Tag Archives: love

The Ring

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Mike completely surprised me when he officially asked me to marry him. I’d been suspecting he might ask me, but chalked it up to me being a girl when nothing happened at dinner. I can honestly say I was surprised when he asked, which is good, because despite the many times I thought he was going to do it, I was disappointed in myself for even thinking it because it would ruin the big surprise.

(In case you’re a guy and you’re wondering: Yes, we women are very complex, slightly crazy creatures. Someone should pay us for being this weird; it’s a lot of work.)

After he asked me, he told me that he had a ring, which threw me completely off guard because I thought he asked because we always ask each other. We’ve talked about it a thousand times. We’ve even talked about our wedding party and who would be what in the wedding. He always said one day he would officially ask me. He said that he didn’t have the ring on him, though, and that Britt had it because it was their grandmother Nanny’s.

When it comes to our families, Mike and I are almost the same person. We love our families fiercely, especially our grandparents. My relationship with Noni and Popi and how I feel about them is pretty much the same as Mike’s relationship with his Nanny and Poppy. I never got to meet them, but I know all about them.

So when he told me that the ring he was giving me had been Nanny’s, was passed down to Britt, and that Britt wanted to give it to me because she loves me, I teared up. I always thought I was the type of girl who wouldn’t cry when the Big Question was asked, but I did, so here we are.

“Text Britt and see if she’s home!” he said excitedly as he drove. “Actually, call her!”

She answered right away. “Hey, are you home?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Put her on speaker!” Mike almost sang out.

I told Britt to hold on and put her on speaker.

“Hey,” he said. “Would you mind if we stopped by?”

“Sure,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just gotta pick up a ring.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and I knew she could, too.

“Oh!” she said. “Yeah, come over!”

It's so delicate, so gorgeous.

It's so delicate, so gorgeous.

When we got to her house, she was elated. “I always knew you’d be my sister!” she said. She handed the ring to Mike and he started to put it on my finger. Nanny’s fingers were really small, though, so I couldn’t get it on past the second joint of my finger. Britt came to the rescue, though, and told us that her boyfriend Tyson has a friend who can size it for us. Leave it to my future sister-in-law to have everything in order! She really is a lifesaver. For the time being, we put it on my chain where I was wearing my promise ring (since the skin underneath that ring was getting all irritated from having water trapped under the ring).

Before we left, she said, “I’m so excited! Now we can start planning the wedding!” It didn’t hit me until hours later that…

  • Holy shit, I have to plan a wedding! 8O
  • Holy shit, I get to plan a wedding! :lol:

(Remember guys, we women are weird like that.)

I’m ecstatic. Last night, while watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix, I tried out my future name: “Mrs. Michael Campbell,” “Elizabeth Kaylene Campbell,” “Mrs. Campbell,” “Elizabeth Campbell,” “Liz Campbell,” and “Mike and Liz Campbell.” It makes me giggle like a three-year-old every time, because it sounds so good.

And, even though I put the ring away until it gets sized so that nothing happens to it, today I’m wearing it on my pinky because I can’t not wear it. Strangely enough, I feel naked without it.

Wearing it on my pinky today.

Wearing it on my pinky today.

We don’t have a date set yet because we’re broke, but as soon as we decide on what we want — we already have an idea, but it’s not final — we’ll probably be able to set a date based on how long it’ll take for us to save up. We’re in no rush, but oh man, I can’t wait.

Liz Campbell. Heehee.

PS: I have a lightbox plugin, so if you click on the pictures in this post, you can see them full size and really see how beautiful this ring is. I’m honored that it’s been passed to me. It means so much.

Five Years, and Many More to Come

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"Will you marry me?"

"Will you marry me?"

Today was Mike’s and my five-year anniversary. As we got closer to the date, I started wondering more and more if he planned on popping the question. We’ve already known for a long time that we want to get married, and we’ve discussed it at length many times, but he’s always said he wanted to officially ask me when the time was right. So, knowing our five-year anniversary was coming up, I started to wonder.

We made plans to go out to dinner, and as I got ready, I started getting a little nervous. “What should I wear?!” I wondered as I rifled through my clothes. “Okay, stop panicking,” I told myself. “It doesn’t matter. I’m probably wrong anyway, and just getting myself all excited for no reason.” I picked out a tee shirt and a skirt, took a shower, and threw on some mascara.

All throughout dinner, Mike seemed kind of nervous, but I couldn’t tell if it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I went to the bathroom after we finished, and half expected him to be on one knee when I came back to the table, but he wasn’t; he was just spacing out and flustered, like before. I joked that it was almost like we were on our first date, and he said, “Yeah. It kind of is.” That really kicked my girly radar up, but we left the restaurant shortly after, so I chalked it all up to me getting myself excited, and told myself to be patient.

We walked over to the TJ Maxx in the plaza and looked through a few things, then got into the car and headed toward the highway. As he drove, Mike asked, “So you wanna get married?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, thinking it was like all of the other “Do you want to get married?” conversations we’ve had.

