The Proposal

Let me preface this by saying I had no idea about "Operation Bling," and only found out afterward. Or, as Brad put it, "There are a feeeeeeeew other people who knew this was coming."

Brad and I go for a walk together almost every night, so when he asked me Thursday if I could get off work a little early so we could walk while it was still light out, I didn't think anything of it. We went to a trail that's surrounded by woods, but still in the middle of the city. Brad had a knee injury back in March and this was the trail where he had started to run again for the first time just a few days earlier in the week, so when he kept saying, "I have a favorite spot I want to show you," I thought he just meant the spot where he started running.

But instead, it was a footbridge that goes over a creek in the park. We stopped on top of it to look over the water and he started talking about how great I was and how this spot was kind of like our relationship because it was hidden away from other people, just us, safe and beautiful. Plus, we've gone on walks everywhere we've traveled (Colorado, Hawaii, Davenport, St. Louis), so it just felt like us. I still had no idea what was going on since he says really sweet things like that a lot. So I was just like, "Oh Brad, you're so sweet, I love you so much."

Then he said, "I have something else I want to show you but I need you to close your eyes." I STILL didn't know what was going on at this point, so I just laughed and closed my eyes. He was holding onto my hand so I felt him kneel down and then I finally realized what was happening. I opened my eyes and he said, "Wait, close your eyes!" (I guess he was still getting the ring out of his pocket.) So I was starting to cry and I had my hands over my face, and I remember thinking, "I have to remember every second of this." So I opened my eyes and he was down on one knee with the ring (which I didn't even really notice) and this HUGE smile on his face and he said, "Joanna, will you marry me?" and he could barely get the words out because he was smiling so hard. I said, "YES!!!" right away. Then "Are you serious???" because I was in so much shock. So we just held one another for probably almost 10 minutes, crying and laughing. Then he said, "Do you want to put the ring on?" Because I had completely forgotten about it. So he put it on and I started crying again.

Calling family and friends was so much fun!