It’s been about a month and a half and still no date, no dress, no plans but we do have engagement pictures! I have been obsessed with Three Nails Photography for months and months. I check their website on a daily basis to see if any new shoots have been added and whenever there was a new photo shoot added I would obsess over it to Michael. I can assure you once you take a glimpse of Hunter’s photographs nothing else will compare and you too will be obsessing over it…and you too can obsess over it to Michael, he’s used to it. 

So without a date, without a dress and without any plans we contacted Hunter and his wife Brittney because we were in dire need for them to shoot our engagement pictures. 

That date came Sunday, February 6. And that location was Mansfield, Louisiana (don’t worry I hadn’t heard of it either). Michael had! His aunt used to live in Many, Louisiana so naturally we had to take a tour because if you haven’t been to Northern Louisiana (to explore) you haven’t lived….or at least that’s what Michael thinks. 

We left Saturday and started our mini road trip up North. About two hours into it we were on a roll with (almost) finalizing our guest list when we called it quits. An hour after that we found ourselves driving through Alexandria and starving. We stopped at an Outback Steakhouse just in time to catch the Hornets falling to the Lakeshow. 

Michael wasn’t happy about it. I wasn’t happy about it. Thank God for that bread, honey butter and strawberry and coconut smoothie. I’m certain those three things combined with my company put Michael back into a good mood.

After the Hornets L, we started back on the road. I fell asleep and awoke in Natchitouches where we called it a night.

The nextday we awoke and were off to take our engagement pictures that defined in one word would be “Karlee” and I’m happy about that. Ecstatic actually!

Michael is such a good sport which started back on October 31, 2010 when he dressed as a bird to accompany me and my girlfriends for Halloween.      

Then there was my annual Christmas card where Michael accompanied myself and which is now OUR niece and nephew! 

And finally our engagement pictures from Three Nails Photography where he accompanied yours truly! 

             /

The rest of his life is looking very “Karlee” and my smiler couldn’t be bigger! 

My birthday was about a week ago! I’m officially 23 and this is the year we’re hopefully getting married so I’m thinking 23 may be my favorite year so far. I feel so old and then I think about Michael’s age, 27….WOW! I like to think I’m keeping him young almost like a trophy wife.

Last Saturday (on my day of birth) myself, my mother, my almost mother-in-law, Kelsey (bridezilla), Lindsay, Emersyn and Robby all headed out of a day of wedding dress shopping.

My mom picked my ring up early in the morning. My ring that was finally getting sized because we finally got in insured. The day felt all the more real. So what if it took us literally a month to get the ring insured and sized!

After putting that diamond on my finger we were off to Yvonne LeFleur with yes, two kids. Not as bad as it could have been….my niece and nephew are always such angels! We all fell in love with one dress, even Robby gave his opinion and it went something like this: “T, that is pretty.” He may have said it for nearly every dress but that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is that he said it for the dress that the rest of us loved. 

Seems simple. We go to a place, see a dress, fall in love with it and then purchase that bad boy. Well, nothing is simple in the wedding world and I’m finding that out day after day. Michael, are you sure you don’t want to elope? 

I need another day of dress shopping (well I’m sure many more days of dress shopping) just to be certain the very first wedding dress I tried on was the one. It took me 20 years before I found Michael so no telling what that means for my dress situation. Technically I knew Michael when I first started going through my awkward stage (which lasted a good 16 years) only it was then when he was coming to my house to hang with Kelsey. I, being the little sister, always wanted to be around my big sister and her friends. Michael hated me and all of her other friends did also. It was no secret…but in my defense Michael did attend one of my (not my sisters) Monday Night Nitro Parties. I’m certain it was when I muted the television at commercial break to start my choreographed dance routine just as those Nitro Girls did, when Michael fell in love with me. This was back when WCW was around….with that being said I guess it really did take him 20 years to realize I was the one he was searching for! 

And now for the tears.

My night ended with Continental Airlines telling me that the $715 Michael used to buy tickets to Los Angeles for my birthday last year was gone and we weren’t getting that money back. We didn’t make it to Los Angeles together because we canceled the fights so we thought we had credit. I shed a tear or two…..we’re house hunting here! That $715 could have gotten me a coffee table or something. So just to warn everyone if we don’t have a coffee table and you’re invited to our house for coffee don’t say a thing. It will be a sore subject!  

