[Cross-posted from my blog, [link] , which is easier to read with pictures]

Jeff's proposal was perfect and I'm so proud of him for pulling it off without leaving me suspicious of anything (aside from misplaced scissors, but I didn't automatically make the jump from misplaced scissors to oh-my-god-he's-going-to-propose.)

As most people know, we're not the most conventional of couples, so the bended knee proposal doesn't necessarily fit our style. It wouldn't have Jeff's mark on it if it didn't have some clever twist.

I should start this story by saying that Jeff and I stopped giving each other gifts a long time ago. We've been together for six years, and somewhere in that amount of time we grew so sappy in love with each other that we realized being with each other was all we really needed or wanted.

I should also mention that for several years I have been telling Jeff, and with much sadness, that he would never be able to surprise me with a proposal like most couples. I pick up on things too quickly, our lives are too intertwined, I ask too many questions, and aside from all of that, I can read his mind. He always agreed.

That said, we were celebrating my birthday in style with a mini-vacation from work and lots of fun trips planned. I was shocked when he suddenly pulled a card from behind his back.

The card was sweet, but it was just a typical birthday card saying "To know you is to like you" with a few other sweet words. He signed "This starts to sum it up. Barely..." and his name, and I thought the giving was over. Boy, was I wrong.

He pulled another card from behind his back, this one had a heart on the front and was blank on the inside... before he wrote on the entire thing, ran out of space, and even wrote on the back. They were the most beautiful words he'd ever written to me, and even now I cry when reading them. For a moment I thought that the card alone was the greatest birthday gift that he could have given me.

He didn't give me much time to think that, though. He pulled out a very large gift bag. It was brown, looked old and heavily used. On the front of the bag was a note:

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Inside the bag was a brown, ripped box. On the box was a second note:

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Inside the box was another smaller brown gift bag, looking as old and used as the first. The note on the gift bag was:

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At this point, I wasn't sure what to expect. Jeff didn't have any money, which is why I was surprised to be getting a gift in the first place. Did he make me something? He's not usually very artistic or crafty. Is this an elaborate joke? Surely, the only thing that could be inside this gift bag would have no monetary value, but could still be a very thoughtful gift. I was prepared for anything... or at least I thought I was. Inside the gift bag was a small jewelry box with, you guessed it, a note:

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This is a cute jewelry box! He knew I was getting really upset about not being engaged. Maybe he got me a pretty $20 Cubic Zirconia ring as a placeholder? No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't settle for less than the real thing. The idea of this being an engagement ring was so fleeting and outside the realm of possibility, that I still didn't believe it when I saw this:

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I stared at this little note for too long. What could be on the other side? A real ring? No way. No way he could pull that off. No way no way no way no way.

But he did! I moved the note, flipped over the little flap, and revealed a gorgeous 1.2 ct black diamond ring with .25 ct black diamond accents. I didn't think it was real at first, my eyes must have popped out of my head. With shaky hands and blurry vision I pulled the ring out of the box and just held it, crying and shaking so hard I couldn't even put the ring on my finger if I tried. It must have been 2 minutes of me shaking and crying before I handed the ring to Jeff, said an emphatic "Yes!", and he slipped the ring on my finger.

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And here we are! I can't begin to describe how happy I am.

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