I have been with Mr. Yankee (ha- he would die if he knew I referred to him in that context. He is not as big a fan as I am. Whatevs) for 4 years next week. It's been a great ride. But before meeting Mr. Yankee I was the one member in my female group of friends who was adamant about two things: I was not mother material and I was never. ever. going to get married. ever. ever.
Yes, I needed to add those two ever's for emphasis. You see- I come from a broken home. And not to say that every person who comes from a broken home will be immediately against marriage. But that was my experience. It had a lasting impression on me and my opinion about relationships. I saw the pain my mom went through raising me practically on her own and the hardships- both financial and emotional- she went through during the divorce. And I made a promise to myself that I would not put myself in that situation. I would be independent and live my life and I would either find someone to hang with or I wouldn't. And then I met Mr. Yankee.
Mr. Yankee is everything that I am not- left-brained, casual, easy going, patient, analytical, a gamer, a runner. But somehow we fit. We are two peas in a pod and I do not think I could have found someone who fits me better. And so this is why I was so uncharacteristically happy to be proven wrong on December 7th, 2008 when Mr. Yankee asked me to marry him in my favorite location- Disneyland.
Our engagement story is one that is both funny yet extremely embarrassing for me to share. You see- I had been waiting for Mr. Y to propose for what seemed like forever. At the time he proposed, we had been living together for 2 years and had purchased a home together in August of 2007. I thought the proposal would have come 6-8 months after we purchased our home. But alas, the fates aligned and decided that Ms. Yankee needed to learn a little more patience. Needless to say I was on edge. Silly fates. Anyway... It was our first day of a 4 day Disneyland vacation and Mr. Y and I had just arrived after a long drive from the Bay Area. We decided before committing to any one attraction we would walk around the park and stretch our legs a bit. Mr. Y grabbed our backpack and we took in Sleep Beauty's Castle, walked the length of Fantasyland and finally made our way to New Orleans Square and sought out "our" spot; the benches located right next to the old french fry stand between the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. We sat for a few minutes in perfect silence as we took in the crowd. I was just about to ask Mr. Y if he was ready to take on our first attraction when he asked me what was to be a very leading question.
"Does my honey know how much I love her?"
I thought nothing of this as he usually asks me this question and, thinking I was being ever so clever, quickly responded with, "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see a ring."
I know, I know! So terrible. Utterly wrong. What a way to spoil the mood. But honestly- how was I supposed to know that this would be THE moment Mr. Y decided to propose? Without missing a beat, he responded with, "Well.. Actually, I think I might have something in here for you."
And after nervously digging through our backpack, Mr. Yankee produced a very beautiful box with a very beautiful piece of jewelry inside. As he got down on one knee, half of me was wondering what the heck he was doing while the other half was scolding myself for ruining what was sure to be a perfect engagement moment. And as he asked, on one knee in my favorite place in the whole world, to marry him I was so overcome with happiness and love that I felt like I could fly.
I of course said yes, and walked around Disneyland for the next three days with this look on my face:
and thus, the "wedding planning" begun. I still wonder how I got here. To this place of taking the necessary steps towards marriage. But I do not think I could have chosen a better partner. And hopefully he feels the same way.
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