Beach House

I should have posted about this a couple of weeks ago, but...you know how things are.

As of March 5 BH and I have been together for 15 years, as that is the anniversary of our first date.

Actually, that is not entirely true. That is the anniversary of our second date. The first one happened about six months earlier. It did not go so well. In fact it went so poorly that we studiously ignored each other as much as possible for about 4 months following that date. That was tough to do, as we shared many of the same friends.

So 15 years since our first successful date.

On the second anniversary of our first successful date (are you confused yet?) My BB (Beloved Boyfriend) decided that it was time to make things official and asked me to marry him. We had been living together for a few months (Yes we are big sinners. There is some story to that sinners remark, but that is a shorter post for another day.) I guess he felt it was time to make an honest woman out of me.

The marriage proposal I received was nothing short of spectacular. Sit back, and get a snack because this story is not short.

I have to provide a little back story here. The previous summer my husband spent a couple of months traveling around Europe with a friend of ours from high school, and two of that friend's college comrades. Ever the anxious one, I gave vehement instructions that no money was to be spent on bringing me back a souvenir from his trip, as I thought eating and lodging were far more important. Also all I really wanted was BB back home. It was a long summer for me.

When BB returned home he said that he had brought me something from the trip. It was a picture of him on a beach in a silly pose in front of I LOVE YOU spelled out in rocks. Little did I know this was a red herring of sorts. (That means remember this part later on as it will be important.) When he gave me that picture I was talking about how much I loved the beach and shared a bit about my jealousy regarding all of the beaches he had visited during his travels. BB then proclaimed that he would take me to the beach within the next year, absolutely count on that fact. I laughed him off and said that I was certain he would as the "beach area" at our local lake was open May-August and a mere 15 minute drive from my house. We continued to "argue" about his ability to follow through with the beach promise, and he finally had me list all of my requirements that were necessary for a "real beach." He wrote all of them down and I had no clue that he kept that list.

Fast forward several months. BB and I have moved into our first apartment together and things are going just swimmingly. We are happy and content. We are approaching the two year anniversary of our first successful date. At the time we were both involved in the play being performed at the college we attended, and we had a performance the night of our anniversary. As is typical during production time we were busy and very tired. Keeping our fatigue and hectic schedule in mind we decided to keep our anniversary celebration low key, and planned on going home, uncorking a bottle of wine...you know the drill. Well I thought I did. BB had other plans in mind that I was not privy to.

We arrive at our apartment after the show and there is a note taped to the door, informing me that under no circumstances am I to enter the apartment without BH right next to me. I am of course a bit confused. Luckily for me, BH was right next to me so I could go right in.

So what did I find when I opened the door? First I was greeted by a rush of very warm air, and that air was scented with?? Was that the ocean????

As soon as I walked through the door I saw on the floor a large tarp that was covered with about 50 lbs. of sand, seashells, and two beach towels. Next to that was a cooler filled with wine, bread, and cheese. Scattered around the house were tropical plants, a huge vase of long stemmed red roses, ocean scented incense, and a trail of towels that led to the ocean, which was our bathtub filled with very warm water that had those fizzy tablets dissolved in it that turn the water a pretty blue and make it smell good. Around the tub edge were soaps shaped like seashells and starfish, as well as a funny lego pirate ship. Playing over the stereo was the sound of ocean waves. BB had painstakingly recorded three hours of waves sound effects. He also made a mix tape of lovey dovey songs we liked to play in the background as well. (BB arranged for two dear friends of ours to come over and set up the whole scene while we were gone doing the show. His instructions were based on that Beach List he wrote down months before.)

So we had wine and cheese, lounged on the beach, took a swim in the ocean, and then I was getting a lovely massage. During that lovely massage a song came on that I was particularly fond of and I commented on how much I loved that song. BB stopped my massage and said that he had something he wanted to give me. Now I am so overwhelmed by everything else at this point, I am pretty sure that anything else is going to be anticlimactic. BB hands me a flat package that is wrapped in newspaper. (He was always fond of the newspaper wrapping paper.) I opened the package and it was an 8x10 framed picture of BB on a beach on bended knee behind the words Will You Marry Me? spelled out in large rocks. (Remember that I Love You picture? Taken at the same time. He and our dear friend Dan got up at the ass crack of dawn to set up those pictures before BH headed back to the states. That is a true friend who will get up at dawn to haul large heavy rocks so that someone can propose.)When I look up from the picture, BH is on his knees in front of me holding out a seashell with a ring inside of it. (More back story. A few weeks before we had been at the mall and were discussing gifts for valentine's day, our anniversary, and my birthday all which fall in the space of a few weeks of each other. During this discussion we passed by a jewelry store that had a sign out front advertising diamond tennis bracelets. I jokingly said that he could just buy me a diamond tennis bracelet and that should cover all three. He claimed ignorance about this piece of jewelry, and steered me in to the jewelery store to show him. He then steered me over to rings and insisted that I choose some to try on. He starts asking me about which ones I like and I play along. He then starts to ask the sales person very specific questions about the ring I liked, and I am horrified, because the ring ain't cheap, to my knowledge at this point we have no plans on becoming engaged any time soon, and this poor woman thinks she is about to score a big commission the way he is acting. I pull him out of the store and proceed to get on his case about leading that poor salesperson on. I of course have no idea that he went back the next day to buy the ring I said I liked the best.)

Of course I say, "yes!" immediately. There is hugging and crying and all of that.

10 months later we got hitched.

Our honeymoon? At the beach of course!

15 years, two kids, a master's degree, teaching certification, two houses, and all that other grown up stuff later?

I still love him, laugh with him, and have just as much fun as we did on that first successful date.

So I guess it goes to show you that sometimes you can find great success with a second chance.