Under a full moon

My apologies for the lack of blogging recently but I promise you I have good reason! A few weeks have passed and I have finally found the time to sit down and put on paper (plasma? Are screens made of plasma?) the joy of my recent weeks. You see, I have just got engaged! I have been trying to find a way of writing this that can fully show the happiness I am feeling about this life changing piece of news, but it just doesn't translate properly when read. Therefore I will fill you in with some lovely details and hope you agree that it is indeed the best thing ever in the world that has happened and that I am a lucky lucky lady.

It all started on our anniversary weekend (4th September officially) and Tom had a 'surprise' in store. Usually this entails a lovely meal somewhere and the exchanging of pretty cards and possibly even the odd present. Last year Tom bought me some gorgeous underwear and I got him....a DVD boxset of 24. Doesn't really compare does it?! Oops, oh well, onwards and upwards... Anyway, this year he made it clear it would be an overnighter, which got me terribly excited as I do love a good hotel room. Do they have miniatures? Can I keep them? What about room service, just because we can? So off we drive deep into the Surrey countryside and end up in a beautiful hotel with a Spa. A SPA! The boy done good. In true Holly style after a quick walk of the grounds and scoping of said joint, we ordered a bottle of wine to the room to celebrate whilst getting ready. At this point I realised that the 2 dresses I was to decide between for the evening meal were still hanging on my bedroom door at home. Alas, it was to be an uninspiring outfit of skinny jeans and top that had been worn in the car. Thank God for peep toe heels and make-up!

Once I had taken a bath, got myself together and put on some red lipstick (to compensate for lack of dress), we were ready to go. I would like to add at this point that Tom was not even remotely acting odd, nor did he seem nervous. No alarm bells, not even a tinkle. We headed to a beautiful restaurant where an intimate wedding was taking place in one room, which I did feel bad about traipsing through to get to our table but hey ho. I won't bore you with the details of the meal (the irony), but will say that it was totally delicious and very rich and filling. Which is why when Tom started to feel hot and bothered I was not suspicious about his suggestion of a walk. We had managed to drink another bottle of wine at this point too so I was all for going for a wander in my slightly drunk, laugh at everything, state. The grounds of this place really were stunning, and although it was dark there was a full moon and lots of stars to light our path. I had that awful thing of walking on grass with heels and sinking at every step, which made me laugh more and possibly put Tom off slightly. Once we had started to walk our path naturally took us down to the lake, where a load of ducks were making an exceptional amount of noise. I joined in and found it highly amusing to point out each of the ducks in turn and explain exactly why I thought they were the funniest thing in the world. Poor Tom. Eventually after much interrupting of me quacking and naming the ducks, he made his move. He pointed at a particular duck and said "oh look at that one!", and of course I did. He then pointed out another one to which I dutifully looked, and then finally said, "and look at this!". At which point I turned around to see a ring box opened revealing 3 rather lovely diamonds. The words "will you be my wife" barely registered as I stared from the box to his face and back again. Utterly wonderful and one of the best feelings in the world! I must have taken rather a long time to respond as he had to say, "you can say yes!". And of course I did.

I'd like to say that the rest of the weekend passed in a blur but I'd be blatantly lying as I remember every detail. That night as soon as we were back in the room I called my parents and friends, and in fact pretty much anyone I knew, to tell them the news, but the next day was an adventure in itself. We had a gorgeous treatment each in the morning, I went for a facial and Tom went for a full body massage. Then the second part of the weekend happened, the 'fun' part as Tom said. He had booked for us to go to a Go Ape, which for those of you who don't know is an adventure playground for adults and incorporates the use of 100 foot high tree platforms and harnesses. I wasn't exactly in heaven. What was to follow can only be described as torture; I was so frozen with fear that I could just about move my own limbs to climb the 40 foot rope ladders and cross the stirrup bridge to get to the next platform. And the next. And the next. You get the picture. Tom, however thought all his dreams had come true as he chirped at me to "smile baby, let me take a photo", whilst I clung to a tree that was definitely swaying in the not so subtle wind. To say I hated it would be too harsh, as I was definitely proud of myself for having achieved it, but I cannot honestly say it was fun. Tom can though and that's what matters. I was so full of love that day that remembering I was getting married got me through some rather frightening points and made me feel grateful that I had such a thoughtful man who would not only book a Spa weekend, but also try and inject some dubious adventure into it to boot. Bless him.

This brings me to the wedding itself, which 3 weeks later has been booked and is well on the way to being organised (I am a PA remember)., We get married on 17th September 2010 and I cannot wait. More to follow...

x