Take 2.

One week ago, today, I got one of the BIGGEST surprises of my life. . .

Last Thursday, February 27, 2014 at about 6:10pm, I concluded a very difficult data analysis class. I was glad that I had planned to meet up with a colleague afterward because I needed to vent. The material for that class was a little complex and difficult to convey to the students. I didn't feel like it was a stellar teaching performance, so I was a little disappointed.

After answering questions from those who had lingered, I trekked up the stairs to the third floor. My high heel teacher shoes announced my every step. My two ton purse with laptop and teaching materials made the walk that much weightier.

I approached the doctoral lab where my colleague had told me she was waiting. I was a little taken aback by the fact that the door was closed. It never is. But I figured, hey, my friend must have done so for privacy and security reasons since the third floor seemed like a ghost town.

I approached the room and proceeded to turn the knob. I was prepared to immediately begin running off at the mouth about how "over it" I was, but I was caught off guard by what I found inside.

As my brain adjusted and my vision corrected itself, I realized I was staring in the face of my partner. At this point, I am utterly confused because, to my knowledge, he was in New York and I wasn't expecting him until the following day.

We immediately exchange grins and he walks toward me. At this point I'm thinking he just surprised me by coming up a day early. He'd done those kind of surprises before.

But then things went a little different. He walked toward me, and his height slowly started decreasing as he bent down, posturing as if he were proposing. In my mind, this was simply a familiar joke that we'd played before. I figured, we would laugh and he would get back up and we'd move forward with our extended weekend plans.

And then there was a box. . .of the jewelry kind. It was a dark satin color with a ribbon finish that he pulled from his interior coat pocket. [Ha ha, very funny, he brought props this time.]

Before long I realize that I am the only one laughing.

He uttered words that I definitely did not hear at the time, because shock was sinking in. There was a REAL ring in that box, and his remarks were of the "Will you marry me?" kind.

Let's just say there's pictures of me on the floor with hands covering my mouth in signature shock pose. I could NOT believe my eyes, and if I didn't grow temporarily deaf I'm certain I would have questioned what my ears had heard.

My absolute best friend, and the man that I had prayed for, has asked to spend forever with me, and I have a shiny, sparkly piece of hardware to prove it!

All I can say is who knew that year four would have all of this in store?!?!

**cuepharell** #HAPPY