sunshine and sparkly rings.

The sun shone in the sky, making the day both beautiful and hot.

It was August after all. And noon in August is especially hot.

And while this description could apply to just about any day in this hottest-of-all-months, it specifically applies to one day: Tuesday, August eleventh.

Why? Well, glad you asked. That's what I'm about to tell you.

Tuesday was a day for exploring Beaufort and the surrounding areas. A day for a local girl (guess who?) to show a visiting boy around the Lowcountry. Many stops were to be made in order to give the visitor the best the South has to offer: Piggly Wiggly, Chick-fil-A, the waterfront park... but the first stop would prove to be the best stop of the day.

It was at the place pictured above, Old Sheldon Church. Lovelier in person, but you would have to actually go there for it to look as good as it does. It's a shame that pictures are never as good as the real thing.

I digress.

So the first stop was the best.

The boy and the girl got out of the car and beheld the castle-like look of the place. A mother and daughter were taking pictures at the actual building so as not to intrude on their enjoyment, the few headstones in the cemetary were explored instead. The lives of the people in the ground were speculated on and the quotations on the graves sparked conversation. The outside of the building was circled before the mother and daughter left and the boy and girl went inside through one of the walls.

This is where it gets interesting.

And why it was the best stop.

Standing inside the building, its former loveliness was pondered, and its current splendor (grass for carpet and plants growing from the walls) was considered. After a few moments of admiration, the boy began to speak.

He told the girl that he greatly respected her and told her a few reasons why. He then told her he loved her, something he had never said before.

She said nothing. She was mildly confused and pondered why he chose that moment to tell her.

He did not keep her in suspense for long, but fished around in his pocket for something before taking her left hand. As he knelt, the girl began to realize what he was doing. Always composed, she opened her mouth really wide in a surprised "O" shape. Actually, she gaped. She probably caught a fly.

Was he...?

Yes, he was.

(No, this was not the exact moment, but a reenactment later that day. Notice "the girl" is actually smiling. A lot more becoming than the human fly trap of earlier.)

In the middle of the old church, on a hot summer day in August, he promised to love her and to spend the rest of his life with her. He smiled.

She looked at him and at the beautiful ring in the box he held. She realized that it was indeed happening and closed her mouth. She thought a moment about all the things he had said. She smiled too. Then she opened her mouth again to say one word in reply:

"Yes."

The boy was very happy. And so was the girl. They were going to get married! They smiled a lot.

Like this:

And then they went to Piggly Wiggly (and the boy bought a shirt because he thought that was the funniest name EVER for a grocery store... he's wearing it in the picture below) and then they went to a certain car dealership where the girl's father works to tell him (though he knew it was coming - the boy had asked for his permission that morning), then to Chick-fil-A since Washingtonians don't have them (poor, sad people), then to the Waterfront to look around and show favorite places and old houses and such, then back to the girl's house to enjoy the blueberry pie she had made and to tell the rest of the family.

The ring. Very sparkly and very pretty and not what the girl would have chosen herself. Better.
Looking at the ring that night. This is when it was beginning to dawn on the girl.

Postscript/the beginning of the story:
For those that did not know this was coming... well, neither did I. Obviously.

I'm just glad I didn't say "Are you SERIOUS?"

It was on the tip of my tongue and then I remembered that it wasn't a nice thing to say. Whew.

For those that did not know said boy existed, a bit of history:
Carson and I met at school. Yes, at Moody "Bridal" Institute. No, I didn't go for that reason. Anyway, we met and kind of knew of each other last semester. I knew very little about him except that he had a really good reputation for loving God more than anything else, several girls I knew liked him, and he was one of the few who was actually from Washington State and applied to Moody-Spokane and not to the Chicago campus.
During Spring semester, we had two classes together and got to know one another a little bit better. He liked me but I wasn't exactly interested (that's putting it mildly) but agreed to go to the formal with him in May. Around that time, I became interested (this was after a lot of prayer... I hadn't realized how much I liked NOT being in a relationship until I had to ask God to change my heart if He wanted me to even like Carson). He (Carson) asked me to pray about being an a relationship with him and I agreed to do so. The timing seemed a little odd but we could both see God's hand in it and after praying, we could see that it was definitely something God was leading us to do. So we began dating this past Spring, not that long ago. It's been great and I'll write about all that sometime. Seriously has brought me closer to the Lord.
Carson's visit to Beaufort was a surprise, as in, I knew he was coming but didn't know when. He arrived on Saturday and left on Thursday. I had NO idea that he would propose. But he did, and now we're planning a wedding. More on that to come, of course.

:)