He asked; I said Yes!

I've been in love with the same man for about 6 1/2 years now. It's been a bumpy ride, but well worth it. He's one of those guys ya just can't help but like. Complete opposite of any man I'd been with before we met. Yes, I usually head straight for the assholes. The good looking ones who treat me like crap. So imagine my reaction when I met a nice guy, who's also good looking AND treats me well! Who actually cares about what I want and means it when he asks 'What do you want to do?' I think the first two years of our relationship were totally indecisive. We had more arguments over where to eat or what to do on a Sunday afternoon because neither of us had ever been with anyone who gave a crap what we wanted!

Anyway, that's a short history. And for any of you who know my fiance, you know he takes his sweet-ass time making decisions. Yes, we'd talked about being together and getting married, having children, etc. And even without any prompting from me, he was fairly vocal that he knew he wanted to be with me. No fear. No hesitation. So what the HECK is taking so long?! I've been asking myself this question over and over for at least a year.

I finally gave up and started joking about it. I'd tell him I figured he was the guy who would propose 5 minutes before I was ready to walk down the aisle. And we'd laugh. And then I'd get pissed off and hold it all inside, because I didn't want to have more arguments over this.

My company sent me to Naples, FL for a training last March. I thought it seemed like a perfect time for a little vacation for us. I hadn't had a solid week off in over a year! And, Pete's brother lives near Naples, so it was perfect! So, we planned to take the whole week off and fly down to Florida the Saturday before my training. The training was only on Wednesday and Thursday.

It was a beautiful trip! The weather was good for the most part. We didn't bicker at all, which is somewhat unusual. It was blissful and exactly what I needed. I kinda thought he might 'pop the question' while we were in Florida, but like usual, I talked myself out of that thought. Nah, Pete will wait until his job changes or maybe 2 days before my apartment lease is expiring. Something like that.

That Wednesday, I went to my training and we went to dinner a little late that evening. When we came back to our room, there were chocolate covered strawberries and chilled champagne. Then I thought 'Ohhh, he's gonna do it!!'. We took it out on the patio facing the ocean and sat for a while. He guzzled the champagne while I munched on the strawberries.

At about 11pm, I started yawning. I was getting cold and was more than a little tired so I said I wanted to go inside. 'No!' Pete said. I thought his reaction was a little crazed, so I asked if he was ok and he said yes. So, we sat for a little while longer and again I said 'Babe, I'm gonna have to go to bed before long.' He looked positively sick. I asked again if something was wrong and he kinda mumbled 'Nothing, I'm nervous.' I asked what he was nervous about and he said 'Nothing, I'm just nervous.' So when I got up to go inside, he grabbled my hand and had a little box. Then he said 'Carrie Beckner, will you marry me?' I kinda shocked myself, I didn't cry or anything! I started giggling though. He was sweating, he was so nervous! I said 'Yes, of course!' and he put the ring on my finger. Then I started with the 'Are you sure's. Stupid me, he gets up the nerve to propose and I want to know if he's sure?! He said 'Yes, I'm sure! Stop asking me that. I'm gonna go throw up now.'

The next day was much better. I hadn't dreamed it. And we had a nice time the rest of the week. The perfect vacation! No worrying, which is very odd for me. I didn't even start worrying about when we'd actually get married. Just plain ol' happy :).

Now all we had to figure out was how to actually 'be' together, in order to get married, with his job in California and mine in Fairmont, WV.

Intro stage left: Insanity