“Okay,” he said. “I don’t have it on me, but I have one…”

Wait, what?! ”What? Really?!” I started to tear up.

Then he told me about the ring.

To Be Continued…

Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away

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Anyone who has been in a serious, long-term relationship knows that it takes work. It still amazes me how very hard it can be to keep that relationship going at times. Sometimes, the arguments are so serious and it feels like I should just give up. Walking away would be physically and mentally difficult to do, because of the bond between Mike and I. That bond, in the end, always keeps us talking, keeps us working.

This is only the second long-term relationship I’ve been in. When I was with Sean, it was mostly me doing the work. I tried so hard to fix him, so hard to keep his head up, so hard to keep us together, and in the end it was all for nothing. I can remember times when I sat by and watched him wage war on himself with alcohol and drugs. I can remember paying for most of our dates. I was usually the one to make the effort to come over (although, to give him credit, there were a few times when he still lived in town and rode his bike across town to my house). Time after time I begged and pleaded with him to get his shit together. I watched him go from being a pothead to trying anything and everything that he could get his hands on. He did some not so nice things to me. When he cheated on me, it was almost a relief. I woke up and got the fuck out of Dodge.

That relationship, looking back, was tumultuous. I spent a lot of time trying to take care of him. I wouldn’t call that love at all.

But this? This is real love, which is why it is so easy for us to hurt each other, get on each other’s nerves, or push each other’s buttons. It’s also why it’s so hard to walk away.

Lately, we’ve both been very stressed out. The routine arguments that we normally have seem to be intensified, possibly because of the stress.

I can be so dramatic and sometimes, for me, everything has to come down to The Choice: stay or go. I’m a fight or flight kind of person, because I’ve been hurt so many times by so many others that my natural reaction is to run when things get tough. I have to work hard to fight that.

He tends to take his stress out on me. He can be cold or say things he doesn’t mean. Sometimes, he doesn’t know any other way to react to the things that are hurting him.

A long argument can quickly turn into kisses and smiles. I would do anything to see him smile. He says I’m the only one who listens. I say he is the only one I feel truly safe with. His kisses are my favorite thing. Through it all, the sunshine and the thunderstorms, I am so happy.

Four years

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There are four years between Mike and I. I will be 22 in August, and he will be 26 in October. When we first started hanging out, I was 17 and he was 21, which at the time was a HUGE age difference to him. I had the hardest time getting him to be my official boyfriend, but then again, my love has always been picky and indecisive. (You should see us when we go out to eat! I always know what I want, right away, and it has at times taken him up to twenty or more minutes to decide!)

For the most part, four years isn’t a big difference. When they say that men mature later, it’s true. I am glad to have found someone mature and serious about his future*. His family is just as important to him as mine is to me. And speaking of family, he also wants to start his own.

We know we are going to get married. Right now, we’re taking the next step in our relationship and working on getting an apartment. (We plan on starting to save up right after we come back from vacation in Florida [and I'm buying the tickets tomorrow, yay]!) We know that, ahead of us, are many years, many phases and firsts in our relationship. I know a lot of people think that you need to live a little and date a little before you settle down, but I feel no need to even try to play the field more; this man is my soulmate, my life partner, my best friend. Even though I want to enjoy each and every experience, I’m more than ready to walk down that aisle. Knowing that it is going to happen makes every experience even sweeter.

When he is 30, I will be 26. This is important because he wants to have our first before he’s 30. I’m not sure if I’ll be ready at or before 26; there are so many things I want to see and do before I move on to what will be the most important thing I’ll ever do in my life. It’s no secret that I can’t wait to have kids. I’ve always been good with kids, and in my adult life, I have yet to meet a kid that I really didn’t like. I absolutely know that having kids is in my future. As much as I want one — oh, the baby fever I have right now! — I want to do and see and go, enjoy married life for a while, before the responsibilities set in. Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying going out without a care in the world. I can play video games, read, and blog without interruption (aside from work, which is a whole other story). I can leave my house whenever I want. The second you bring that baby home, though, everything changes.

Knowing all of this is good and well, but it kind of sucks that Mike and I have a completely different idea of when. I’d be totally fine with having our first at 30, or even 35, especially knowing that I will still be relatively young at that age. (I see 50 as the 40 that my mom’s generation cringes at.)

Then again, I want three kids, so I should probably start before 35. Mike only wants two, which is another difference. (Not that age has anything to do with it.)

I know this is all still years away — I want to buy a house before we even seriously think about reproduction — but it’s interesting, that this one thing is the only issue with those small four years. Whenever someone asks when we are going to have kids, I say, “Give me five years,” and Mike says, “I want to have kids before I’m thirty.”

You do the math.

*Let’s not mistake “future” with “career”; I know that some people seem to think that your career is your future, and while I am very career-oriented, I completely disagree. Your future is what you make it, what you build, no matter what your career plans are. Success does not lie in profession.