The Forever Long Proposal

9:30- I was told to come into the bank early today to cover for Kathy’s doctors appointment. I got there and Micah had brought bagels for everyone that morning and dropped off my first clue. I was sitting in the drive with Karen when here comes Kathy back and said her appointment had been cancelled, yeah right, and that Carla needed to see me in her office. I went to her office and Carla starts asking me why I came to work and finished my makeup in the drive, I knew she was kidding with me, and then I looked in the chair sitting next to me and saw my first clue and set of directions. I got a GPS system for my car and it said: “Now you can start mapping out your future.” At this point I knew what was going on but I had no idea when or where it was going to happen.

10:00- I left the bank. I was so nervous that I felt like I was going to throw up!! I stopped by Sonic and got a Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper to help settle my stomach and kill some time because I wasn’t supposed to be at my apartment until 10:15.

10:15- I arrived at my apartment and found my next set of gifts and next set of instructions. When I opened the door I started crying! He had set up a table with a beautiful picture of me (I have always told Micah that I wanted him to make a picture of me on his computer) he had also made a CD with songs that reminded him of us and he also left money for lunch and gas. The next instructions told me to get gas and go to Don Camillo’s to meet some people for lunch. I was pretty much in complete shock at this point.

11:00- I drove to the restaurant wondering who is going to be at lunch? His parents? Dru and Erin? My family? My grandparents? I got there early so I sat in the car and worked on my nails (I didn’t want to get engaged with ugly nails!) Finally, I see a car coming toward me and it’s Bonnie’s car and she had Dru and Erin with her. They get out and we go into the restaurant. I have to apologize to these ladies, I probably made the most awkward lunch for them! I didn’t know what to say, my mind was racing a million miles an hour. They just played it cool though. We just talked about normal things and having lunch with them definitely settled my nerves and made me so excited! They gave me a Panda Bear, that I knew was from Helzberg, and a little box wrapped in white paper with “Do Not Open Yet, and You Probably won’t want to Lose This Either!” printed on it. I did not understand why Micah would give me the ring now, he wasn’t even with me! So I took my bear and box and went back home to change clothes and get some stuff together (I figured I might need some extra clothes). My next instructions were to drive to Dallas and go to the Hickory Street Annex (a place we had looked at to get married a while back).

12:45- I left for Dallas. I left a little early so that I could stop by Target to get Micah a card and me some sunglasses. Drive Drive Drive…

2:00- I met Michelle Myers at the Hickory Street Annex. What a nice lady!! Micah had been there earlier to give her two bridal magazines, the movie Enchanted and The Carpenters Love Songs CD to give me when I got there. She went on and on about how nice this was and that she had never heard of anyone doing anything like this before. She showed me around and this place was just beautiful! I hope that it works out to get married here because I just loved it so much! My next set of directions was to go to Project One.

3:15- Project One, this is where Micah had been interning last semester and he had also just been offered a job to work there full time. I was definitely nervous to make this stop. I had never met any of the people he works with an

d they didn’t even really know what I looked like. But I followed my directions and went to Project One. I found the office and opened the door and I felt like everyone was just staring at me wondering “Who is this girl?” So I said, “I’m Amanda, Micah told me to come here.” So then everyone was like “Oh, Amanda it’s so nice to meet you…” So then Nikko introduced me to everyone and Micah’s new bosses Scott and Chantelle are both so nice. If I remember correctly, I thanked them for being so good to Micah and Scott said “Oh we love hi

m! And now we love you!! He’s a funny guy and super nice! Then they gave me my next gift, a poster Micah had rebuilt from the first concert we had ever been to, Gavin DeGraw and Michael Tolcher. I just about started crying, I’m glad I didn’t that would have made this stop soo awkward! Scott demanded pictures of me and the poster (haha) and he took pictures while Chantelle help the huge heavy poster. They really are so nice!! So then I received the last set of instructions. I was originally going to Jordan’s house but she found out she had to work at the last minute. So Micah called me and asked me where I wanted to get ready, and when he said he could get a good last minute deal on a hotel room at the Hilton Anatole I decided that sounded awesome!!

4:00- I left Project One and got into a lot of traffic. I really needed to get some nail polish remover since the car manicure didn’t really go well, so I found an Albertsons. I also got some wine (for me) and snacks and sodas (for Micah) I knew he had had a rough day and probably needed a pick me up! I took me what seemed like forever to get to the hotel!! I wanted to see Micah sooo bad at this point!!

5:00- I arrived at the Hilton. Finally. I got all my stuff together and went up to the room. Micah opened the door and I gave him the biggest hug ever! I put all my stuff down and then I saw a dress bag with a sign that said “Dress it up, you gotta a date tonight” I opened the bag and found the most beautiful dress from White House Black Market. Micah really thought of everything!! He had gotten just about every black shoe I own and put it in a bag to make sure I would have the right shoes to wear. So we hung out for awhile and talked about the crazy day we both had and then we both got ready for dinner. Did I say we had reservations at the Nana Grill? This restaurant is at the top of the Anatole and is definitely the nicest place I had ever been to!

6:45- Micah wanted to leave fifteen minutes early even though all we had to do was ride the elevator up ten floors. I thought this was a little weird, but I went along with it since he told me they would charge us $300 if we were late, I am so gullible. So we got on the elevator and Micah push the 27th floor and jumped off the elevator. He said he didn’t feel good and that he need to go back to the room to use the restroom. I didn’t ask any questions and went on to the restaurant and sat down at out table. Our table had a beautiful view of downtown Dallas, so I just sat there waiting for Micah to get back, it seemed like forever, but he finally made it! We ordered appetizers, by we I mean Micah ordered escargot (gross) and I ordered lobster, I definitely made the better choice! For dinner we both got the filet and it was delicious. The wait staff was excellent, as they should be since this was one of the nicest and most expensive restaurants in Dallas. We had a really great time at the Nana Grill and at the end of dinner Micah asked me if I wanted that box I had been carrying around all day. I said of course I do! So he gave me the box and I unwrapped it. I was soooo excited!!! I opened the box and to my dismay was a little gold key. No ring! I probably looked a little disappointed and a lot confused!! Micah went on to explain that he had ordered the ring in plenty of time but when it came in it was the complete wrong size so they reordered it and the ring was being FedExed and it was supposed to be in the next day and we would go get it first thing. He kept apologizing over and over and said he knew I would be disappointed and that he was so so sorry but he had already planned everything and could not have waited for the ring to come in. I told him it was fine but inside I was, let’s be honest, a bit disappointed, okay a lot disappointed…

After Dinner- So we left the Nana Grill and went back upstairs we had both decided we wanted to change into more comfortable clothes before we walked around the Anatole. We went back down the elevator and when Micah opened the door I could hear music playing. I said, “What is that? What is going on?” Then I saw Micah take out the little gold key, I thought I hated that little gold key, but I didn’t because then Micah went over the window and used that key to open a beautiful wooden box that was sitting on a stand that had had a statue on it that belonged to the hotel. He opened the box and took out the ring, got down on one knee and said, “Amanda Dabbs, Will you marry me?” I at this point could not even speak for the tears rolling down my face. I gave him my hand and just shook my head yes. But what I was thinking in my head, and that I couldn’t seem to make into words was, “Yes I will marry you!! You are amazing and wonderful and thoughtful and creative and sweet and why in the world would I ever say no to you? I would have said yes after our first date together!! I love you Micah Alan Wimberley!! And I cannot wait to take your hand and start our life together, full of lots of love, laughs and a few fights every now and then!! I cannot wait to be your wife, thanks for finally asking me!!” All that in a single shake of the head.

The Ring