So... I have not been doing well keeping up with my blogging. As the name of our blog suggests, we have been super busy still. Anyway, I am going to do a few posts today I think, so I keep the posts short.
Anyway, it was a year ago today that my dear, sweet Kevin Ryan asked me to be his wife!! What a wonderful (and
cold) day it was!! I decided that I'd blog the engagement story as I remember it now to remind myself and anyone else of the incredible day!! So, here's the story:
Anita, Robin and I are BFFs with ridiculous schedules. We FINALLY planned a date to get together for Robin's birthday (which is actually on the 16th). So, we made plans to spend the day in Galena. We decided to get dressed up so we could take some super cute BFF pictures and we let the birthday girl decide where we were going to go for lunch! We had made plans to meet at Robin's house (which is in Galena) and walk into downtown from there. Whenever we walk from her house to downtown, we walk through a park called Grant Park so, it was not weird for me when we started toward downtown through the park. We were talking on the way to the park. Kevin and I had been talking about marriage before this day, so I knew a proposal was coming, but I thought it was going to happen at Christmas or after. I had asked Kevin's permission to book the reception hall that we had wanted the day before this BFF birthday date. I was talking with my gal pals about how silly I felt making official wedding plans without a ring on my finger. Anyway, as those words were coming out of my mouth, I heard a guitar playing in the park and a small voice singing a familiar song. I looked up and there was Kevin, in the park gazebo, singing and playing his guitar. I joined him in the gazebo as he finished up singing me "God Gave Me You" by Dave Barnes and then he started singing "Now and Forever" by Richard Marx. He finished with a line from the Moldy Peaches song "Anyone Else But You"... "I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else, but you". He put down his guitar, got on one knee, held out a ring box and said "Anna Leah Soderman, will you marry me?". I just nodded and got out a very quiet "yes". Kevin had also schemed with our friend Graeme Pitman, who is a photographer, to hide out and take pictures of the whole thing! It was just the most perfect proposal. I could not have dreamed of anything better!! Even to this day, it was one of the best days I can remember.
We're going on a date tonight to celebrate!! Perhaps I'll take a few pictures and add them later!
Thanks again Graeme for being there and recording the whole thing!
