ENGAGED!

I am so very excited to say that Clint and I got engaged on Thursday, June 14, 2007! It was the most magical night of my life! It couldn't have been more perfect. Clint did an amazing job of surprising me. He had been saying that I needed to come down to Texas if I wanted him to propose. So I wasn't expecting him to do it while he was up here in Denver. My dad went and picked Clint up from the airport on Thursday afternoon, and on the drive home, he asked Clint if he had the ring yet. Of course, Clint didn't want my parents hinting any clues to me, so he told my dad no, he didn't have the ring yet.
So when they got home, Clint and I got ready and left for a typical date downtown.


We went to eat at Maggiano's Little Italy, one of the best Italian restaurants! We had not been to this one downtown at the Denver Pavilions and it was so nice!



I really had no clue anything was up. I was recommending we go see a movie, or rent one on the way home which is what we usually do. Clint was just playing along acting totally calm. After we finished dinner and dessert, Clint pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me. I open it up and it says, "Kayla's Hot Date Map; 1. You are here; 2. Go here to find something from Italy" and it was a map he had drawn of downtown, along with some cute doodles. Once I saw that, I started to get a little suspicious of what was going on. So we walked around the Pavilions and then we followed the directions on the hand drawn map. As we turned the last corner, we came upon the Platte River which runs along downtown under some bridges. I totally stopped in my tracks and almost starting crying with surprise and happiness as I saw that there were candlelit gondola rides down the river. Clint had already made reservations for the two of us to have a private ride in our own gondola.



By then, I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I think he might be proposing tonight! Is he going to propose?" During the whole gondola ride I was very distracted. Clint would try to ask me a question and I could barely finish a sentence without losing my train of thought. And Clint keep putting his hand on his pocket or inside of it, which made me really nervous and even more distracted. Despite me being incredibly distracted and floating on a cloud, the hour long ride was amazing! The sunset was beautiful and it couldn't have been more romantic!

As soon as we got out of the gondola, Clint handed me another piece of paper which was a hint to what we were doing next. I only had a moment to glance down before I saw a huge limo waiting at the top of the stairs! I started freaking out and saying, "Is that for me? Is that for me?" And all I was thinking to myself was, "Oh, he is definitely going to propose! It's definitely tonight!"

It was our first time in a limo and we were having so much fun checking everything out and enjoying the ride. Clint had the limo driver take us 30 minutes up the foothills to Lookout Mountain. We got out and saw the most gorgeous night night view of metro Denver. We stood there talking and taking in the amazing view. All of a sudden I turned to my right and Clint was on his knee asking me to marry him! It was incredible! I was so happy, excited and surprised! Before we left the mountain, we had the limo driver snap several pictures of us!


It was very dark outside and I really wanted to get back into the limo so I could see the ring Clint had picked out! It is AMAZING!! It's double what my dream ring had every been! It's perfect! I couldn't be more happy!

We called both of our parents and told them the news and drove back to downtown. We thought about going somewhere, but I really wanted to just talk and enjoy the rest of our limo ride. So we rode around downtown and talking until the limo driver dropped us off at our car at 12:45am. It was an amazing magical night that couldn't have been more perfect!

Clint and I have waiting a long time (almost four years) for this moment to come and we are both so thankful to God for putting us together and giving us the patience to wait. It was totally worth it!

So, I know you are all wanting to see the ring! Here it is!!! It is so amazing! I totally love it. Clint picked it out all by himself. It is a cushion cut square diamond, so it looks a lot like a princess cut, but it is not flat on the top. It is cut around the edges and rounded on the corners so it has many facets! Lots of sparkle. The setting has 24 small circular diamonds for a total of 25 diamonds. I love it! Click on the photos if you want to see it larger.




Here's some pictures of Clint an I less than 24 hours after getting engaged. We went on Friday night to see John Mayer at Red Rocks which was awesome! We had an amazing weekend together. My college graduation and party were fantastic and I'll have to post more photos later. We were thinking about doing a Spring wedding in Denver, but I think we've decided that a winter wedding in Texas will be better for both of us! So be watching for the Save the Date!