Exactly one year ago

The Man knocked my socks off and surprised me with a wedding proposal.
I'm going to share a little secret. Well, obviously it's no longer a secret if I'm posting it on the world wide web. Anyway, a little over a year ago, I found out that The Man had bought my engagement ring. But I had no idea when he was going to propose. And no, he didn't know I knew and I'm not going to say how I knew. Because I cannot reveal my sources.
Had I seen it? No.
Did I know if it was even in the house? No.
And while it was wonderful to know 100% that he was serious about taking our relationship to the next level, this was also The Man who took over six months to ask me out. He had an infinite amount of what I had very little of ... patience. And can sometimes move as quickly as stagnant water. But who am I to judge.
I had no idea when he was going to propose. I figured he would hold on to it at least until my birthday, Christmas or even Valentine's Day because then he could get two events in one gift. Hey, I wouldn't have blamed him, it's the kind of gift you want to try and make stretch.
Because I am me, I had to share this huge secret that had to do with me. I told the one person who would understand and not judge my impatience - my Sister. I did NOT want to shout it from the roof tops. And that's because if it took as long as I thought it was going to take or if it never happened at all for some freak reason, I didn't want to feel stupid. That is why, around this time last year, one could find comments on our blogs or some of the messages on our myspace pages where my sister and I made repeated references to pants.
"What's the scoop on the pants?"
The pants are on back order. I think."
"How big are the pants?"
"The pants will probably need to be hemmed."
"Have your pants come in yet?"
"I have no idea when the pants will come in. Probably in time for New Year's."
"GD pants are taking forever."

Yes, Pants was code word for Engagement Ring.
I thought we were so clever because there we were, openly discussing this huge thing, this potentially life changing event, casually over the Internet.
I wrote a pretty detailed description of how The Man proposed to me so I won't reinvent the wheel. I will, though, repeat that he did a wonderful job taking me by surprise and I would have never guessed in a million years that he was going to propose that day. It was a Monday, for crying out loud! When I told him that I thought he was going to hang on to the ring for months before he would propose, he surprised me even more by telling me he had had the ring for less than a week.

Just when you think you know someone, he goes and pleasantly surprises you.
Eight months later, we had a truly beautiful wedding in Hawaii and a fantastic honeymoon. And a year later we are happy little newlyweds and six years (total) strong. Oh! And, as of last Tuesday, I am officially Mrs. Ramirez with not just the Social Security Office but also the Department of Motor Vehicles. What a pain in MY ass it was to change my name with the government. But it just goes to show how much I love him. And when I was at the DMV on Tuesday, I was told after I signed all the paperwork, "Get in line over there to take your picture." I must have had a puzzled look on my face because the DMV guy said, "New name, new picture."
Damn. So I had to take a new picture. Heaven help me when I finally get my driver's license in the mail.
But I do love The Man with all my heart so, yes, it was all worth it.