OK. STORY TIME!!

It is true. I am a fiance. It is true. It is WEIRD!! A new, pretty fabulous, strange, and exciting feeling...

So. The date: April 12, 2007.
The place: Auburn, Alabama
The boy: McDonald Plummer III (we call him Mac. or MP3 Playa,' whichever you prefer.) :)
The scenario: failing tests all the day long.

Thursday morning we (consumer affairs) had our annual Grisham Trentham lecture, where designer Billy Reid came to share his story-which was wonderful. Those of us who entered the International Textile and Apparel Association Competition had our garments on display, which was fun...and nice to be complimented on hours and hours of tedious work. After the lecture, dad and I grabbed a bite to eat and then I headed back to the sweat shop (Spidle) for class and a test. blah blah blah, failed a test, left upset, blah blah...went into the lab to finish up an assignment and, as usual, checked my e-mail. There was an e-mail from Mac that went as follows:

[We’re going to play a little game today, but you have to follow my instructions closely. Ok? Ok, good. Now go check Miss B’s myspace page for your next instruction. Hurry!]

yes, Miss B is his black lab and yes, she has her own page. scary, I know. ha! So i did as I was instructed and this is what I found...

[there's a message in an envelope waiting for you under our tree. hurry!]

Our Tree refers to the tailgate where we first met. Big ole' thing across from FIJI...that's another long and interesting story (how we met). Ok, so I drop everything-purse, books, lab, (class had begun), I don't have any shoes, etc..and RUN to the tree.
My friend, Ashley, was with me which made the whole thing twice as exciting (always is when there's someone to share it with!) We found the letter, ripped it open, and couldn't believe what was happening, actually. It was the sweetest, most thought-filled letter that began with the words, "Thanks for playing this little game. I promise it won't last long, so enjoy it for now because the end is pretty cool." At this point, I knew, though I was still trying to convince myself that it was all an ugly joke. haha...I won't copy and paste this one, but he wrote about how it was in that very spot that our journey began and how amazing it is to watch how the Lord works...and how He is so mysterious and good. all the good stuff.. (so glad he wrote it instead of saying it so that we can both remember.)

Clue three: [The next envelope is by the stop sign where we first said 'I love you.' Think where the person lives who told us we loved each other before we said it! Hurry Pearl!]

Side note-Ashley was that person and Megan means Pearl...it's my alter ego...what the ones who know me the best call me...almost as scary as Miss B having her own webpage. ha! Oh gosh.

So, we tear off across the street through cars who are not stopping for us-who cares! let's go! barefoot, remember.
I had earlier, locked my keys in my car, so Ashley drove me to the next stop. We found the note and it read:

[Good work. See, that was easy! and then a bunch of sweet stuff...and then, "Ok, are you ready? Hurry to the 'Tahoe on the green. Not exactly the same as the place in NYC, but this has something special waiting for you. think....frisbee on a nice day. luh u.]

At this point, I REALLY knew it wasn't an ugly joke! ha! and so once we figured out what the green was, we flew as fast as we could...to the lawn on Donahue. There he was, the back of his white Tahoe popped open and he, sitting on the back waiting patiently. I am totally fa-reak-ing out....as you might imagine. Ashley is (haha) pushing me out of the car as she thinks she is ruining our moment. (she wasn't. i was GLAD to have her there) She threw me her camera and said GO! and zoomed off. I was laughing like a fool, and still barefooted was standing in the middle of a bunch of prickly grass (and ant beds, i'm sure).
I looked at Mac who was now walking toward me and asked him, "what are you doing?" to which he responded, "what are YOU doing?" haha....oh my gosh. ok, so I say, " i don't have any shoes!" so he gave me a piggy back ride to the truck where there were 2 dozen red roses. purty....he carried me around to the side of the truck where there sat a "lovely" little sofa.
so i sat and continued my mantra, "this is NOT happening." he comes back and i ask him what that was he just put in his pocket. he ignored me. sat down next to me and smiled. i smile. he smiled. i did something stupid, i'm sure...looked away, or something i don't know. and he said" well, i figured if a couch was good enough for your parents, it was good enough for us."
i'm sure i just stared at him. he continued, " i love you." ("love you too.") Will you marry me? (yes, big grin) and then..."hey! you're spose to be on your knee!!" to which he quickly responded, "oh i meant to do that! oh yeah oh yeah, ok.." so he gets on one knee in the cactus grass and pulls out this beautiful ring and puts it on my left finger and i'm freaking out again and then he pulls out ANOTHER ring, takes my right hand and says that his family wanted me to have it....the first ring his grandfather gave to his grandmother. I was honored and told him so...
and then we smiled and laughed and hugged some more and made ashley come back-tooks some pics and packed up the couch and went from house to house to tell all of my friends!! fun...

*the couch thing: when my dad proposed to mom, it was on my grandmother's sofa. they've been madly in love for 30 years now. Mac loves them and wanted to make their marraige an example of what he wants for us. (and what i want for us too..!)
that's why he lugged that heavy thing all the way to auburn and unloaded it by himself and waited for three hours until I finally showed up! haha...the boy did good.