Congratulate me, suckas!

You know how when some people announce their engagement, it’s like everyone around them is thrown into this weird twilight zone? The entrance is lined by the glitter of diamond/moissanite, and the maze is of the Myst: Uru-level of complexity — it could take weeks to get out. There’s lots of jumping and squealing and the equivalent of:

Note that there isn’t even a face in that picture.

Sometimes, though… sometimes you know the squeals are going to last for months. That’s when you see pictures like:

Note: there isn’t even a hand in that one. “Since he liked it, he put a ring on it,” might apply more, although it has less of a (ha!) ring to it. [Edit: This is not my ring. This is some stock Tiffany’s ring. Do y’all think I’m crazy?]

All of this aside, G-puppy and I hiked up a trail to the summit of Crowders Mountain this morning, which was a nice little getaway. In fact, we could see (on the horizon) downtown Charlotte, although the iWone couldn’t take good enough pictures to get it in any shots. Memories of that hike are going to inspire me to keep working out for a long, long while. I hate stairs, and there were 334 of them in a row waiting for me on that trail.

So we made it to the top of the shortest, most painful trail, and collapsed on the rocks that composed the overlook:

And then we proposed to each other, put on our engagement rings, caught our breath a bit longer, and made our way back down.

Greg believes more strongly than I do in “marking” one’s SO when marriage is in the picture, but I was more than happy to go along… so long as I got to mark him, too. Of course, we did have to ham it up for the camera just a bit:

We’ll have to see if I can stay true to my convictions and keep everything up to and including the ceremony simple and in line with what I see as the core purpose of weddings:

[To] make public, to your “community” […] your vow to the person or people you’re marrying. Then you go celebrate that vow and everyone’s involvement in that, and trust that your friends/community will support you and yours when times get rough, just as you have and will for them.

I am excited, though.