Oh, and don’t worry about me not getting my trip to L.A. I made it out there with 4 other girlfriends of mine and 5 girls in Los Angeles was such a better idea then Los Angeles with your boyfriend (who was in Vegas at the same time). 

Now we’re onto the planning process and I may have or may not have called the wedding off over ten times. Well not called the actual marriage part but the ceremony and the reception part. It’s just too much and it doesn’t help when you’re dealing with bridezilla (my sister, Kelsey) and groomzilla (Michael).

My sister and I have already gotten in two major fights. She is insane and truly thinks this is her wedding. Every email she forwards me starts with “Congratulations on your engagement Kelsey.” This could mean one thing in my eyes- and thats is that she isn’t over Michael. For those who don’t know they were pretty hot and heavy in high school. Little did he know that he would one day be marrying Kelsey’s little sister who was in seventh grade while he was a senior. It’s sick when you think about it! But don’t get me wrong I’d be completely lost without her, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself without those 2 AM phone calls making sure that I’m home safe and sound.

Michael and I have also been in a few little arguments and from those he has said he is going to plan every aspect of this wedding, so I’ll forewarn anyone who will be attending. I’ll also apologize to everyone attending because if Michael does indeed plan this wedding I’m positive it will be a train wreck. 

To avoid that I’m trying to talk Michael into eloping because I’m so ready to play housewife; housewife with a full-time job that is. We’ve been engaged for three weeks and I wake up every morning so excited to know Michael will be my husband. It’s the most amazing, perfect, happy, joyful, emotional feeling in the world. I’m so ready for this process to get underway and it leaves me wishing and hoping and thinking and praying.

Good news is, Michael and I got pre-approved for a house! Let the house hunting and decorating for our (almost) house begin. 

The engagement still hadn’t sunk in and I had already lost the ring. Yes, it is as bad as it sounds. 

It had been about five hours since I heard the words “Will you marry me?” I still could not believe Michael and I were engaged. It still sounds so weird to say.

Driving back to Michael’s from River Ridge I was talking with my hands, just as I always do. With one hand movement my precious ring had fallen off and seemed to make its way in between the passenger seat and the center console. I immediately asked Michael to pull over so I could look under the seat and get the ring.

He pulled over on Earhart and I looked under the seat. This involved me stepping out of the car. Without any luck, Michael walked around the look for himself while I watched to make sure no one approached the car (we weren’t in the safest neighborhood). Still without any luck we decided to get back int he car and head to a gas station where we would be able to see better. 

I wasn’t panicking just yet. I knew it was on my finger so it just had to be in the car. 

About five minutes later we pulled into the gas station on Magazine and Washington and proceeded to look under the passenger seat one more time. No luck and I started to panic. Michael had already been panicking.

Within minutes Jeffrey and Timmy appeared. Jeffrey is Michael’s brother which makes him my almost brother. Timmy is our friend. They had went to the Hornets vs. Lakers game and weren’t in the best of mood due to the Hornets falling to Kobe and Co. after the Lakers were on a 4 game losing streak. Not just any losing streak but a four game losing streak by 20 points or more. But that is a story for another time because this is all about me losing my ring.

With Jeffreys guidance we decided to take everything out of Michael’s car and transfer it over to Timmy’s. Carefully searching and moving all of the contents of the car and still there was no sign of the diamond anywhere. But there was a hole in the carpet that was just big enough for the ring to slip through. It was the only place it could be. 

About 45 minutes into searching Michael spoke the words “Rip up the carpets the ring costs about ten times as much as this car.” My heart sunk!

Before starting to rip up the carpets Michael and Timmy decided to head back to Earhart one last time to see if it had fallen onto my clothes and then off of them when I got out of the car the first time.

Jeffrey and I continued to search the car up and down when suddenly I checked a side pocket of my purse (which I had checked about ten times prior to this) and I pulled out my ring! It was like getting engaged twice in one day. Way to many emotions were going on. Jeffrey then hugged me for about five minutes until Michael and Timmy got back. He’ll probably say that fact is skewed but I can assure you it’s not. 

I like to look at this as a life lesson and a scare. This little scare has caused me not to want to wear that diamond- ever. First I get a whole in my first and only pair of Christian Louboutins. Then, I lose a diamond that could have gotten me a whole closet full of red soles. I just don’t deserve to have nice things! 

