The ring!

I had always thought I wanted a diamond solitaire with a platinum or white gold band for my engagement ring; something similar to the lucida from tiffany:


Nothing quite that big or even close to that expense of course. The thought of owning a ring that costs over $10 000.00 gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it. My mom will confirm that my track record for losing things is quite extraordinary! As a child, the phrase "Amy Ellen, you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached!" was a daily statement at my house. What can I say, I was a bit scatterbrained back then, and I'm still a bit scatterbrained now, much to my fiancee's chagrin!

So prior to our engagment, during the few instances when our discussions turned to engagement rings, I briefly mentioned my style preferences; but what I really made sure to emphasize were my cost preferences; as in don't you dare spend a lot of money on the ring!! Not only was I concerned about losing a 10 000.00 dollar ring, but I could think of a million other, more important things, that we could use the money on.

During these brief discussions, Patrick made it clear to me that he didn't want to buy me a "boring solitaire" and that he wanted to find something more unique. In the end, I knew I'd love anything he picked out, as it would be special for that very reason!

I present, my engagement ring. It's designed for Tiffany & Co. by the famous architect Frank Gehry; best known for his design of the Guggenheim Museum in Spain, The Dancing House in Prague, and - closer to home - the recent renovations of the Art Gallery of Ontario. This ring is from his Torque collection, and is absolutely amazing. It sparkles like nobody's business, so much so, that I've been caught gazing at it under the halogen lighting in odd places like the elevator, or the bathroom! And it's a comforting feeling knowing that my fiancee knows me better than I even know myself. I love my ring, and not just because he picked it out. I love it because it is unique, and it is so me!

And a final pic of the ring on my finger:

And before anyone asks, yes there is a band to match! I actually have three choices, rose gold, yellow gold, and white gold. I think I'll stick with the white ;)

The engagement story.

Most couples planning a wedding have an engagement story with which they regale their friends and family. We are no different; and so without further ado, here is our sweet story, which was more than 6 years in the making!

If you'd told me 7 years ago that the extremely young, extremely arrogant, and extremely cute tribe poster, known to me back then as "KiFe", would one day become my fiancée, I probably would have laughed and told you not to quit your day job. I mean, come on! He's the same age as my brother! That's way too weird to even consider...right? So how the heck did we end up engaged and planning a wedding you ask?

After the disintegration of a long term relationship in the fall of 2000, a close friend suggested I keep things light. You know, set my sights on just having fun for a while! Earlier that same year, I'd actually met KiFe, during a trip to playdium with a group of friends. He was much cuter in person, and much less arrogant too! In fact he had a wonderful sense of humour and was very easy to talk to. My intentions were completely innocent at the time as I was an "attached woman", but after the break-up all bets were off!

Recalling my friends sage advice, Patrick and I started hanging out, but not before clearly stating our intentions: we are only having fun; we are NOT getting serious; we are not ready for a relationship. Un huh. Riiiiiiight. And well, you know the rest of the story!

Fast forward 7 years to June 2007. We'd been talking on and off, about getting married, for some time; but there always seemed to be something getting in the way. He wasn't working. We were moving. I wasn't working. We were moving. I was going back to school. We were moving. We had very little money. We were moving; you get the idea. At this point, I'd pretty much resigned myself to idea of "living in sin" for the rest our lives!

Thus, upon arriving at Horseshoe bay, after a weekend of camping on the sunshine coast with my girl guide unit (yes, I'm a girl guide leader and I love it), I really didn't suspect a thing. It had been raining and cold all weekend, and although the girls behaved wonderfully, the leaders were exhausted by the time the ferry arrived at the terminal.

I called Patrick earlier that afternoon, to let him know that we made our ferry and that I would be at the terminal in less than an hour. Looking back now, I recall thinking that he sounded fairly giddy and happy on the phone. He mentioned how much he missed me (as did I) and asked if I was up for doing anything after I got back. He suggested shopping (which really should have tipped me off right there, he NEVER suggests shopping - haha), and being the shopaholic that I am, I jumped at the suggestion. Thus he stealthily discovered my mood and energy level and determined that the proposal was a go. And still, I never suspected a thing.

After Patrick and Huxley (our dog) met me at the ferry terminal, and all the girls were handed off to their happy and relaxed parents, we jumped into our little mazda 3 to head home. On the way, Patrick asked if I would mind stopping at Cypress Mountain to take some pictures. Seeing as this is not unusual request, suspicions were still not aroused. We parked at the second lookout point, and since it was rather deserted, let the dog out for a run. Patrick set up his camera on the tripod and asked me to stand in front of it so he could set the focus. Again, this is not an unusual request, and so I stood in front of the camera completely unaware of his plan.

Now you would think that because the day was extremely cloudy and because there was absolutely nothing to see, I might have thought something was up, but I didn't. I was just happy to be home, happy to be wandering around on a mountain with my pup and boyfriend, and happy at the idea of having a shower and sleeping in my own bed that night! Thus proposals and engagements were the last thing on my mind. That is, of course, until Patrick came to stand with me in front of the camera, and called out: "Huxley, come over here while I ask your mom to marry me!" He said some lovely mushy things, most of which I can not remember due to my shocked but happy state, and of course, I said YES!


"GET OUT!!"


"Awwwww..."


"It's beautiful!!"


"smoooooooooch"


"I'm engaged!"

Aren't we cute? For the whole sequence click here!