How it all began...

The first part in a journey to marriage is obviously the engagement! So I thought, before getting on to all the things I am learning from planning a wedding and preparing for married life, a good place to start would be to tell you how we got engaged!! We got engaged on October the 19th 2011... it was a Wednesday... which is our date night usually. We would usually alternate between going out for dinner, or staying in with a movie, but either way, it is the night we set aside for time together! So with this in mind, I had asked Jonny earlier in the week what he wanted to do for date night...and was very vague, and then eventually decided we should go out for dinner! So I asked him where he would like to go, and again, he was very vague...and said he didnt know! (typically, I thought this was just him being frustratingly indecisive.) So I left it with him and asked him to let me know whether I will need to drive or whether we will be walking. Wednesday came, it was a gorgeous day, and my friend Ruthi and I went out for a walk... and as we were returning from our little walk I got a call from Jonny asking where I was as I was not home (This confused me - why was he at my house when we have date night later?) Anyhow, we were almost home, so he waited for us... he handed me some mail saying he just wanted to bring my mail over (this didnt make any sense as he could have brought it over that evening....I was becoming increasingly suspicious of his evasive behaviour.... he hung around for a few moments, long enough to tell me that I wont need to drive as we would be getting a taxi! And then he disappeared again! 

I knew something was up...not sure what, but I knew... So that evening I began to get ready...got dressed,  and was ready and waiting for the arrival of our taxi - and Jonny! Ruthi was there as I was getting ready to leave and she said "Aw, I feel like I am gonna miss something exciting tonight!" - I told her she wouldnt be missing anything at all! 

Jonny arrived and we nipped out into the cold, and went to wait for the taxi... once it had arrived and we were in, he told the driver to take us to The Milestone in Kelham Island - As soon as he said that... I suddenly realized (or so I thought) that this was the reason he was being so secretive, he wanted it to be a surprise, because I really wanted to go to that restaurant - So my suspicions melted away and I didnt think any more on his dodgy loitering earlier in the day, nor his vague replies to my questions.

We had an UH-MAZING dinner...the food was INCREDIBLE!!! I would highly recommend that if you are ever in Sheffield, get your butt over to The milestone in Kelham Island...check it out here!  http://www.the-milestone.co.uk/ - you will not regret it!!!

After dinner we went back home, and as we were in the taxi Jonny was going on about how tired he was...and that we should just watch a film when we got back in! I was in agreement, and so when we got home, he asked me to go pick a film in the living room while he went to get my 'early birthday present' - [excited much] - so I patiently flicked through my dvds...being fairly undecided between 'zohan' and 'patch adams' - a few moments later he came into the room, and without saying anything he took my hand and led me out of the living room , and then out of the house, round the corner, and straight into my greenhouse... directly ahead of me was a chair, and on it was a note which had 'Erica Joy' written on the outside - he pointed to it and told me I needed to open it...so I walked forward to it and opened it, and when I did, it said 'Turn around!' - and when I did, Jonny was on his knee, and he reached out for my hand and told me why he wanted to spend his life with me, and why he wants Jesus to be at the centre of that. I cried... it was a very sweet moment.... BUT..what made it sweeter, was that as he reached into his back pocket to get the ring, he could not get it out and had to stand up to get the ring out of his pocket, and then, he knelt back down... and snapped open the box whilst saying 'Erica Joy will you marry me?' I would have said yes immediately, had he not dropped the ring whilst snapping the box open, which meant I had to feel around in the dark on the floor for the ring. I found it, gave it back to him, and he put it on my finger - and I said YES!!! I loved the little mistakes he made... and loved how nervous he was as it showed how much he cared....

So that is how we came to be engaged.... and this is where the journey to marriage began! I look forward to sharing with you all the joys and trials of planning a wedding!!! So watch this space! Erica Joy