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Of course I had Emailed my mom the day I got engaged. I wanted her to see the photos of the ring. But to everyone at work this was a surprise engagement. And I reveled in the attention that my engagement announcements made. All the teachers ask each other that first day back, “How was your summer,” or in my case, “How was England?” So to be able to flash my bling and announce, “Great, I got engaged!” was awesome. All the happy screams and hugs and congratulations. It’s a once in a lifetime thing, announcing a surprise engagement. I had really been looking forward to making my engagement announcements to everyone and seeing their reactions, and they did not disappoint. And I did not get tired of it at all. Even when someone said to me 2 months later in November, “Hey, I hear you got engaged?” (Someone at work who I’m not all that close to, obviously) I did not get tired of saying, “I sure did.”
What was REALLY interesting to me, and ladies, pay attention to this one when your time comes to make your own engagement announcements, is when I revealed my surprise engagement to each person, which people hugged and congratulated me, and which people looked at/grabbed my hand for a good look at the ring (and if they did both, in which order). As you can guess, the people you’re closest to hug first and gawk later. So this ring really is a symbol of love in more ways than one. It’s even a good friendship litmus test.
The people at work chipped in for an engagement present for Adam and I. They got me a little plaque that says “And they lived happily ever after…” and a plate. The plaque is just my style, cream with gold script, and it looks PERFECT above one of our engagement photos. The plate, someone explained to me, is a cake plate. It says “Celebrate” and has primary colored stars around the lip. So on the thank you note I wrote I let them know where I hung the plaque that I love, and I told them that Adam is thrilled about the cake plate because now I’ll be obliged to make him cakes. I got cards too, which was very nice. It made me wonder though, if I want to do a scrapbook of engagement stuff or what. I save everything, but I’m just not sure what to do with it.
And the other thing that really made me smile was my former students did not forget about me on the first day of school. Four of them (including my 2 favorites) came up to me and asked what my news was, so I got to make engagement announcements to them too. One boy said “I KNEW it.” Which surprised me. And another boy said, “All right Miss Dawn!” And gave me a fist bump. Yeah. And even my NEW crop of students noticed, which surprised me. It took a couple weeks before they would get so personal, but a few said they thought my ring is pretty. And one even noticed a card I had on the wall behind my desk that was partially hidden, that said “Congratulations on your engagement,” and she said, “You’re engaged!?”
Again, it never gets old. I’m not thrilled about having to continue the long distance thing for 2 more years, but having a long engagement has its perks. Once you’re married very few people say, “Awww, you’re married?!” I’m sure that will have its own rewards, which I look forward to. But for now, I’ll just enjoy the journey that is my engagement.
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What was REALLY interesting to me, and ladies, pay attention to this one when your time comes to make your own engagement announcements, is when I revealed my surprise engagement to each person, which people hugged and congratulated me, and which people looked at/grabbed my hand for a good look at the ring (and if they did both, in which order). As you can guess, the people you’re closest to hug first and gawk later. So this ring really is a symbol of love in more ways than one. It’s even a good friendship litmus test.
The people at work chipped in for an engagement present for Adam and I. They got me a little plaque that says “And they lived happily ever after…” and a plate. The plaque is just my style, cream with gold script, and it looks PERFECT above one of our engagement photos. The plate, someone explained to me, is a cake plate. It says “Celebrate” and has primary colored stars around the lip. So on the thank you note I wrote I let them know where I hung the plaque that I love, and I told them that Adam is thrilled about the cake plate because now I’ll be obliged to make him cakes. I got cards too, which was very nice. It made me wonder though, if I want to do a scrapbook of engagement stuff or what. I save everything, but I’m just not sure what to do with it.
And the other thing that really made me smile was my former students did not forget about me on the first day of school. Four of them (including my 2 favorites) came up to me and asked what my news was, so I got to make engagement announcements to them too. One boy said “I KNEW it.” Which surprised me. And another boy said, “All right Miss Dawn!” And gave me a fist bump. Yeah. And even my NEW crop of students noticed, which surprised me. It took a couple weeks before they would get so personal, but a few said they thought my ring is pretty. And one even noticed a card I had on the wall behind my desk that was partially hidden, that said “Congratulations on your engagement,” and she said, “You’re engaged!?”
Again, it never gets old. I’m not thrilled about having to continue the long distance thing for 2 more years, but having a long engagement has its perks. Once you’re married very few people say, “Awww, you’re married?!” I’m sure that will have its own rewards, which I look forward to. But for now, I’ll just enjoy the journey that is my engagement.
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Congratulations :)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny that your coworker didn't know you were engaged until months later. You must work a big school.
Actually it's not that big. I guess news about an engagement doesn't always travel that fast. It was all such a whirlwind I ended up forgetting who I told, and I'd be embarrassed if I said to someone "Hey, I got engaged!" and they said "Yeah I know, get over yourself." Hehe.
ReplyDelete