TODAY WASN'T JUST WONDERFUL. WASN'T JUST PERFECT. IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!! (Why? Because I asked my BEST FRIEND TO MARRY ME AND SHE SAID "YES"!!!)
10:30 AM - It was rainy at my house this morning when I woke up to drive to Emma's. I actually drove through the storm and came out ahead of it when I got to Pittsfield. Now the plan was to stop at the jeweler's because I got the call Wed. night that a certain thing was ready for me so I went directly there and had planned on meeting Emma's mom for coffee to run things by her. It's difficult to get Mary Rose alone to talk to since Emma lives with her, and I had called her on Tuesday night and left a message that was vague enough so that Emma would have no idea what it was about if she played it in front of her. It was something like "Hey.. uh.. Mary Rose.. it's Benn... I was uh.. calling to ask if maybe tomorrow I can meet with you to run something by you. I have to ask you a question about Emma.. but I want to do it in person because it's important.." Well funny thing is I get to Emma's house at 10:31 because I never got a phone call from Emma's mom and then I walk in and find out that she just hopped in her car without telling anyone and went down the road. So of course I already have a lot on my mind and I'm thinking.. oh crap! She's going to meet me and never told me! So I try to think of an excuse like "oh no! I left my credit card in the machine at the gas station at the bottom of the road" (this is the one by the coffee shop). Then I looked like a bozo because right when I was supposed to go out, Mary Rose came walking in.
So one crisis averted, I planned on going hiking with Emma at our favorite mountain (Monument Mountain) and I had intentionally got ahead of all my homework for the last week or two so that I could plan something like this when I finally got the call from Charland Jewelers. We left the house at 11:30 and made sure to bring our rain gear and when we got to the parking lot we were 1 of 2 cars. It was a really rainy, nasty day and I was a little bummed because earlier this week there had been such perfect weather.. but I knew that this was a better day than the earlier trip. Especially since I knew what was to come.
We started off hiking the trail backwards for a change of pace since this was the third or fourth time in a month we've hiked Monument. Emma was cruising ahead and she seemed concerned since I was lagging behind so much. But I swear I was Frodo carrying the "precious" because all that I could concentrate on was "What am I going to say? How am I going to say it? How can I make sure I don't mess up? Will she say yes?"
After about a half hour of hiking we got to the lookout. By this time we were both soaked through to the bone... but it was okay. I had a towel and camera in my backpack. So we get to the lookout and it was beautiful because though we didn't have the fifty-plus mile view afforded us earlier in the week, we both simultaneously commented on the fact that it was like we were in a painting.. and that if you stepped off the edge of the cliff you'd just step into nothingness.. the world was our canvas. It was here I knew it was the right time.
I put my backpack down and gave Emmy a hug. She hugged me back commenting how nice it was to be up here on a hike with me. It was funny because I looked into her eyes and started saying how I felt. How she meant the world to me. And how she made each day wonderful, even a crappy rainy day like today. I told her that I thanked God each and every day I woke up and she was still with me. That she was my best friend. It was here that I asked, "And I was wondering, Emmy if you would do me the honor and be my best friend forever." I got down on one knee and was fumbling in my pocket (anything but gracefully because I had the ring box in a cardboard box so it didn't get wet in the rain). She looked down at me and I knew that she had had no idea what was happening. This was what I wanted. To take her completely by surprise. She looked down at me as I opened the box and my heart was racing even faster. I had almost been hyperventilating as I was getting ready to ''pop the question''. I bet I was sweating bullets, and my hands were clammy. I felt like my heart was in my throat it was beating so fast. I looked up at her and she looked down and started crying (I know that these were tears of joy but man did it make me feel bad because I don't like seeing Emmy cry;). Then she stopped and did her signature handwaving at her eyes and wiped a couple of tears away and did a laugh and said "OF COURSE! Yes! YES!" I stood up and hugged her and didn't want to let go. It was the best feeling in the world because that huge weight I had holding me down the whole way up the mountain had been lifted and I felt like I was on (or in) cloud 9!
We hugged and hugged and laughed and cried together and it was great because there was no one else on the mountain. It was just us two and the clouds. It was such an amazing experience :). I don't know how we got down the mountain because we were both probably only thinking about other things.. Me about how I was now the luckiest guy in the world, Emma about how she had to call everyone now because she was officially ENGAGED!
I will write more later. There are other parts of the story to tell. But I just had to do a quick entry about my GREAT NEWS!! Today is absolutely without a doubt the best day of my life!!!
Right after she said yes!
Our first kiss as an ENGAGED COUPLE!!!
Our hands on a rock at the spot where I popped the question. :) | 
