Is this real life?

It happened. I went from being Nicole Martin, girlfriend of Carter Peterson, to being Nicole Martin, fiancee of Carter Peterson. All my whining and crying and complaining finally paid off! I'm kidding, of course.

So yes. I am engaged.

And here's the story.

I only see Carter about once a week these days, because of the distance between Edmonton and Slave Lake, so he came down to see me this weekend. He had a seminar/conference/job fair thing to go to Saturday morning, so he was off on his adventure and I watched Conference. When he got back to my house we went to West Edmonton Mall and just wandered around. I noticed he was kind of antsy, but he had been all day, so I didn't say anything. We were gonna go see a movie, but he pointed out the fact that we only see each other once a week, and did we really want to waste that precious two hours in a stuffy theater? Point taken! We drove back to my house.

When we parked behind my house (per usual) I got all my stuff gathered up and started walking. It was cold and rainy, and I just wanted to get inside. But he called me back. And I, in my cranky way, said "C'mon! It's freezing!" and he said, "Come back!". And I said "No way!" and he said, "Nicole! Turn around!". So I did. And the moron was on the ground. And then he reached in his pocket. And pulled out a little purple box. And I thought I was going to pass out. I was on Cloud 9. Literally. Everything was a blur. And he said those four, perfect, short little words.

 "Will you marry me?"

Naturally, I threw myself around his neck. Ah. It still seems so surreal.

Oh, and of course, I said "YES!"

Our first "activity(?)" as an engaged couple? We first called our parents. His mom, his dad, my mom, my dad (who knew it was coming, obviously, and said "I'm very happy for you two!"), and both sets of my grandparents, his Mammy (grandma), and today we're calling his other grandparents.

Then we ordered pizza and watch Dumb and Dumber.

So there you have it. That's my engagement story. Simple, and to the point. No fuddy duddy romanticizing stuff. And I'm glad! Because that's not how Carter does it. If he had, it would not have been so special.

Here is the first look at my ring.

And the date? February 18, 2012, in the Cardston Alberta Temple.

Consider this your "Save The Date".