Do NOT miss this post!

This is the big post my friends...oh yes. I am now engaged. To be MARRIED. I've had butterflies (good ones) about this for 4 days now. I know right now you're all "whoopin' and hollerin'" as the southern people would say, so I'll give you a moment to collect your thoughts and then will tell the story.

*please pause for whoopin' and hollerin'*

Ok! So you want details! Here's the saga.
I started looking for settings back in early April. Went to a few malls, a few jewelry outlets, and learned a lot. Know what "baguettes" are. STILL don't know what the difference is between white gold and platinum, besides about double the price. So I was at Anthony's in Rockville, which is a neat place, and the lady was showing me some settings, and held one of the ones made by their in-house goldsmith. I was like, "that's the one". Plus being a custom, one-of-a-kind item, having it be made there meant that the middle man was cut out, and I got a better deal. Sweet! Then there was the drama of getting one of my grandmother's diamonds that would fit in the setting. Took 3 tries. But then I ended up with a gorgeous .74 carat diamond, platinum engagement ring! Its got ten little diamonds spaced evenly around the rim. But what of the sizing?! I had previously estimated, from eyeballing it, that her ring finger was a skosh (professional jewelry term) smaller than my pinky. The ring I now had (size 4 1/4) was a skosh too small for my pinky, so I thought that may work. Now the TIMING! Lots of opportunities, but her twin sister was getting married in June. So I can't really do it before then, it being May at this point, or it'd steal wedding thunder. Not nice. And then afterwards, it being July, I figured I may as well wait til the fall. Give me time to think about things, plan and plot and so forth.
So! With our two year anniversary coming up, Behtia has her plane ticket up here, I have time off work, all is good. Last Tuesday we have an appraiser guy come through the house (for refinancing and whatnot) so I'm cleaning my room. My bathroom sink is clogged, so I pour some Dran-O down it, like you do, and then wander off, cause it needs 20 minutes or whatever to work. The seal around the sink drain breaks, leaking all this water over my bathroom floor, and dripping into the basement, like half an hour before the guy arrives. NOT cool. So there is much scrambling to get things cleaned up from that, and then later on, I begin to fix the mess. To be fair, the pipes WERE 40 years old, but they could have waited another HOUR, surely. Stupid pipes. Anyway, I get all the old ones ripped out, but by now it is late and the local hardware store is closed. So I leave the mess in there.
Naturally, at 3 a.m., I need to use the facilities, forget that the toolbox is in the doorway, and break my toe on the stupid thing. The one description I have for the pain I felt that day is "pulsating". Anyway, I ended up getting the sink fixed perfectly, and my toe is fine, so all ends well. BUT, I have a large, black-and-purple toe to deal with for Behtia's visit. Not very promising.
Well, last Thursday was our two-year anniversary. So we went to sunny, perfect weather, no crowds Virginia Beach. I swear, the weather was PERFECT perfect. We lounged on the beach Thursday afternoon, and then Friday we spent the day running around Colonial Williamsburg. All manner of cool gardens and historic what-nots. That evening we got all dressed up for dinner, and went to the Black Angus steakhouse. Its the fanciest mostly-non-seafood restaurant in VA Beach. Plus its run by retired supervillains, I'm sure of it. The owners/operators have Eastern European accents, all the workers wear plain black with shirts that have different steak cooking options printed on the back (as in "rare", "well-done", etc), and the chairs are tall, red leather, swivel chairs that would not be amiss around a table belonging to Dr. Evil. So we have a lovely meal, eat WAY too much, (bleahhhh) and make our way out.
We had talked in the weeks prior about how we were looking forward to pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin pancakes and other pumpkin-flavored treats available at nearby locations, and I put forth the idea that a pumpkin ice cream would be good. Well, when we arrived, lo and behold! Kohr Bros. had a pumpkin/cinnamon frozen custard! What are the ODDS?! We made plans to eat there after our villainous steak dinner, but when we arrived, the flavor was unavailable! Disaster! I was most upset. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, as they say.
So Saturday comes. This day, and the resulting engagement, can best be described in a Good Idea/Bad Idea type of situation:
Good Idea: Proposing on our two-year anniversary.
Bad Idea: Not ON the actual anniversary, but 2 days later, creating yet ANOTHER occassion to have to remember/celebrate.
Good Idea: Spending the entire day together as a couple doing fun things.
Bad Idea: Waiting to propose until the end of the day when we were both beat and pretty much ready to crash.
Good Idea: Going, on a perfect day, to a sparsely-crowded Busch Gardens.
Bad Idea: Riding 12 coasters in 4 hours, resulting in nauseous head and bellies; especially since my breakfast consisted of Yoo-Hoo, and Behtia's of an official Simpsons Movie pink sprinkle donut.
Good Idea: Taking her out for a hot, nourishing, evening meal.
Bad Idea: At Wendy's.
Good Idea: Playing a romantic game of mini-golf together at sunset.
Bad Idea: Winning said game, may have been gloated a little.
Good Idea: Going for a romantic walk on the beach.
Bad Idea: Trying to navigate shifting sands and waves in bare feet with a broken toe.
Good Idea: Walking along the shore, hand-in-hand.
Bad Idea: Trying to push her into the ocean, but in a loving, fun way. Plus she started it.
Good Idea: Sitting in a lonely spot together, looking at the waves crashing in.
Bad Idea: At night, so the sand was pretty cold.
Good Idea: Writing "hi" and then "i luv u" and then "marry me?" in the sand for her to read in a spontaneous, romantic manner.
Bad Idea: Still at night...hard to read. Plus I was rushing a bit in the writing by line three.
Good Idea: Pulling off a romantic moment, presenting the ring, and she says yes, AND THE RING FITS PERFECTLY, much hugging and "snogging" ensues.
Bad Idea: Forget about the tide, end up sitting in cold seawater, both of us chilled in the nether regions, resulting in shivering and possible chafing.
Still, all in all, it went well. And we're now engaged. People are ALREADY asking us when the wedding is. My parents asked before I'd been engaged 24 hours. Seriously! Need some time, here! I'd estimate sometime in 2008. Will keep people updated on this as further developments occur. And that's the story! Please enjoy the photo, as well.