Our Engagement

Our Background:

So, I know this is a little past due (5 months to be exact), but I wanted to share the story of mine and Erik’s engagement with you all; He did such an amazing job that the least I can do is give him a blog post about it. I’m going to start off by giving you a little insight into our relationship. We met for the very first time on May 28th 2015 (I remember this because I basically mauled him at a bar after recognizing him from a dating app). A few days after that we spent the day together at the beach with some friends, and the following week we had our first date.

We moved in together after a year (mostly because he travels for work and we could never agree on whose house we would stay at for the weekend), and have been dating ever since. After another year or so I started to show Erik rings that I liked, just in case. He always told me he would never propose anywhere I would be expecting it – so when he had the perfect opportunity to do it in Greece, I knew he wouldn’t. That being said – on New Years Eve he promised me that he hadn’t started looking at rings yet. I have since forgiven him for lying about that.

The Proposal:

Fast forward to February 2018. We do a yearly ski trip with our friends from all over the country, and this past year’s was in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We got there on a Wednesday night and were trying to decide when would be the best night to do the Sunset Happy Hour at the top of the mountain. After what I thought was a little strategic planning on my part, we decided to do the Strawberry Park Hot Springs on Thursday and the Sunset Happy Hour on Friday (little did I know this was already planned, and the actual sunset happy hour for the public is only on Thursday nights).

After a full day of skiing on Friday, we went back to the house to get ready for happy hour. Erik is in the travel industry and frequently gets things comped for us, so when he told me he got us 4 free tickets and a bottle of champagne, I didn’t ask any questions. I did however try to recruit the rest of the group to join us, but sadly only got “No’s” in response (one person was napping, the other had “altitude sickness,” and the rest had “other plans”).

We made our way to the gondola (me, Erik, and both of our old roommates), and up to the top of the mountain. Once at the top, the restaurant was completely empty and I asked Erik at least 3 times if we were in the right place. The lights were on but the chairs were stacked, there were no bar tenders or servers anywhere, and it just felt wrong. After much hesitation from my end, we found a small table in the back with a bottle of champagne and 4 glasses (and me, still clueless).

We poured the champagne and went outside to take some photos overlooking the mountains. Mind you, its absolutely freezing, and windy, and I’m from Florida, so I quickly told Erik “O.k. no more, lets go back inside,” to which he asked for just one more photo.

This is when he reached into his pocket and got down on one knee and started saying a bunch of things (which I absolutely do not remember), and I might have cursed once (or twice) before actually saying yes (sorry, Mom). We hugged and cried, called our friends and families to tell them the good news, and finished the bottle of champagne before heading back down the mountain.

All of our friends were at a restaurant waiting for us to celebrate together. Turns out no one was sick or sleeping. Looking back on that night there were so many red flags that I just completely missed along the way, but everything happens for a reason and it truly was the surprise of my life.

P.S. I want to thank The Knot‘s How He Asked for publishing the shortened version of our story on their website! I love reading other people’s proposal stories, and it’s so exciting that others get to read ours and share our excitement as well. I hope you enjoyed it!

XoXo
-Erica