Leading up to the Engagment

It's funny, because after over five years of being with Jeff, I know him so well, I knew it was coming--but after years of teasing, hints, and some blatant pressuring for an engagement ring--did I dare hope? There were many clues leading up to our special engagement day...

1. Whenever I asked him when he wanted to get married, his answer was always "someday" and more recently this changed to "Soon, be patient--I want us to finish grad school first."
   
2. He finished his MBA program last month, I finished my Masters in Literacy on the 14th.
3. On Black Friday when I was at work I called him on my break to say hi. When I asked what he was up to, he said he was just watching TV at home when it clearly sounded like he was in a car driving somewhere and I tripped him up in a lie (only to find out later, he was in fact ring shopping).
   
4. The following week I caught him lying again when he told me he was stuck in traffic on the thruway for 2 hours coming home from his last class in Albany (he was really picking up the ring).
   
5. That night, he came downstairs panicked about whether or not he had remembered to lock the car and was anxious to switch places with me in the driveway so that I wouldn't have to drive his the next morning (the ring was hidden in there under the back seat I guess).
   
6. He texted me out of the blue while I was at class saying he wanted to go to NYC to see the tree in Rockefeller Center when a) he hates the city and I had to twist his arm to go with me on a bus trip last year b) had begged to go the previous month in Nov. to see the Rockettes and he'd had no interest.
7. He was adamant about getting train tickets to go down together on our own instead of going with my friend Ginger and her family the first weekend of the month.
8. During one of our first few dates I told him that I'd never been ice skating and every boyfriend I'd had told me they'd take me and I still hadn't been, so whoever took me would be the man I was meant to marry. When he got out of the shower one morning and I asked what he wanted to do in the city other than look at the tree in Rockefeller center, he said he'd like to go ice skating (It was all I could do not to jump up and down and squeal, but outwardly I played it cool and just said, "oh boy you want to see me fall on my butt in front of hundreds of people huh?!")
9. When we got to the city it was his turn to play it cool, and he did a great job, but boy once it got dark he was on a race to get back to see that Christmas tree all lit up.
10. Once we found a place to sit on a bench and look up at the tree, he had this adorable look of anticipation on his face that mirrored the hope in my heart that all these clues would lead up to the moment I'd hoped for--for so long--and thankfully they did!