Heating Up The Water - Getting To Know How The Kettles Ended Up Engaged

Mr. Kettle and I were freshly in love when I last left off. I was spending a lot of time in St. Louis where he worked. I was unemployed and making the most of my free time. I went to a lot of Mr. Kettle's gigs.

As our relationship developed, we quickly realized we wanted to be together, and likely wanted to be together forever.

The Super Bowl was a big day for us because that's the day we first began speaking of the possibility of us getting married in a very real way. We even discussed eloping. If I remember correctly, the only reason we didn't is because we were quite sure it would disappoint both of our mothers for us to not have a wedding. Also, we weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend yet. But what were we? We were rebels.



This is Mr. Kettle's rebellious stance.

Mr. Kettle was making plans for asking me in a very special way to be his girlfriend. He wanted to ask me on the anniversary of the day we met on July 2nd. Yeah, we didn't make it to March.

Mardi Gras is now a very special night for us. We spent the night together and had so much fun. I asked him to promise me we'd spend Mardi Gras together the next year no matter where we were. He informed me we'd be married by then so of course we would. I was surprised because it was such a concrete deadline. I realized I would love the idea of having our wedding anniversary fall before Mardi Gras every year.

A quick Google search later and I found we'd have to get married the first weekend in February to make that happen. Mr. Kettle and I discussed it and he said that date worked for him. When I reminded him that meant he'd have to propose at least by July so we'd have enough time to plan a real wedding, he said that worked for him.

I was flabbergasted because there aren't a lot of men walking around just ready to get married and not backing down from promises made while in a moment of drunken happiness. Mr. Kettle had another great plan to propose on the anniversary of the day we met in July. But... he revealed the plan to me accidentally one night. But yeah, we didn't make it to June.

We joked that I would have to propose to him first before he'd propose to me. I told him I'd propose, sure. But it would be with a Lucky Charms ring! Secretly though, I took this very seriously because I didn't anything messing up our plans. In mid April, I made Mr. Kettle a very nice picnic and picked him up from work. We drove to the park and had a nice lunch. I had him unpack the lunch and in it he found a box. And in that box?

Yes I did. I made my man a ring out of Lucky Charms. It took me an entire individual sized box of cereal to get it right, but I did. A needle, thread, and cuff link box can go far. I guess this counts as my first DIY project for the wedding.

I said some sweet things about how I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with him and asked him to marry me. He accepted and we both ignored how cheesy we were feeling and enjoyed the rest of our picnic. I did remind him that I didn't want to hear even one joke about us being engaged until he put a ring on my finger.

At the end of May, Mr. Kettle sent me to his jewelry store to get sized for a ring. He's very subtle. Very subtle. He also had me e-mail him some pics of rings I liked. That was on a Monday. That following Sunday, he took my dad, Daddy Kettle, out to brunch after church. Then he and I headed up for a Memorial Day BBQ at one of his cousin's house.

After the BBQ, we headed back to my parents house. I was really very tired and very hungry and very irritable. We decided to go our separate ways for the night, but before he could drive off, I asked him to wait. I told him we never leave things unhappy and so I would rally and continue our planned night. We kissed and made up.

I didn't expect a proposal at this point because Mr. Kettle can be super romantic and I figured he'd do some over-the-top romantic proposal. Plus, I wasn't sure he'd asked my father for my hand in marriage like he'd planned. Although I told him I wanted a low-key proposal that fit us as a couple, I wasn't imaginging that was the moment he'd choose.

While we were hugging, he asked me to marry him. At that point, Mr. Kettle was pseudo-proposing at least once a week. We'd talked about marriage so much that him saying the words, "I love you, will you marry me?" were commonplace. He gets emotional like that. So when he asked this time, I said, "Of course I'll marry you baby," without actually suspecting he might have a ring in his pocket.
Right near where we were back in October when we first decided to take another chance on each other, he pulled out a ring and got down on one knee. I was impressed because the ground was wet from having rained earlier. He told me some things that sounded so sweet and amazing at the time, but I can't remember for the life of me right now. I just remember saying, "Oh my God, you're serious this time!"

What I also remember is that I cried. It was unexpected for both of us because although I am very emotional, crying isn't usually one of the ways I express my emotions. I was amazed by the ring that he had specially made. It was very me. Very very me.


Pink sapphire, turned at an angle, white gold, pave diamonds. Oh yeah, this ring rocks!

We knew we didn't want a long engagement, and we were committed to sticking with our early February date. So from here on out, it's all about wedding planning!

How long were you together before he popped the question? Did you have a mock proposal first? How much do you love you ring?