ONE YEAR ENGAGE-AVERSARY

I can't believe it, but one year ago Chris proposed to me on vacation at the Atlantic Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas!!

I realized that because I started this blog last August, I never really did give a recap of our amazing "Engagement" trip to the Bahamas. When we planned this trip in late Spring 2009, I thought in my head how awesome it would be if Chris proposed to me in the Bahamas. Of course, I dropped subtle (not too subtle) hints to him by saying things like "Wouldn't it be soooo romantic if we got engaged in the Bahamas?!?!" (told ya I was subtle). Chris would usually just laugh and say something like "yea that's true, but it's just not going to happen...I told you, it will not be until the end of the year," or sometimes he just wouldn't respond at all. Finally, a few weeks before we were to leave, I guess I jokingly mentioned it to him again. I remember that moment so distinctly: we were in his car right outside my apartment in Astoria and it was the final straw with him. He got pretty angry and told me to stop thinking that it was going to happen because I was just getting my hopes up and he didn't want me to be disappointed and ruin the whole trip when it didn't happen. It would happen at the end of the year. End of story.

Well...

That was that. I never brought it up again, and though of course I was bummed...I thought "He's right...I can't let that determine whether or not I enjoy my vacation. It will happen when it will happen." So I really, truly, honestly, 100% pushed it from my mind, and was just fine with that. This was a much needed vacation for both of us, and we were going to have a great time!

We could hardly sleep the night before we were to leave and we had to be up at 4am to catch our early flight! I think I got a little under 4 hours of sleep, but we got up, got dropped off at JFK, and were on our way to the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas!!

The Atlantis should pay me big $$ for all the people I've since recommended this place to. But it really is one of the greatest places on earth (besides Disney World, don't panic Matt!). I don't think I would stay anywhere else in the Bahamas again. Everything you could possibly need is there, and it's a beautiful sanctuary perfect for romantic vacations, but also with sooo much to do if you're there with the whole family. We stayed in the Beach Tower and had an awesome room with a great ocean side balcony!

Our Room

View from our Balcony

By the afternoon on our first day there, we were exhausted. Traveling is tiring and neither of us slept much the night before. I asked for more pillows from the front desk and they said they'd bring them right up to us. Chris passed out for an afternoon nap (in 2 seconds flat per usual). I was close to falling asleep too, but I was trying to stay awake so I'd hear when our pillows arrived. Well....2 hours later, there were still no pillows, I still hadn't taken a nap, and it was time to get ready to go out for the night. On top of that, I discovered that I lost my brand new black cover-up I had literally bought 2 days earlier specifically for our trip. Needless to say...I wasn't in the best of moods.

Chris kept saying over and over that he really wanted me to be in a good mood tonight. He asked that I please, for his sake, try and keep my spirits up because it was really important to him that I be in a good mood and enjoy myself. I guess in retrospect, I should have seen this as a bit of a clue, but I didn't see it at the time. I thought..."He's right. I'm on vacation...enjoy yourself."  So we started freshening up to go out to dinner, gamble, and walk around the beautiful premises. Chris was being really cute the whole time we were getting ready. He was very giddy, very bubbly, and it totally helped me turn my mood around. Finally, at one point as I was doing my hair I said "Boyfriend...can you pass me the hairspray?" I often called him boyfriend...it's this thing I do...I call my sister "sister", my mother "motherful" and my father "fatherful". My sister is literally in my cell-phone as "sister". I don't know why I do this, but I do. Anyway, as Chris handed me the hair spray he said "What did you call me?" I said "boyfriend" and he handed me the hairspray with a look on his face that said "interessssting". For the first time that day I thought..."could he??...maybe??? did that just mean what I think it means?" But I quickly told myself I was being paranoid and pushed it from my mind.

