The Proposal

Let me preface this by saying I had no idea about “Operation Bling,” and only found out afterward. Or, as Brad put it, “There are a feeeeeeeew other people who knew this was coming.”

Brad and I go for a walk together almost every night, so when he asked me Thursday if I could get off work a little early so we could walk while it was still light out, I didn’t think anything of it. We went to a trail that’s surrounded by woods, but still in the middle of the city. Brad had a knee injury back in March and this was the trail where he had started to run again for the first time just a few days earlier in the week, so when he kept saying, “I have a favorite spot I want to show you,” I thought he just meant the spot where he started running.

But instead, it was a footbridge that goes over a creek in the park. We stopped on top of it to look over the water and he started talking about how great I was and how this spot was kind of like our relationship because it was hidden away from other people, just us, safe and beautiful. Plus, we’ve gone on walks everywhere we’ve traveled (Colorado, Hawaii, Davenport, St. Louis), so it just felt like us. I still had no idea what was going on since he says really sweet things like that a lot. So I was just like, “Oh Brad, you’re so sweet, I love you so much.”

Then he said, “I have something else I want to show you but I need you to close your eyes.” I STILL didn’t know what was going on at this point, so I just laughed and closed my eyes. He was holding onto my hand so I felt him kneel down and then I finally realized what was happening. I opened my eyes and he said, “Wait, close your eyes!” (I guess he was still getting the ring out of his pocket.) So I was starting to cry and I had my hands over my face, and I remember thinking, “I have to remember every second of this.” So I opened my eyes and he was down on one knee with the ring (which I didn’t even really notice) and this HUGE smile on his face and he said, “Joanna, will you marry me?” and he could barely get the words out because he was smiling so hard. I said, “YES!!!” right away. Then “Are you serious???” because I was in so much shock. So we just held one another for probably almost 10 minutes, crying and laughing. Then he said, “Do you want to put the ring on?” Because I had completely forgotten about it. So he put it on and I started crying again.

Calling family and friends was so much fun!

Operation Bling!

Everyone has known for a while that Brad and Joanna were going to get engaged (I mean she texted me on their first date and said “I’m going to marry this man”), but the real question was WHEN?!? Joanna really wanted Brad to choose the ring but the other besties, Marie Elizabeth and Rachel and myself deciced that Joanna at least needed to try a few rings on. So after a trip for pedi’s we forced Joanna to Joseph’s so “we could get our rings cleaned.” Joanna is simple therefore she gravitated to the simple rings…including a beautiful reverse tapered solitaire, with a round diamond. So Joanna…check…operation bling (as we began to call it) was well underway.

A few weeks later I hinted to Brad that if he needed any help with the ring, I would be there in an instant…plus I had an idea what she liked and the very important ring size. A few weeks later Brad facebooked me and we set up a time to meet and go over ring shopping 101. Since Joanna and Brad spend every moment together we had to distract Joanna so she wouldn’t suspect a thing! Marie Elizabeth quickly jumped in, and invited Joanna over for “band practice” (haha long story). That night was very successful and Brad and I walked out of Joseph’s as diamond experts. Brad did a little more research on his own, then decided to go with the first ring. The besties distracted Joanna again so Brad could make the big purchase. Then we were all on pins and needles waiting for the big day.

It was truly an honor to help in this process and I must say, Operation Bling was quite a success!