Twisty Ties and Cell Phone Contracts

The Pilot and I returned safely from our magical Disney World vacation. He successfully jump seated there and back and got to sit in the cabin with me (not sure if he would be able to do that). I've been to Disney World countless times (and lived there for awhile) but this was by far the BEST VACATION EVER.

So those that have been following know that I've been carrying on and on about my Goofy Challenge training and my nerves/excitement about race weekend for six months now. During that time, I've mentioned The Pilot as he supported me throughout training but I haven't said much about him other than that. I'll try not to carry on and on too much about how amazing he is because it might induce vomiting (he's THAT sweet!). I will say that in the past year, he continues to surprise me in unexpected ways. Like when he agreed to cover 11 miles with me during Goofy training or how he packed my lunch for me today. But nothing surprised me more than what happened on Friday, my 30th birthday.

We woke up at my happy place (Disney World!!) and he gave me a card. It had two photos that were actually collages of the photos we had each used on our online dating profiles. (Yes, we met online!) He also told me that back at home he had printed out the e-mails we exchanged over the first couple weeks that led up to our first date. He printed everything on nice paper so that I could put everything into my scrapbook (I am THAT girl!). I was floored that he had thought up something so thoughtful. But all that was NOT the best surprise EVER.

We had reservations for a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom (never mind that I wanted to celebrate my 30th birthday with Winnie the Pooh). The park wasn't technically open yet but we were allowed in because of the reservation. We headed down Main Street USA towards Cinderella's Castle. A Disney cast member took some cheesy pictures of us in front of the castle. We still had a few minutes before our reservation so we walked closer to the castle and took some photos of the Partners statue (my favorite!). I noticed there wasn't anyone up close to the castle. Normally it is really crowded but since the park wasn't open yet, I wanted to take advantage of the empty park to get pictures of the castle.

As we walked up to the base of the castle, I asked The Pilot to get the camera back out. I looked over at him (wondering if he had the camera out yet)and quickly realized that he was down on one knee. I turned to him and he took my hand and asked me if....he could be on my cell phone contract as he slipped a beautiful....twisty tie onto my left ring finger.

I have to back up here.

Over the past couple months we have discussed both marriage and adding him to my cell phone plan. Both are obviously big commitments. I mean, if you break up and have to break the cell phone contract early, that's expensive!! So we have been joking about the cell phone contract as a symbol of commitment and one we weren't sure we were ready to make yet.

Now for that twisty tie. Aside from his job, The Pilot is very into the "green movement." He's a bit of a tree hugger, a little granola if you will. (And he slooooowly has me jumping on board too). We recycle/reuse just about everything in our house. During the cell phone contract conversations, I told him that instead of me getting him a wedding band one day, I would just slip a twisty tie on his finger.
So there we were, standing in front of Cinderella's Castle, The Pilot on one knee and me asking him, "Are you serious?!" I figured he was serious when I quickly realized he was still on one knee, waiting for my answer. I squealed out a "YES!" as he stood up and we hugged, kissed and stumbled over to the restaurant for our breakfast reservation. He filled me in that the ring wasn't ready yet but it would be arriving sometime during the following week.

We spent much of the breakfast eating, taking pictures with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore and staring at each other like a couple of love struck goons. The restaurant knew it was my birthday and had confetti on our table and they brought me a cupcake with a candle in it. I honestly couldn't even think of a wish to make as I blew out the candle. My prince charming had found me (on the internet!), fell in love with me and all my quirks and then proposed to me in front of a castle!It's been a whirlwind of a week as we have shared the news with friends and family (and tried to keep it off Facebook until we had made a select few calls-which we successfully did!). It still randomly slaps me across the face that I am getting married. That I am going to be The Pilot's wife!

I got an e-mail at work this morning with the subject: I'm wearing it. Attached was a photo of The Pilot's pinkie with my REAL engagement ring on it! How cruel! I had to sit at work all day (and wade through 175 unread messages from while we were on vacation) and daydream about the ring!

When I got home tonight, I had barely taken my coat off when The Pilot got down on one knee again and asked me to marry him. This time, he slid the real thing on my finger! I couldn't have asked him to propose in a more perfect way. I love him to pieces and truly look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.
Plus all this excitement is the perfect distraction as I recover from The Goofy Challenge. It's going to take me some time to get the race recaps posted but don't worry my wonderful bloggy friends, I finished both races and got my Goofy medal. I'm just a little more beat up than expected and may need to take a little more time off than planned...plus 39.3 miles of mostly race walking means a lot of writing and eventually there will be some long posts coming your way!