mom, and opening presents. Keegan wrapped my present 's' beautifully in two separate boxes all tired together making the look of a tower. When I opened the first box it was only one shoe of a pair. When opening the next box it was the other shoe of the pair that I wanted. I found it odd that he was tricking me into thinking I was getting two gifts when in reality I only got one. Later that afternoon we all traveled to my grandma's house for Christmas as it snowed and snowed and snowed. This was only the start to one of the best days and most definitely the greatest Christmas in my entire life! There were 10 of us driving in a 8 passenger van all cramped up for three hours traveling home. We didn't end up getting home until after 11pm. By this time I was exhausted and could not wait to get out of the car. I was hungry, thirsty, and wanted to snuggle up and watch a good movie with Keegan. However, Keegan had plans of his own.On the way home he whispered into my ear asking if I would like to go on a
n adventure with him when we got home. I laughed and said "no, its soo late and it's Christmas." I was thrown off by the fact that he asked me to go out on Christmas night especially since he knows I love adventures, none of this made any sense to me. Well, as we just got home he asked me again to go on an adventure with him. I kept saying "no." It was Christmas night, nothing was open, it was snowing out like crazy and it was 11:15pm at night... "so what are we going to do?" I asked him because there is nothing to do. He said, "don't worry about it, get your coat, boots and let's go!" I kept saying "no" and went down the hall to get my pajamas on. By this time Shawna and Sara, my sisters, were get annoyed with me and kept telling me to go! So I changed and got a little more comfy by putting a sweatshirt on. As I was waiting for Keegan, Nathan, my brother said to me "Christa, you know we are going to get engaged and I am telling you this because you are in denial and don't think it is going to happen. So go and get engaged," not knowing what the night was to hold. I told him he was crazy and I am not going to get engaged. So, Keegan came and met me outside where I was handed a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I was stunned at how he got them, borrowing my Mom's car earlier that morning and finding the
nearest open grocery store without me knowing. As he walked toward me had a Christmas bag in his hand; I immediately thought another present!! I said, "you got me another present?!" and he responded and said, "yes." So he opened the car door for me and he had our song playing in the background, "Amazed" by Lone Star. It was very romantic. He took me by the hand and said that the name of our adventure is called, "I Remember When..." So, he started off with "I Remember When you went to Hawai'i on vacation and I was at camp in Kansas City. And we wrote each other in our journals." He then handed me the journal that I wrote him and asked me to read some things that I wrote. It was fun reading some of the things and reminiscing together. So we were driving, talking, and having a great time reminiscing about the past 3 years since we met. We entered downtown Chicago and pulled up next to Maggiano's where we had our first date. He pulled out the receipt for the meal of our first date and said "On February 2, 2007 I firs
t met you, on your half birthday. (which I didn't even remember!) On February 15, 2008 I remember when we had our first date at Maggiano's. You had fettuccini alfredo and barely ate anything." He then continued to say that shortly after that we started dating on March 15, 2008. He knew exactly what I was wearing and everything! The next stop on the list was the AMC theater. He pulled over to the side of the road and said "I remember when we were watching Evan Almighty and we held hands for the first time." He took my left hand and held it and gave me the movie.
The next stop was Navy Pier, he turned on the song "What a wonderful world" by Louie Armstrong and said "I remember when we danced for the first time to this song on August 9th, 2008 at your friend Stephanie's wedding, last summer. And I want to dance with you." So he came around to my door, opened it and started to dance with me in front of Navy Pier with the snow falling all around us. It so happens that a taxi cab was sitting in front of us and I was so embarrassed of that we were dancing on the sidewalk. The guy must of thought we were nuts! The next stop on the list was Millennium Park. Keegan stopped along the side of the road once again and said "I remember when I first came to Chicago to visit you and met your family on July 28th, 2007 along with all of your friends. We came down to Chicago and Millemium Park where we took pictures and hung out." We then parked and got out of the car after finding a parking spot. As we were walking, the wind felt like it was carrying me away. It was freezing outside and the wind was blowing so hard that I could not feel my fingers. Keegan was holding me tight to his side and told me in the end it would all be worth it "I PROMISE, trust me!" At this point I was starting to think that maybe he was going to propose but I was in such denial. I knew that it was going to happen any time but did not expect it that night.
We went over to Daley Plaza and there was a wind breaker there so it was not as cold. There was an ice skating rink and there were some college students playing hockey on it. Keegan took my hand and we started skating on the ice in our shoes. He started to hold me and talk to me all serious. I started to think am I dreaming?!?! What is going on?!?! Shortly after
he hugged me and held me close as he said how much he loved and cherished me. He looked me dead in the eyes and said "Christa Ann Elleson with your dad's approval," as soon as he said that tears started to run down my face. That statement meant so much to us both but more or less me since he is my father=) He started to tear up and as I blinked he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him as he took out a box with a beautiful diamond ring sparkling inside. I quickly said "yes!" and he placed the most beautiful ring ever on my finger. He picked me up and swung me around and yelled "we are engaged!"It was 12:45am, and it was so beautiful as snow was falling from above, and the entire city was peaceful an
d quiet. It felt like we had the entire city to ourselves. Even the hockey players were in their own little world and did not bother us nor did they know what was going on. After they found out what happened they could not believe that they just witnessed an engagement and congratulated us. They were so nice that they took pictures for us. As we were walking to the car Keegan yelled "She said YES!" It was very romantic & special. I felt like I was dreaming and that it was not real. I have never felt that feeling before, it was magical ;-) All the way home I kept looking at my ring as it sparkled and made me grin ear to
ear. We called family and friends at 1:30 in the morning letting them know of the news. As we got home around 2:30am my entire family was up and waiting for us. It was the greatest way to end my Christmas day. It was funny because when I asked Keegan what he wanted for Christmas 2 months prior he kept telling me all he wanted for Christmas was me, to me it was such a cliché answer but he got what he wanted. We have now been apart for 1.5 years and I am soo thrilled to be ending this long distant relationship and excited to start our new journey together, marriage. Keegan is the love of my life and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us. I am excited to move to Georgia and become a wife to my future husband, Mr. Keegan Walsh.
