the best easter ever.

This post was meant to be published last week, but things have been a bit busy. There's good reason I have been absent from the blog world, and I'm about to tell you why. As of Easter Sunday, I am now...

ENGAGED!!!!! :D

I am super excited to spend my life with my fiancee (still feels a little weird to say that) Tyler. He is the sweetest, most encouraging man I have ever known. He somehow puts up with my ridiculous, emotional self, and that in itself is pretty amazing. :) 
I know you're dying to see pictures so here are a few:

{Here's the story:}

{Well, a little backstory first - Tyler works offshore in the oilfield, and lives in Florida. I live in the Charlotte area of NC, and my parents live in the Raleigh area. Tyler's schedule is 3 weeks on/3 weeks off. We are long-distance right now, and usually see each other when he comes back onshore after each hitch. So it's not unusual for us to go a month without seeing each other.}

Anyways, the plan was for Tyler to drive up from Florida early Saturday morning, and get to my parent's house sometime Saturday night to spend Easter with me and my family. Well, he decided to surprise me and drove through the night on Friday night and got to my parent's house where I was staying on Saturday morning. I actually kind of unintentionally ruined that surprise because I had just woken up from a dream when I heard a car door slam, so I looked out the window and saw his truck. haha My Dad and him were talking, and I decided to just stay in bed for a little longer because I didn't want to ruin any plans or anything. A few minutes later, Tyler came in to wake me up, and it was so sweet. :)
Saturday we hung out with my family, and visited my older brother Nate, and his wife Rachel in Greensboro.

Sunday it was just Tyler, me, my Mom and Dad for church in the morning. We took a few pictures after church, then headed home for lunch. I went into my bedroom for something, and came out and my Mom said, "It's going to be about an hour before lunch is ready, why don't you show Tyler around Garner?" I love Garner because that's where I grew up, but there is not much there (aside from our famous White Deer haha). I was like, okay...sure we can do that (I had no idea what to show Tyler). Then my Mom said I should bring him to Lake Benson. Tyler was like, sure let's go there. My family was acting a little suspicious all weekend, and I thought something might be up, but that's when I was about 90% sure he was going to propose that day. :) I started getting a little nervous, and I was hungry. So I ate a Reeses egg on the way to the park. I didn't want to get hangry, after all (I offered Tyler one, but he said his stomach was bothering him - now I know why!). Anyways, so Tyler and I get in his truck and we make our way to the park. He grabs a wrapped present from the back of his truck, and we start walking towards the lake. We're just talking about silly stuff, and Tyler is talking about dwarves or wizards under bridges. I kid you not. haha I think he was a tad nervous. ;) 

We find this little spot that some people had just left that overlooked the lake, and we sat down on some tree roots by the edge of the water. Soon after we sat down, Tyler hands me the wrapped present and says, "This is your last birthday present. Do you want to open it now?" "Yes!" (I love presents). Well, I start unwrapping it, and it is a gorgeous woodburned plaque he made that said "Leah Will You Marry Me?". Pretty much all I saw was "Marry Me?" and I started crying! Happy tears, and shock, and excitement, all at once. Years of frustrations and conversations about my desire to be married, and thinking I'd never get married, all found that hope and special gift in that moment. God provided a wonderful man for me to love, and be loved by. I was just holding my hand over my mouth in shock, and finally started shaking my head yes, yes, yes, and finally found the words to say "Yes". I held out my hand, and Tyler put the most beautiful ring on my finger. We kissed, and it was just such a special moment, just the two of us, and I loved that. We sat there, just hugging, and enjoying the moment. I think we just kept saying to each other, "We're getting married!!" haha :) It was simple, and sweet, and thoughtful. And I love the plaque he made me, to show me his creativity, and it's something we'll always treasure and can think back on. He worked so hard on it, and I loved that. It means a lot to me. 

So, after that we headed back to my parent's house, and the day was filled with squeals, excitement, hugs, phone calls and all that good stuff. I was so so glad that Tyler chose that weekend when I could be surrounded by my family. It was really special to have that. :)

So, that is my big news for now, and wanted to share it with everyone. 

I am blogged out after that novel, so I hope everyone has a fantastic Tuesday!! And don't forget to enter the Good for the Soul giveaway mentioned in yesterday's post here.