This post is one that will be short and sweet, with a lesson or two to boot. But the adventure, it will last a lifetime with memories that carry beyond that span. On Tuesday December 27th, 2022 I proposed to Mandy. Proposing for me was no easy feat, as I am typically full of anxiety when it comes to formalities. And as I write this, with Mandy’s permission (I did not coerce her by any means) I think about everything that has brought us to this point. And I smile. I smile so wide that any bigger a grin would snap my lips clean off.

I smile because, it’s so much more than the ring, or even the proposal itself. It’s everything leading up to this point. The adventures that made us, and the adventures yet to be made. Regardless, I won’t let myself be lost in tangents upon tangents. This here is what it took for me to propose the biggest adventure of my life.

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What it felt like Proposing

It may come to many as a surprise that it was really really anxiety inducing actually doing it. I spent days just thinking, straining every last brain cell in my head to come up with the best speech ever. And in those few moments before actually doing it I swear to you, I was on the verge of something. What it was I honestly don’t know. What I do know is any more thinking and I may very well have transcended this plane of existence.

I am an introvert, an introvert that obsessively plans out tiny details for the most irrelevant of things. But this was the biggest, most important, thing of my life (so far). You could tell me time and time again, “but Chris, it’s your family, they all love you, don’t worry” I KNOW. But because it’s family, it means so so much more and therefore has to be perfect.

Having gone through the proposal and all, I promise you, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t because tell me how perfect everything in life has been thus far. It’s not always going to be perfect and that’s ok because it doesn’t have to be. Yes, this is an important moment, and it should be taken seriously. But you shouldn’t blow a gasket like me trying to think of the best possible speech, as if such a thing exists. Speak from your heart, on everything that’s gotten you here now, and that, that will be what makes this moment special.

Post-Proposal Relief

In retrospect, it’s kinda funny how worried I was. I knew going in what the answer would be (Mandy picked the ring out prior). Yet I still lost my head when it came time to do it. You could ask anyone that was there and they would say it was clear something was up with me. My legs were bouncing, I couldn’t eat (and there was a whole burger right in front of me!!!), and most of all holding a conversation was a struggle I just could not manage. But once it all came out, the weight was gone and my spirits lifted.

Our friends later admitted that I was making them nervous with how fidgety I was getting. The hard part out of the way we moved on to pictures and laughing the rest of the night away. I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you’re even the least bit like me, stop planning. Just take a step away from what might go wrong and think about how right it will go! If I could do it, so can you, now go do it!

Proposing an Adventure of A Lifetime

While this doesn’t change anything for our blog, this was a big step in our lives. This is an adventure we plan on living day in and day out, together. There will be amazingly good times, and the occasional bad time. But when the bad comes rolling up we will do what we do best and get through it, together.

This blog means a tremendous amount to both of us and with the new year comes a chance to take on new challenges and grow for the better. A chance to become more than who we are today. Mandy and I live by that belief that no matter when we find ourselves we can always strive to be better. It’s what got us where we are now, and what gave me the confidence to propose in front of all of our loved ones. We’ll continue to follow that stride right into the new year and hope you will join us in this adventure of a lifetime.

Thank you so much for being with us for 2022 as we’re getting our bearings while working on ourselves and the things we love. Mandy and I hope to see you in future posts about food, games and adventures. And we look forward to hearing from you be it on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram.

–Have a Happy New Year