I continued to get ready and just as I was about ready to leave, Chris got very serious. I was quite confused as first. He said things like "You know I really, truly love you...right?" to which I looked at him inquisitively and said ".....yesss......I know.....whyyy are you being like this?" Then he'd go on to say something else..to which I would again be like "...yesss....I know...I'm aware." I think I may have blacked out for most of the proposal, I don't really remember at what point I realized what was happening. I think it was when he started to reach into his pocket where I put my hand over my mouth, started to cry and kept repeating over and over again "Are you for real? are you serious? Are you for real?? are you serious?? oh my God!" I know he asked me to marry him...I know I said "Yes"...but those particular moments are sadly a bit hazy for me. I was processing so much at once, and I was shaking quite a bit as well. My fingers were so swollen from being dehydrated and from traveling, etc. so the ring didn't go on right away. But it was beautiful, and it was mine!! I downed a couple glasses of water and that baby popped right on my finger! After we sat down and he told me the whole story of how he got the ring, where he got the ring, who knew, and who didn't know, we both called our parents. Chris had called my parents and "sister" the night before we left to tell them, so they had been waiting for our call.

On the phone with my parents

I really don't like this picture, but I do think it captures the crazed joy that I'm feeling at just being proposed to. It's like my head is about to explode!

Self-portrait of us after getting engaged!

It was soooo weird walking around with an engagement ring on! I remember some people at the Black Jack table we were playing on that night asked us if we were on our honeymoon. We looked at each other and told them "Actually...we just got engaged. Like...an hour ago." Of course the whole table got really excited and congratulated us. Anytime someone new would join us, someone at the table would inevitably mention the fact that we just got engaged that night! I also remember later in the night a girl and her boyfriend joined the table. She immediately looked at my hand and said "That's such a beautiful ring" I said "thanks....I just got it tonight!" and her and her boyfriend congratulated us and started asking us all sorts of questions. It was like being a mini celeb for a night!

For the next 5 days we went to the beach, drank lots of frozen poolside beverages, and hung out in the amaaaazing pool area of the Atlantis (honestly, I wanted to be by the pool more than on the beach!) It was a regular water park! They had amazing water slides, water slides with rafts, and an awesome lazy river....

At night, we gambled (we both won big money playing black-jack the night we got engaged. We subsequently lost most of it over the course of the next few nights...but I think we walked away at the end of the week up two or three hundred dollars!) We walked around a lot, stared at the crazy huge yachts that park at the Atlantis Marina, ate lots of amazing food, ordered room service, and had an amazingly romantic trip.

What was really cool about being engaged on vacation and not wanting to use a ton of minutes to call everyone...was that for the next 5 days we were engaged and nobody else knew but us (and our parents). Then, when the vacation was over and we landed back in NY, it was like reliving the excitement of being engaged alllll over again. Texting friends, putting it on facebook...my phone was ringing non-stop that night. It was so exciting to go home to Molly, who was truly so excited and happy for us. I think hands down, the best and craziest reaction I got was when I went down to see my neighbors, Bruce and Alisha, to give them their "thanks for babysitting the fish" presents. After I gave them their gifts, I stood them in front of me and plopped my hand down right in front of them. They both immediately started screaming at the top of their lungs and jumping up and down with me. I swear, I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.

And so here we are, one year later. Not only are we engaged, but living together! I feel like my cute little Astoria apartment life was yearrrs ago. For our "engage-aversary" we plan to head to Union Square to go to Mesa Grill. Unfortunately, it's restaurant week and they've already been booked for a month!!! (Seriously NYC, it's not special when you have restaurant week every two weeks!! We just had you in June..give it a rest.) Anyway, I'm determined to get a table there even if we have to wait for 3 hours! We chose this place because the last night of our trip was spent at Mesa Grill at the Atlantis and it was our favorite dinner of the week! It was a close race between that meal and the amazing turkey club sandwiches that we ordered through room service...seriously, so. good!!

I've been perusing their menu all week dreaming about what I'm going to order. I'm really excited for our date tonight. I feel like we haven't made time for ourselves to do a date night like this in a while. It's wonderful to have these little milestones to keep us in check, and remind us of why we are here celebrating what we are celebrating in the first place.

<3    300 days!!!