when and how but now the time is getting close and I still don’t know a ring size.

Being the planner I am I had actually tried to get her ring size in the past when I made her a ring around Christmas time in a metal smithing class I took. The ring was just a for fun ring and I didn’t realize that when you make a ring you should actually make it slightly too tight because once you completely polish it the ring will have actually increased in circumference. By the time SB got her ring it fit her middle finger much better than her ring finger. One more complication was that Aurora has been doing crossfit lately and has lost some weight and I think her fingers have gotten smaller. So now I just know that it has to be smaller than the ring I made her. How much? No idea.

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So back to our story. I devised a plan to try to measure Auroras finger. She would be hanging out with some friends on friday night and no doubt celebrating her new job. I was hoping she would be drinking a little extra… Usually when she is out late with friends she sleeps on the couch so she won’t wake me up by coming in to bed. Frequently with the tv on. I was hoping she would pass out in the living room with the tv on and would be sleeping soundly enough and with enough background noise and stimulation that I could measure her finger without her waking up…

I had cut a decent length of dental floss and my original plan was to tie it on her finger and then use cosmetic scissors to cut it off, but I convinced myself that she would feel the scissors if the string was appropriately tight. So I opted to use a marker to mark the string where it crossed on her finger. I had all my supplies ready, plus my phone as a camera to take a video for her mom, when my alarm went off at 2am.

I went out into the living room and my plan was foiled! The tv was off and her hands were tucked in the blanket. I had to think fast! I woke her up and told her she should come in the room since I was up to go to the bathroom. She came to bed and I put on the tv “so I could fall back asleep”. I held her hand and waited until it seemed like she was sleeping. Then I very smoothly (probably not smoothly) loosened my hold on her hand and wound the string around her ring finger while holding her hand further out. I crossed the string over her finger and quietly (probably not quietly) removed the cap with my teeth- I only had one hand. I marked the string where it crossed with the marker and then removed the string gently (probably not very gently). I had done it! Then I dropped everything on the floor and had to get out of bed to pick it up. While I was out of bed on the floor picking up my phone, the marker, and string Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes and asked me what I was doing. I told her I dropped my phone and I was sorry if I woke her up. I would be right back because I had to go to the bathroom. I left the room and measured the string with a measuring tape. I erred on the side of it being too big because I wasn’t sure if I had actually been able to get the string tight enough. This resulted in my 3am ordering of a size seven ring. Was she awake the whole time just pretending to be asleep so she didn’t ruin my secret plan? Totally possible and I will definitely ask her after the proposal. Also she had marker on her hand in the morning and probably wondered how it got there.

Until next weekend I will be constantly stressing and second guessing myself that a 7 was the right size. Until then we just all have to wait to find out!

 

 

Disney Wedding Obsession

*note* at the time of this blog post I am not yet engaged. Amanda and I have talked about the dream of getting married as an idea since the early months of our relationship. After two years together when her friends asked which of us would propose first she said “Probably Sara, but only because she will be able to afford the ring first.” I make light of the fact that we are not engaged in this post but I don’t want you to get the idea that I am planning our wedding without Amanda having any clue what is going on. She knows guys, I tell her gushingly everything I spent hours researching about Disney Weddings each day. She loves me anyway. Also I am not sharing this super secret blog until we are engaged at which point I will let her read my backdated posts and she can laugh at me.

You may or may not know I have been obsessed with Disneyland since my mid 20’s. Before that time I loved Disneyland, and was excited for any opportunity to visit but my love had not overflowed into what one could technically deem an obsession. As far as I can guess that corner turned about a decade ago. Since then I have gradually increased the amount of time, energy, and money (let’s not kid ourselves) I put into all things Disney.

Just over a year ago our very good friends got engaged after the Disneyland fireworks show while we were there together on a trip. What a magical and perfect moment for a proposal!

Here is the future bride with her beautiful ring the next morning… and as you can see I am wearing my “happily ever after” pin… no I didn’t get it to celebrate, I have had it for years, lol.

We visited Disneyland for a second time that year to take my niece Madison on her very first trip. My dad grew up in Pasadena and went to the park as a 5 year old kid the first year it opened, and many times following. My sister and I went on our first trip when I was around 6, from what I remember right at this moment. Our Dad took us on a second trip a few years later. Disneyland was an important part of my childhood (and my Dads) and I wanted it to be a special memory for my niece and nephew as well. Unfortunately Brody was not able to come due to his school schedule but Amanda and I had a great trip with my Dad and Maddie.

On the Jungle Cruise, one of my favorite rides!

On that trip I was very dedicated to keeping the magic going 24 hours a day so I ponied up for a few nights at Paradise Pier so we could stay in the Land of Disney throughout the whole trip. One day while walking through the Grand Californian lobby to get to Downtown Disney we saw a wedding being set up in the courtyard and a bride in her dress being moved from one room to another. A lightbulb went on in my head- it wasn’t as if I didn’t know you could get married at Disneyland, but I was just reminded that real people do this. My first thought was most likely that there was a REAL PRINCESS right in front of me, my second was that it was probably very expensive to get married at DL. Not too long after I saw the Free Form special “Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons” on TV and immediately looked up the website to see just how much a Disney wedding would cost and what options were available.

I found out that yes(!) there are Disney weddings available for most all budgets, I started searching for more information and thus began my DISNEY WEDDING OBSESSION. Since then I have logged over 43 hours of Disney Wedding Podcasts, joined 3 (maybe 4) Disney wedding Facebook groups, spent hours reading every disney bride or wedding blog I could find, followed every Disney wedding photographer-make up artist- hair stylist- etc I could find on instagram, and now have had phone calls with the Disneyland Fairy Tale Wedding Team. Sue and I talked for 45 minutes yesterday. First name basis.

Am I engaged? No, but you will hear all about it soon… shhhhh