We're Engaged!

At midnight on New Year's Eve, Mike popped the question! I am so unbelievable happy and honored. Mike is such a wonderful man and makes me feel so special. He took so much care in keeping the proposal a surprise and making sure our moment was perfect. It was just that. Perfect! I was dumbfounded when he pulled out a ring and asked me to be his wife!

The night started with tickets to the Stratosphere on the west end of the Las Vegas strip. The tickets were for the New Year's Eve On Top Of The World party. I'm still on top of the world even after! :) We had reservations for dinner and then a New Year's Eve party on the top floor. The Stratosphere gives you a view of the entire strip so we were excited to see the fireworks start at the far end of the strip and progress to us. We had the most amazing food at the revolving restaurant at the top of the sphere. You really must pause here to reflect on the depth of the awesome-ness of the food. Each. course. was. that. good. Because of the tickets Mike had purchased, we both got four courses so we ordered different things shared bites of this and that. Of course it was waaay too much food but every bite of every dish was the most unbelievable experience.

With dinner, Mike ordered us a bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne. It's the champagne with the beautiful hand-painted bottle and flutes. It came with a commemorative box encasing the bottle and glasses that we used. I can't wait to pull those out on our anniversary every year and reflect back on this moment. Our wait staff was overwhelmingly courteous. They give you 2 waiters per table to make sure your glass is never empty and you never have a lag between courses. I felt like a princess.

The party on the top deck had everything you can ever imagine a party to have. We had already ate and drank so we didn't indulge in the drinks or the hor d'oeuvres of egg rolls, pastry puffs, fondue fountains, fruits or desserts but I'm sure they were tasty. There was a live DJ who played dancing music and it was fun to watch people try to jive with the beat. There were a few who I feared were going to hurt themselves but I suppose they made it through without severe whiplash or over-exertion. Hehe. They didn't have enough seats, so we were left with no choice but to lean on a low unused bar. A couple from Mobile, Alabama had the same idea so we got to know them pretty well. Nora and Bill. She is a teacher and he owns a music retail store. They were celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary and were a sweet, Christian couple with an adorable accent. They didn't gamble, just came for the shows (so they say ;)). They kept us entertained until midnight when we left our spot to find a better viewing area of where the fireworks were going to be set off. (I ran into her after the fireworks when we were leaving and was able to tell her the news. That made it so exciting to be able to share it. She was jumping up and down for joy and said that it had made their trip to Vegas worth it. So sweet!)

We walked around the sphere and stopped at a great view of the strip. Party favors were handed out so we each had a fun brightly colored top hat/tiara and noise maker. When the DJ started the count-down, fireworks immediately started at the opposite end of the strip and progressed toward us. "Auld Lang Syne" began to play and I turned to kiss Michael. As I turned back around to see the fireworks, he showed me the ring and asked "Will you be my wife?" I was stunned. Sweet Michael proposes every time he kisses me so my first thought was that he was just doing that, being sweet. I was like "Mike, is this real?" Ha ha! I couldn't absorb it. He had been redirecting any thought that I had about him proposing all week. "We need to wait until your business is settled. We need to wait until finances are in order. I haven't had a chance to talk to your dad (even though he had). I need to start saving for a big screen TV!" (Yes, he actually said this just a few hours before! I slyly pointed out the fact that he should be saving for something shinier. He just shrugged. Like it wasn't a priority. Even though all along, he had already purchased a ring!) Sneaky devil. I think my jaw was on the ground. He laughed and says, "Yes, it's real!" I just started crying and hugging him when he was finally like "Are you going to answer?" I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I forgot to say yes! "Yes, of course! I love you I love you I love you!" I think I cried with joy for the rest of the night. I am the happiest girl alive! My Michael is the greatest man and surprises me everyday. This one, though, is going in the history books. ;)

Us right before the engagement.


There was a photographer at the restaurant and Mike bought these pictures they took of us!


I'm almost blinking in mine but I think his is really good!

Mike at our table. You can see the pretty champagne glasses in front of him!

The banana bread-chocolate mousse explosion dessert at the restaurant.

The view from our table.

A picture of the table looking out at the view.

The original table set up.

Even the butter was in little "Stratosphere" moldings!


An ice sculpture in the foyer of the party.


The ring!

Mike playing video poker later in the trip.