So I shared how he how asked (and how I subsequently fumbled the answer); now I want to tell you about the second part of the engagement story: the part where we got to tell everyone else and share some fun pictures.
And here's the deal: no one told me that it would be as fun as it was. Which is why I am sharing it with you.
As soon as I got over the initial happy shock, Ryan and I went out on the back porch of his (our?) house and opened up a bottle of wine with the intention of calling to tell everyone. I asked him if he would consider me a huge dork if I got out the notebook to write down my "to call" list to make sure I didn't miss anyone. When he lovingly told me her already thought I was a dork, I rushed inside to get the book.
When I got back outside I opened it up in the middle. The page on the left said "GOOD" and the page on the right said "GREAT". He laughed when he saw that I started putting the list on the "GREAT" page. At first we started calling one family member at a time, but as we called people, they shared the news with others and soon we were switching off phones and calling people back. Soon, I was speaking to his dad and he was laughing with my grandmother on the phone. It was amazing and sweet and much more than anything I could imagine it would be.
When someone asked for a picture of the ring, I had just gotten off a call and he motioned for me to take a picture while he continued the conversation. I was about take the picture when I realized that my "backdrop" was the book... the same one with "GOOD" and "GREAT"... needless to say, he was initially confused when I took off the ring and took a picture with "GOOD", but his face (still in the middle of sharing the news) lit up when he realized that I slipped the ring back on and took another picture with "GREAT".
I immediately knew this was how I needed to share this with everyone who wasn't on my immediate "to call" list and soon, what seemed like the whole world, knew. And commented, and pressed like, and my phone is still basically in shock from all the action.
But all of that "action" equates to love and for that I am so very thankful still.