I have been dating the most wonderful man for (officially) 2 years or (unofficially) 3 years. His name is Carl Murray and we met in pharmacy school our first year. We were surprised to both learn that we actually sat on the same row in organic chemistry at OSU. He swears that I would walk by with my sorority friends and not pay him any mind but in actuality, he was the guy that always sat at the end of the row and slept all class because he already had the notes and was scared to talk to me and my friends. :) I have a feeling this debate will go on for the rest of our lives, by the way... :)
Anyways... we got to know each other in pharmacy school, became GREAT friends, but were always dating other people. Finally, the time came that we were no longer committed to others, and we went to a Dierks Bently/Cross Canadian Ragweed concert at the fairgrounds in Tulsa just as friends. We had a blast, danced, laughed, sang to every song, and from that day on, we realized how much we liked each other and that no other would ever compare. We started dating and fell in love LONG before we spoke those 3 little words to each other. We soon realized that it was no longer IF, but WHEN we were going to get married.
Most of you might know that I am a very traditional person (as are my parents) and am typically the rule follower in the Grober House of Women, so looking for houses together was a bit nerve-racking seeing as how we were not yet engaged. BUT, my lease was almost up and since we KNEW we'd be together, it was financially sound for us to make the decision we did. Lo and behold, we found a great house in Skiatook, 30 min from Tulsa when I'll work (more on that later), and 30 min from Pawhuska where he'll work! It was less than 2 years old, barely lived in, sits on 20 acres of fruitful hunting land, and has a shop for all of Carl's hunting gear (thank goodness)! :) It was perfect and the price was right. Carl put in an offer, and after some interesting counter offers, we finally agreed on a price! The ball was rolling...
Fast forward to June 20th (Friday)... I get a call from Tammy Thomason, USA Drug secretary to Chris Kaiser (my boss and friend, Carl's long-time hunting/fishing buddy), and she tells me there has been a goof-up in the schedule for Saturday the 21st. As a part of my residency I am supposed to work 3 days a month, two being weekend days. As you can see, this is nearing the end of the residency, so there isn't much time to make up this weekend day. I call Carl and tell him that I have the entire day Saturday to pack (minus 2 hours for a hair appointment, of course). After Saturday's hair cut, Paige Culver calls me. She is the wife and soon-to-be baby mama of one of Carl's best friends, Graham Culver. She says we should go to dinner because it's been way too long and Graham is in need of a delicious steak at McGills. I tell Carl and we set up the date for 7:15pm, only because we had to go out to the new house to learn how to use the new aerobic system, air conditioning, etc. at 6pm. At 3:45, I decide that I need to run errands. I get home at 5:10, 10 min after when we should have left for the new house, and Carl and I rush around to leave. When we're driving out there, Carl says he wants to listen to Dierks Bently and I said no. :) We settled on Cross Canadian instead (which still made sense) and started talking about that concert we went to a few years back. Since neither of us can remember our actual first date, we decided that that was it... and we're sticking to that story! We pull up to the new house (which looked lovelier than ever, now knowing that it was ours!) and Carl said he needed to call Steve and tell him we were there since "he forgot to on the way there." We got out, and Carl keeps telling me things he's bought from Steve, like "that vice over there in the shop" which I make him go show me since I'm not so manual-labor-inclined. He walks me in there, and then tries to ditch me and walk back to the truck. I of course follow him, then he tries to ditch me again saying he has to get money to pay Steve for the vice. I follow him back to the truck again! At this time, I am sure Carl is sweating it big time, so he walks me half way to the house and then SPRINTS back to the truck hoping I wont follow because he's remembered where he put the money, and I turn around and start kicking gravel, piddling my way to the truck. He describes it as a slow-motion scene from a movie where I turn around after him and SPRINT to catch up, which is not the case at all by the way! So he gets his "money for Steve," catches up to me, and as we are walking to the front of the house, he asks me, "So it's pretty great to think this is going to be your new yard soon, isn't it?" I of couse say yes, and talk about how ready I am, and then we walk up to the front porch...
There waiting on us is a table with 2 dozen roses, champagne on ice, and 2 glasses. I immediately think that we've just interrupted this couples celebration of the last weekend in their old house and that we should NOT be there at all!!! (Can you tell I didn't expect this in the slightest???) Carl turns to me, takes my hands, and immediately I know what is getting ready to happen. He tells me this is the place he wants to begin his life with me and start a family and we both ... I mean just I ... start to tear up. :) He gets down on one knee and gets the ring out of his pocket and asks me to marry him! He says he had this long speech planned out, but before he could even get his big question out, I'm already saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He puts the ring on my finger and to much surprise it fits! He had tried every way to get me to try on Jennifer Coburn's and Kelly Murray's rings, but I have a huge stigma about trying on rings on THAT finger. I mean, hey, if I wouldn't even try on engagement rings on the 2nd floor of Tiffany's in NYC, I REALLY have a stigma about it! That's like a girls' wildest dream to get that opportunity!
Anyways... he comes off a knee, hugs and kisses me, and not 10 seconds later, the old owners of our house walk outside and say (in best country accent possible), "So what'd she say???" Carl had asked them for privacy, which they must have forgotten that meant we DIDN'T want to talk about how to work things in the house right at that moment, but being the nice folks we are, we decided to go inside and humor them for a while. After all we still had dinner plans with Graham and Paige.
Finally we get to the car at 7:15 (which will make us 30 minutes late for our dinner reservations) and Carl calls Graham to tell him this. We start talking about how we're going to announce our engagement to our families. Mom and Emily were in Dallas shopping for Mom and Dad's new house, and I definitely wanted to tell them in person, but knew I wouldn't see Em for another 3 weeks. She'd have to find out on the phone because I wouldn't be able to hold it in for long. Mom and Dad could maybe wait. My thing was, I wanted them to be the FIRST people I told. Carl said that maybe we should just wait until after dinner to decide what to do. I thought that'd be a great idea. So we get to McGills and Carl sees "Graham" in the bathroom and he tells him where the table is. We walk through these 2 doors and Carl had planned to have all my family and his , including Emily and Mom who had cancelled a Dallas shopping trip to be there! (with Pat, Deanna, Mac, and Tim there in spirit) We celebrated, had a wonderful dinner, and got to tell the whole story!
Needless to say, this was the biggest and best surprise of my life. I was thinking that I'd be getting engaged in Key West, and I would have been, but when Carl got wind of that, he changed plans QUICKLY!
The ring is BEAUTIFUL and more special than I could ever imagine! Carl's grandfather Major gave him 3 of the most perfect stones for the ring. The center stone is Carl's Great Grandmother on his dad's side and the other 2 are Janesy's (Major's late wife/Carl's Grandmother) diamonds. What amazing history! I can't even begin to tell you how honored I am to wear them. These diamonds saw many, many happy years of marriage and I intend on adding more years onto them for as long as Carl and I are alive!
So there you have it! The big juicy story!!! We will be getting married on the beach in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on June 13, 2009. The reception in Muskogee will be on July 11, 2009 after we get home. I've never been happier! I am marrying my very best friend and we really look forward to starting a family (to which I am sure our parents won't object).
