It had been about a month and a half since Ashley left for France, and it had been really difficult being so far apart for so long. I was on my way home one morning after breakfast, and sort of on a whim, decided to stop by a jeweler's and see what was up. Just to get my bearings. Just to see what prices were like, just to learn about the process, just to see what was involved. I didn't have a plan about how I'd propose, other than I knew I wanted to. I didn't know that I'd find her ring, but there it was. I saw it and knew it should be hers. It was in the budget. The ring would be done before we were supposed to meet in Iceland.

 Meanwhile, in France, everyone I was working with was super excited about my relationship with Ben. Once it was discovered that I had a boyfriend, and that we were in a serious relationship, talking about a potential proposal became a daily conversation for those at the church. They claimed that young love was rare in their lives and they were overjoyed about the prospect of me getting married. All of the excitement they had got me thinking even more about marriage and my life with Ben. While I knew that it was something we had talked about eventually, my friends in France had me anxious and excited that a proposal could be happening soon. Couple that with missing him like crazy and you have one anxious girl! And so, it’s kind of amazing knowing that while I was over there just dreaming about the possibility of getting married, all along Ben already had bought a ring and had the whole thing in the works - yet I had no clue!

Fast forward another month or so, and I'm on the plane to Iceland. I can barely sit still. I try to sleep and can't. I'm excited and nervous. Ashley would be there when I got through customs. I was terrified. We had talked about marriage before, and I knew this is what she wanted. I knew that if I asked, she'd say yes. I'd ruled out proposing in the terminal, but it kept popping into my head. Wouldn't it be perfect? The first time seeing her in three months and I pop the question? The hopeless romantic part of me was kind of wondering if he was going to do that. I even got up a little early to put on makeup just in case! But no. It should be later in the trip. Something better. Something unique. I'd know the moment when it arrived.

 And this is how it went, for the next three or four days. I carried her ring with me everywhere we went, either in my backpack or zipped in my coat pocket. I was hyper aware of where it was at all times and how close Ashley was to it. If it was in my pocket and she came in for a hug, I'd shift so she wouldn't know it was there.I had no freaking clue that he was doing this! You would think I would catch on to being moved to avoid hugging certain pockets, but no. Clueless. If it was in my backpack, I'd go to extra lengths to make sure I was the one getting the water and snacks out. It was nerve wracking.

 Honestly, after a few days without the proposal that had been hyped up as a high possibility in my head, I decided it wasn’t happening that trip. This was totally fine though because I was just so happy to actually talk to Ben without a delay and be able to see his face without slow moving pixels that the focus on a proposal vanished. I think that if I were still expecting it to happen, I would have caught on to his sneaky ways. However, I was so busy enjoying the trip the focus was lost and I am totally happy with that.

 We had an amazing couple days together. We found a secluded hot spring that looked out over the fjord. We played on glacier-topped mountains. We found a hike starting from a random pull-off on the side of the road, that lead up a mountain to a beautiful view of the sunset over the ocean. We drove hours to see puffins. We saw whales playing in a bay.(WHICH WAS AMAZING! Ben was so sweet. I noticed the whales and insisted we needed to get a picture but we were on the wrong side of the fjord so he literally backtracked just so I could attempt to see the whales from a better angle. We were already late for trying to get to the town we wanted to camp in and he went out of the way to chase whales. It put us over an hour behind! Good man.) Each moment that passed, I would think, "maybe this is it. Maybe this is the moment. Maybe I should propose here." But I kept waiting.

 It was getting late into the night
 (Like midnight!! And all I could think about was that I wanted to pee and go to bed.) on the day we saw the puffins and the whales. We had been driving hard to get to Isafjordur, a secluded town where we wanted to camp and do some hiking,but it was still hours away. We were coming down out of the mountains and thought we'd stop for dinner wherever we found next. That stop happened to be the base of this massive waterfall- the tallest in the Westfjords, which was surrounded by hiking trails. We hiked up a little way to get a better view and then turned back. Dinner was ramen out of the back of our camper van, that we ate at a picnic table. It was there that it dawned on me- I'd been looking for the perfect moment to propose, but every moment with Ashley is a perfect moment. This moment was as perfect as every other, I had the ring there in my pocket, and after we finished our ramen (which will always have a place of significance in my heart now) I asked her to marry me.(!!) Right there at the picnic table at the bottom of the waterfall.

Honestly, after all of the ways that he could have proposed on the trip, it kind of surprised me how he decided to do it. Over Ramen noodles! But at the same time, it was so us. It was romantic, outdoorsy and intimate. For me, it was absolutely perfect! I legitimately jumped around like a bunny for an hour because I was just so happy. I want nothing more in my life than to spend the rest of it with Ben and I was so thrilled he officially felt the same way. To top it off, he gave me the most beautiful ring. For months I had been telling him I would be happy with a gumball ring because all that mattered to me was him. While I would have still said yes without hesitation, I am kind of happy he didn’t listen to me and got a real ring. :)

THE PROPOSAL