yes...yes...yes!!

We are engaged!! There’s no way I could try to hide this or be sneaky in my approach in telling you as I’m just way, WAY too excited by the news.  It happened last Saturday (yes, sorry for taking a week to post about it) on December 11^th and I’m STILL beaming from ear to ear.

Let me start from the beginning (of the engagement).  In the morning, Matt and I started the day off by getting caught up on shots for India.  Then we headed over to TST for lunch, where we ate at Wooloo Mooloos.  After a relaxing lunch, we both got a toffee nut latte (YUM) from Starbucks and then walked along the promenade/water front.  We’ve walked here many times before, as it is a lovely place to stroll along and enjoy being outside. 

In times past, we’ve noticed a man who draws caricatures and both mentioned that it would be fun to get one done.  So today, Matt said that he wanted to get our caricatures done.  I was not keen at all, as I hadn’t dressed up or in my words “look cute enough” to get drawn.  He was pretty adamant though (yes, I should have been tipped off, but was completely clueless) and so I agreed to it.  The man had us take a seat and then he drew us.  As he was drawing us, many people stopped to look at the drawing and then proceeded to compare it to us.  Thankfully for Matt, it was all in Cantonese, so neither of us understood anything said.  It was however rather unnerving as people just wouldn’t let up and stuck around for a long time and even took pictures! When the man finished the drawing, he asked to take a picture of it before letting us see it.  So we took a picture and then he turned it around for us.  That’s when I saw it and was FLOORED! The picture is of me standing while Matt was down on one knee with flowers in hand and over top the words “Will you marry me?” were written.  That was the cue for Matt and he did just that.  He got down on one knee and brought out the most beautiful ring ever and asked me to marry him.  At the time, I’m pretty sure I asked him “Are you for real?!?” and then proceeded to nod my head emphatically until Matt said that I hadn’t answered him yet and at which point I said “YES!” repeatedly.  It was a spectacular moment.  Seriously.  We were both in tears and people were clapping and it was just perfect.  After we collected ourselves, this incredible couple (who had been taking pictures for quite a while) offered to e-mail all the pictures they had captured to us.  Amazing, right?!?

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around TST.  I was floating the whole time and could not stop pausing to look at my beautiful engagement ring.  It is seriously STUNNING (thanks Matt)!! I love it.  Later we headed home and tried to get a hold of family, but no one picked up (isn’t that always the case?).  Then we headed to dinner and were able to surprise our wonderful friends Angie and Morten (whom actually were involved with the ring purchasing process…the sneaky buggers) and celebrate our engagement with them.  It was a terrific night filled with tons of laughter and champagne! We headed home fairly early so that we could once again call family and finally we were able to get through and share the good news.  Thankfully everyone was happy and excited! :D

So yes, we are engaged and loving every minute of it….and no, we don’t know when or where the wedding will be. :D Enjoy the pictures!!

 Getting our caricature done with lots of people watching...

Finished product...still haven't seen it yet...

"Will you marry me?" - Matt

"YES" - Mel

Excited!!

Newly engaged and so HAPPY!

With our friends the Frederiksens!