Sorry...I had a previous ENGAGEMENT!

My apologies to my patient readers. It's been a crazy couple of weeks...but here it is, finally, the engagement story...

It was a Sunday afternoon. I was busy reading a book, enjoying the La Mesa sun in my living room. There was a crisp breeze; I love it when San Diego cools down.

Nathan called. Did I want to wrap the Kirkland's birthday present with him and bring it to them? Yes I did. He was running errands and would be back in an hour. I took the opportunity to call my mom. Had a good chat.

Went over to Nate's when he got back. Wrapped the gift. What should we do this afternoon? Let's go to the beach before church like we usually do. Cause we can do that in San Diego. Brought the gift to the Kirklands. They loved it. Left for the beach.

We went to Coronado, which happens to be a) my favorite beach, and b) a significant beach for Nate and I (first kiss, first "I love yous", end of my birthday scavenger hunt, etc). It was chilly, so we wore jackets. On Coronado, near the Hotel Del, there are sand dunes that actually spell out "Coronado." You wouldn't know this unless you are in the air. On the beach, they just look like oddly placed dunes.

We discovered that if you sit close to the dunes, the beach is oddly quiet, despite the traffic and tourists around you. So we spread out our trusty beach blanket and sat down, enjoying the cool air and just being together on the beach.

And then...

Nate: "So, you want to hear a funny story?"
Me: "Always!"
Nate: "There was a question I wanted to ask you this week...but I didn't know you were going to the New Kids on the Block concert on Tuesday."

At first I was confused; then I realized that Nate was telling me he had been planning on proposing to me on Tuesday night. I had just recently mentioned to him that I had tickets from April to go to the NKOTB concert on Tuesday.

Me: "..."
Nate: "So, I can either wing it now, or we can wait and do it later..."
Me: "..."
Nate: "Winging it means I don't have the ring, and I need to go try to get a hold of your parents." (Which he had been trying to do earlier in the day.)
Me: "Well, you getting a hold of my parents is a lot more important to me than the ring, so if you can get a hold of them, I say wing it."

Nate left to call my folks, and there I sat on the beach blanket, watching the waves and the seagulls (gag) and the people, stuck with my thoughts...

Nate came back; he had gotten a hold of my parents (lots of tears) and had gone to the car. He was now caring a large black photo box. He sat at my feet, and one by one began pulling out pictures of the two of us from the past 10 months that we have been dating. As he pulled them out and stuck them in the sand, he talked about how we met, and the progression of our relationship, how much fun we've had, how much we smile...

The sun was beginning to set as Nate put the last picture in the sand. I was tearing up.

Nate: "Sarah Ebner (he may have said my middle name too...it's a little fuzzy) will you marry me?"
Me: "YES!!!"

Due to some jewlery store difficulties, Nate didn't have the ring with him, so he presented me with his promise ring from high school, which I wore on my thumb until Monday when he gave me the ring he himself had picked out.

I didn't care.
I'm freaking engaged to my best friend and love of my life. That's way way way better than any ring.
(But the ring is beautiful...not gonna lie...)

Here are a couple of pictures:

















So now you know the story. We are now in the middle of planning a San Diego wedding for June. I'm so excited I could just...