Monkey Girl Strikes Again
Wednesday, Dec. 04, 2002, 9:45 a.m.

Oooh! Oooh! Ooooh! Oh my, oh my, oh my! He proposed to me! He proposed to me! Last Friday afternoon, the 29th. At Knott's Berry Farm. Because he was so happy he couldn't wait any longer. :) He got down on one knee and everything. Ok, slow down, dear. Back up, tell the whole story in order.

Ok, so, I told you we were going down to LA for the holiday to see my family, right? Yeah, I think so. So, we left Wednesday night, stopped in a little town called Buttonwillow (cute name, isn't it?) on our way down, stayed there for the night, and then finished the drive in the morning after getting to sleep in. It was nice. It was an easy drive--especially since Anthony did most of the driving :)--and in spite of the fact that traffic was awful, it wasn't nearly as bad as we were expecting since we left pretty late. Anthony found this brochure for a feline conservatory as we were leaving (It was very cute. He got several brochures, and had me look at a couple of others first. Then he finally said he couldn't wait anymore, and pushed the brochure for the feline conservatory at me.) In case I haven't mentioned this before, I am absolutely fascinated by wild cats. Not just lions and tigers like most people, but the little ones (like the Margay and the Ocelot), too, or the strange ones (like the Serval). I have an amazing store of useless trivia in regards to the lifestyle and habits of wild cats. So, this was just about heaven for me! We decided that on Friday we'd go there instead of to Knott's Berry Farm or the San Diego Zoo the way we'd previously planned.

Thanksgiving day was an absolute blast. Anthony got along so well with my family! Usually, he gets bored. "You guys just talk about make-up and clothes and other family members." Now, while I can't deny the other family members piece, I can and do deny the make-up and clothes. We're not a bunch of chattering old hens, after all! But we have to keep up on family gossip! :) But I met my Aunt Jackie for the first time and instantly liked her. :) She's one of those woman who knows her mind and isn't afraid to speak it. But she's not overbearing or domineering. She's a very neat person. (Isn't it amazing to have such a large family that 20 some years into it, I'm still meeting relatives I don't know?!) Anyway, sidetrack city. So, Anthony got on splendidly with my family, didn't even complain of being bored until late in the evening--which is pretty amazing, all things considered. We played this game called Encore. Someone chooses a category (someone neutral, not on one of the teams) like "water" and then each of the teams has to come up with at least 6 words of a song relating to water (or whatever category) in some way. We had a blast. Anthony actually came up with more songs overall than I did! I was terribly impressed. :) Evidently, he'd previously spoken with my grandmother--to get her permission, isn't that cute?--so now I understand all the funny, sidelong looks. :) And the multiple marriage references. Although, that's nothing new. My family's been asking me when we were going to get married for over a year now. We spent the evening at my Aunt Susan's--another amazing woman. I really am blessed with an awesome family. Then we went back to my Grampa Jim's for breakfast. I had the most AMAZING conversation about God with my cousin Julie--which ranks a separate entry all of its own--and we ended up staying much later than we'd planned. Given that Knott's is about 15 minutes from my Grampa Jim's and 20 minutes from my Grampa Merle's (which is where we were heading) it seemed like the perfect place to spend the day as an in between point. So, even though Anthony was trying to get me to go to the feline conservatory, I figured it would be easier to go on our way home (it's about 70 miles north of LA, per the brochure). So, I insisted on Knott's instead. We get there, and Anthony isn't feeling all that well. We wander around some of the shops outside the park for about 45 minutes or so, and decide to go to a hotel to relax for the rest of the day and spend the night, instead of going straight to my Grampa Merle's.

"I have an early Christmas present for you," he says, drawing me to one side where no one's really around.

I frown in puzzlement and smile quizzically at him.

"I was going to do this at the feline conservatory, but..." and he knelt down on one knee and looked up at me.

My hands flew up to my mouth, because I knew what he was doing.

"Theresa Ann Hower, will you marry me?"

"Oh! Oh! I'm so happy, I think I'm going to cry!" And I promptly burst into tears as I pulled him up, hugged him and kissed him.

After about 5 minutes of this, he asks me, "So, is that a yes? Because you never actually said." He's smiling. He knows my answer.

"Oh, with all my heart! Yes!"

He pulls out this gorgeous ring, and helps me put it on my finger. (A little small, so it went on my pinky finger instead of my ring finger, but it's getting sized and is supposed to be done today!) It's white-gold with an oval-cut emerald in the center and a triangle of small diamonds on each side of the emerald. And all the times I thought he wasn't listening or didn't understand what I wanted--I was wrong. Because it's perfect. It's beautiful. He told me later that it was pretty much the first ring he saw when he walked in, and that it was almost exactly what he'd pictured when he decided what he wanted to get me. I've never been so happy in my life.

We spent the rest of the day together, just...being close, holding each other. I marveled at how amazingly loved I felt, so warm and fuzzy, cliche as that may be. And the next day is when I started telling everyone. My family was so happy for me and everyone is pretty excited about it. I can't stop smiling and I know it's the goofiest grin I've ever worn, but...it doesn't seem to matter somehow.

Now, of course, there are all the details to plan. Delightful anticipation. Maybe, Mom and Dad will even come out. Maybe...maybe this will be the bridge that starts crossing the gap. Oh, right now, I could believe anything wonderful could happen.

I'M ENGAGED TO THE MOST WONDERFUL MAN!!!!

Oh, and if you don't understand the title of this entry, go look at this, or at least the first paragraph of it. :)

Ta-ta for now, folks. :)

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