My ring now has to be checked out from Jeffrey. The date, time and my name has to be signed and he has to initial every time I want to see that beauty. Once that thing is insured and fitted then I will be allowed to wear it, but until then all I have is a picture on my phone!

I rate movies by if I cry, I cry on a regular basis. I am always so emotional! I cannot see straight when I watch Love Actually, the last episode of Friends I don’t even want to talk about, even It’s Complicated which is a comedy makes me cry. If I cry I like it and if Wednesday, December 29th was a movie I would absolutely be in complete LOVE with the movie. 

I always say Michael lacks common sense and rightfully so. He forgets every ticket for every sporting event that we attend. When we finally make it inside to those sporting events, Michael is always the one to get up to get food and drink. When you and I think sporting events we think something like nachos, pop-corn and a coke but when Michael thinks sporting events he thinks brisket with lots and lots of BBQ sauce. That’s not a typo. All I can do is laugh. Don’t get me wrong I love brisket but it’s not the type of food I feel like eating while I’m sitting at a Zephyr’s game with every single person at Michael’s firm. But brisket is the food that Michael and I get for our picnics at Audubon Park. We sit in the same spot, we get the exact same thing from Whole Foods time after time while sipping on Raising Canes lemonade (I always pick everything up).

I say all this because it has to do with the proposal.

Tuesday, December 28th I received a text message that stated we were having lunch with Michael’s family that was in town for the holidays because we would be leaving Thursday morning to celebrate New Years Eve in Chicago. I thought nothing of it. Wednesday morning I awake and throw on a flannel shirt, leggings and boots. I needed to run errands (or needed to shop) and later that night we had plans to head to The Hive to watch our beloved Hornets take on the Lakers. Because that was happening that night I decided not to wash my hair in the morning because I would be doing so later that day. 

In the midst of running errands (shopping) Michael called to say I should head over to his house so we could make our way to lunch- lunch at the Audubon Golf Course. Please take my outfit into consideration- I’m in leggings, a flannel shirt and I accented that outfit off with dirty hair. My first reaction was no way am I meeting your family at a nice lunch in the wardrobe I am in. He reassured me it was okay because he was just in jeans and a sweater. Thankfully I went.

We got in his car and I smelled food, he said it was probably just something he forgot to throw away the day before. I still thought nothing of it (which is a problem in itself). Within about ten minutes we found ourselves in Audubon’s parking lot. Michael parked and said “I have a surprise for you.” 

He explained that his family couldn’t make it to lunch so he decided to get our brisket from Whole Foods and lemonade and surprise me with a picnic since we hadn’t done one lately due to the holidays being crazy. I noticed the lemonade he picked up was from Chick-Fil-A and not our regular Raising Canes. When I questioned him he informed that that his favorite is Chick-Fil-A and he just didn’t have the heart to tell me I wasn’t getting what he wanted. 

We headed over to our spot by the pond and I was ready to chow down but Michael forgot forks. He forgets tickets to get inside of sporting events and forks to eat with. He ran over to the Audubon Golf Course (where I thought we were eating) and got some forks. I started chowing down. Michael just saw there. I thought nothing of it. About three bites in I heard those words I had heard just ten minutes earlier, “I have a surprise for you.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a note. A note that he read me, a note that has me crying right now, a note that I will truly cherish for the rest of my life and a note that hands down means more to me than anything else he has ever given me. He was crying, I was crying.

Then again I heard “Okay, now I have one last suprise.” As he said that my niece and nephew ran over with signs that read “PLEASE SAY YES.” I turned back to see Michael on one knee, to hear the words “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” and to see both of out families standing around us. I guess you can say thats when the tears really started flowing.

And it gets better. My brother-in-law was across the pond hiding behind a tree taking pictures of the whole thing! I’m still so impressed with my now FIANCE although I’m still not happy about my dirty hair and flannel shirt!! 

My life with Michael has been such a blessing. I have cried every day since. I cannot wait to learn how to cook and do laundry with a HUSBAND.  I cannot wait to have another picnic where I’ll make sure to get lemonade from Chick-Fil-A. I cannot wait to go to a sporting event in fifty years when Michael is still forgetting our tickets at home but most of all, I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for our future.