Letting People Know

Day 6 of the Engagement: Letting People Know

We came back to the US from Ottawa on Saturday and we planned to have a romantic dinner on our way back at in Potsdam, NY at The 1844 House, a restaurant we visited a lot in college but we were so excited that we decided to covertly arrange a dinner with our parents and siblings (without letting on that we were engaged) instead. 

First we called Matt’s parents and planted the idea of going out to dinner. At first Matt’s dad was hesitant since they already had dinner plans, but his mom (who says she suspected something was up) talked him into it. Then we called my parents who are always up for going out (although my mom seemed too eager). 

We planned the drive back so that we would be 10 minutes late to the restaurant to ensure the rest of the 10 guests would have already arrived. We talked in length (only making ourselves more nervous and excited) about different ways to announce the news. We decided we would just go right up to the table and saw “Hello, We are Engaged!” and as we said “engaged” I would pull my mitten off, showing my ring. When we did this the entire table screamed. Literally screamed. Every other patron in the restaurant looked over, some applauded. It was perfect. My hand was shaking as I showed the ring to everyone. Both mother’s said they had strong suspicions that it was going to happen though the rest of the crowd (except my dad who Matt had called to ask his permission on Tuesday) seemed to be wonderfully surprised.

We had planned on only telling our parents and siblings the news that night but after the explosion at the restaurant our adrenaline was so high we just had to keep going. On our way home we called my best friend (and Maid of Honor), Lauren, who also had had suspicions that it would happen in Ottawa and was glad not to be let down. Then we met our good friend Cameron for a drink and told him.

The next day we got up early and started calling. We started with grandparents and family and then called some friends, too. We were exhausted at the end of the day. 


Now, it is even out on Facebook and the comments are still rolling in. 


It was nice having three days where we were the only two who knew of our engagement but it is so nice, also, now that everyone knows!


Hello World! We're engaged!

The Engagement

Matt and I met during our freshmen year of college at St. Lawrence University.
Fast forward six years.
WE ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!

That is definitely the short version of the story. Since the long story would take six years to accurately recount I'll give the medium version:

Just a few of our many favorite memories:

• Sharing a fatbag and brushetta from Sergies 
• Spilling mustard on my wallet while eating a Fenway Frank
• Eating four-cheese pizza outside of the Moulin Rouge
• Bringing home our kitten, Batilda
• Watching hundreds of movies
• Walking by the Parliament Building in Ottawa on a snowy evening

Of course, this last memory leads me into the wonderful description of our engagement.

Apparently Matt had been planning the proposal in Ottawa for months and thought giving me Bruins/Senators Hockey tickets would be a good excuse to lure me to the city we visited so often in college and after. We were lucky that their big winter celebration, Winterlude, was also going on. I got the hockey tickets for Christmas and we had been planning this vacation since.

On Thursday, February 17th we got in the car and headed to Canada. We made it into Ottawa where we checked into our hotel and went to walk around the city we know so well.

On our way to dinner Matt suggested we walk by the Parliament Building. We had been planning to do this after dinner, but since we were nearby I decided to humor him. When Parliament came into sight I started to take my camera out of my bag but Matt said he wanted to walk further so we could get a better view. A little further down the side walk he got down on one knee, held up the ring, and asked me to marry him. After a couple minutes of my shocked crying and excited squeals over the ring, Matt said, "Rachel! You have to answer me!" I said, "Yes! Of course!"

Now we begin our 7th year together with the new and exciting titles of "fiancé".

Oh, and the Bruins won the hockey game!