Holy Moly, We're getting hitched!

Jack and I are getting married! After 7+ years of dating and 10+ years of knowing each other, we're going to be tying the knot next year! We've been talking about getting married since we were 15 years old when we would day dream about our future adult lives together, and even more recently this past year as we started planning our not-so-distant adult future lives, so I can't say it was a surprise when it happened. I've dreamt about this proposal countless times, but what shocked me most was how surprised and shocked I actually was.

Leading up to Labor Day weekend I told Jack to plan something fun for us so we wouldn't be lazy bums in the city all weekend. As it came closer I asked him what we were doing, but he refused to tell me and said it was a surprise. Now, I'm sure you're saying "DUH ANNA OF COURSE IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WEEKEND", but I've thought that countless times before and Jack punk'd me each time, so I wasn't getting my hopes up that it would happen this time either. On Thursday, the day before we left, Jack called me at work to tell me he had to go on an emergency trip up to Sacramento because something happened with a project he's working on. He promised he'd be back Friday morning for our weekend get-a-way but all I was thinking was Sweet! House to myself for the night- time for Friends episodes on repeat, nail painting, and ordering take-out. No big deal.

When I got home from work on Friday, Jack was back and had packed a bag for me and laid out some hiking clothes. "You can wear this, or wear whatever you feel comfortable in."(Hint #2, but still not expecting anything.) We drove to Mt. Tam, where we used to come a ton when we were kids, and he told me we were going on a hike (surprise!). The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS with no fog or wind and you could see for miles. I immediately regretted my dismissal of his hiking clothes recommendation as we trudged up a steep, hot path for a half an hour.


We finally reached a beautiful area with a gorgeous tree and views of the city and Muir Beach, which is a significant place for us. We sat down and started reminiscing about high school, and Jack said:
"Look, there's Muir Beach. Do you remember how I told you I loved you there?"
Yep!" (Back story: we used to have "beach nights" at local beaches in Marin in high school where we'd go to the beach and hang. Totally innocent, I promise! One night he asked me what I was thinking, and I said, "I don't know, what are you thinking" and he said," I'm thinking that I want to tell you I love you." Awwww)

So back to real life, Jack looked at me and asked:
"What are you thinking?" (My hearts starts racing)
"I'm thinking about how much I love you, what are you thinking about?"
Then Jack got this serious look on his face and started his schpeal about how I'm his best friend, soul mate, and better half and how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. And of course, as soon as he started talking I start bawling. So many tears. I just kept thinking Oh my gosh it's happening!! He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I couldn't stop looking at him and hugging him and crying.
"Anna, look at the ring!"
"HOLY MOLY! Holymolyholymolyholymolyholymoly!" It just didn't seem real.
"OH MY GOSH WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

Then we had a hugging, crying, freaking out dance party on the top of our very special mountain. And Jack says: "Okay, can I tell you everything now!?"

Apparently, Jack didn't have an emergency at work and didn't go up to Sacramento; he drove down to LA the afternoon before to have dinner with my dad, who's working there right now. He asked my dad for my hand in marriage then drove all night back to San Francisco. As if I wasn't crying enough to begin with, this set off the real waterworks. My dad and Jack are buds so of course my dad would have approved, but the fact that Jack drove all the way to LA and back in 24 hours just to have dinner with my dad was ridiculously romantic.

And then, we were engaged. We've been together for the majority of our lives and he's always been my person, my other half, my past, present and future, but for some reason, as soon as we were engaged, he became even more a part of me. We'd talked about getting married, but now we actually are getting married. It's hard to explain, but for some reason this solidified the fact that we really are going to spend the rest of our lives together. And I honestly can not wait.