A couple weeks ago I started getting strange ideas that maybe the proposal was coming sooner rather than later. Deep down though, I knew it was wishful thinking, as it did not match up with "the timeline" we had occasionally discussed earlier.

A few days prior, Josh suggested he cook me a nice dinner and then we head downtown to Chocolate Cafe.

"Hmmm," I thought, "Josh is planning something. That's not normal..." (Sorry, honey)

I tried to talk myself down of course and even dressed down to not get overly excited. Once Josh got there, all calm and casual, I KNEW nothing was gonna happen. It was just a normal date, which was fine with me.

Josh made a yummy dinner - steaks on the George Foreman, steamed mixed veggies and mashed potatoes, along with some wine we picked up from Bloomington the weekend prior.

After dinner we bundled up and drove downtown. We got hot chocolate and sat at "our table" from our first date 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 2 days prior. After awhile Josh suggested we go look at the Christmas lights downtown. In between the Chocolate Cafe and the College Football Hall of Fame was a beautiful archway of Christmas lights. We were standing underneath the arch when Josh started giving me all these sweet compliments and then said, "I have a question to ask you." My ears couldn't believe what I heard, and my eyes couldn't believe what they saw when he got down on one knee (on the cold, icy sidewalk), pulled out a beautiful ring, and asked me to marry him.

Full of shock, my response was, "Are you serious?!?" After much crying and hugging and kissing and giggling, I realized I hadn't actually provided an answer. "Yes, Josh H***, I will marry you." I said clearly and excitedly. So, on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 about 8:50 pm, Josh went from being my boyfriend to my fiance!

A bit later he said, "I think we have some paparazzi watching us." I turned around to discover my brother & sister-in-law behind us taking photos of the big event!

Eventually we went back inside, shared stories, and made phone calls. I had to hear all the details of when he talked to my parents, when he got the ring, and when he started making sneaky arrangements with Jen and Andy.

The whole thing was so stunning I could barely believe it was all happening to me! I am thrilled to be Josh's fiance and know I will adore being his wife too!