Our Engagement in NYC!

Brian proposed!

I want to share the great story with everyone. We were going to celebrate our Christmas with eachother before we left, but Brian said he hadn't finished his Christmas shopping (a little white lie). I got him the sharp looking camel hair blazer in the picture to wear out in the City.

We were flying up to New York City for a few days before heading up to Ithaca for Christmas. I thought we were staying with Larissa, Brian's sister. But Brian surprised me with a beautiful room at the Waldorf Astoria!!

For Brian's birthday I had bought him tickets to Wicked on Broadway. So we were getting ready for our big night and he kept rushing me. I knew we didn't have dinner reservations until 6, so I couldn't understand why we were in a rush.

He said he wanted me to see Rockefeller Center at Christmas since I had never seen the tree. It was beautiful!! We were watching the skaters and listening to the Christmas music...and I kept wondering why we weren't going to dinner. It was cold and we just kept watching the skaters...and apparently Brian was working up the courage :-)

He said he had one more surprise for me and reached into his jacket pocket. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him holding a beautiful ring! It felt like no one was around, but we did attract a little round of applause.

The best part of the whole night was hearing the story behind it all. We went to dinner at Aqua Pazza, a modern italian restaurant near the theatre. Over a fabulous meal, Brian told me the history starting a year earlier. Apparently last Christmas was the first time Brian decided it was time to make the ultimate commitment. He wisely waited through time apart for grad school. We both enjoyed our first semesters in Dallas (SMU Law) and San Antonio (UT Med), and our relationship only grew stronger over the distance.

Building up to the big question Brian pondered over rings, which diamonds, settings, etc at a local Austin jeweler. As usual he did a great job! He coordinated the surprise with the parents and everyone kept the secret safe. Boy was I out of the loop!

Now we're excited to spread the good news! The wedding will wait until after graduation, so we have plenty of time to ponder and plan the big day. For now we're just enjoying the new phase in our relationship. Thanks to all our friends and family for their support in helping us get this far! We'll try to be better at posting periodic updates, so check back for more to come!