And now, a special post...

I just realized I never posted the story of the day James proposed to me in a very special spot in Brown's Park! Silly me!

As we woke up, shared the best breakfast ever, and began that special day, I had no idea of the awesomeness to come. The whole day was magical. Like a big bowl of soup followed by three scoops of ice cream is like salvation when you have a scratchy sore throat.

As we drove toward Brown's Park, we chatted about how wonderful our relationship was and how great it was to get away from the bumbling dumb gorillas everyday life places at our doorsteps. We also recounted some amusing adventures from our last Fennboree.

James also told me that we were going to Brown's Park so we could put his solve to rest. Of course, I was good with that, because I didn't think the treasure was there. Lol. One thing I love about our relationship is how comfortable we are in sharing everything with each other.

But there WAS treasure there. :)

And all along the way, too...as we were traveling past towns that looked like they were made of paper, and then along the ridge, a herd of wild horses caught our eye, and we stopped. I tentatively walked up to the grazing horses, scared I might spook them.

It was incredible...they grazed silently against a background no movie can imitate. Being there, seeing this...was so awesome, so incredibly inspiring...you know that feeling when you just want to look and look and look and brand something into your mind forever? Yeah, it was like that.

James stayed a little behind and watched, then videoed some interaction. The horses weren't scared of me, and one was especially curious, approaching slowly while taking little snack-bites of grass along the way. When he was only a few feet away, he started nodding his head at me. He, or she, did that for a while, and I think James videoed it. It was really an awesome interaction, and I felt like I made a new friend. Only me wearing my rainbow sparkly socks could've made that moment better. Good thing I didn't have a scary new haircut. Lol.

When it was time to move on, I did so a little reluctantly. I grew up riding horses, and standing in the midst of such graceful and majestic animals brought back some fond memories.

At Brown's Park, James described some of what we'd see, and we found the slightly overgrown dirt road without difficulty. We stopped, and James said he wanted to explain his solve on camera. He made sure I was in the exact right spot and told me to start filming...and you all can see what happened from there on YouTube. Here it is in case you haven't seen it:

I was laughing, and crying, and just so...speechless with emotion. And then when I found out Forrest had known about it and sent us the signed book that James magically took the ring from, it was just...just the most amazing day ever.

He was so deeply Fearless as he proposed--it almost made me cry. A blimp couldn't have displayed the love I felt for him at that moment. Not even a blueberry-colored blimp!

I still have a hard time describing how I felt. Lol. Maybe a little like the happiest little berry in a field full of unicorns and sparkles and laughter. I swear, if there were any snakes around, I would've fed them!

That spot near the Spitzy Marsh (it's much more beautiful than it's name implies), with Diamond Mountain standing as silent witness in the distance, will always be a very special place.

Standing there, just engaged to the most wonderful man, overlooking the river, listening to the musical chirping of birds on the crisp breeze was exhilarating and humbling. It will be James's and my spot forever.

We kissed there, and he said my lips tasted better than the sweetest honey. His did too. It was like a bonus prize of a fireworks booby trap that I thoroughly enjoyed getting caught in.

And there's a spot where we buried something for someone to find maybe a thousand years from now...

Wow, all this happy reminiscing about one of the best days of my life has me behind schedule. Tomorrow, we're off to SC for some magic!