Some people may think it’s old fashioned to ask for the parents’ blessing for their daughter’s hand in marriage, but I wanted to know that Crystal’s parents wanted me to be a part of their family. So I made plans to stop by their house before I went to Crystal’s on the weekend before Christmas. I asked Crystal to make some dinner as I would be busy with homework when I got there and I figured this would be the best way to keep her at her house. Being the sweet girl that she is, she agreed to fix lasagna and a salad for me!

I made the 3 hour drive from Pigeon Forge to Cartersville and tried to come up with the words to tell her parents how much I loved their daughter and how to ask for their blessing. I pulled up to their house with no more words than I left my house with and decided to wing it. I think I was more nervous about this than I am the actual proposal!!!

I carried what her parents believed were just ordinary Christmas gifts for Crystal inside with me and they asked to see what I got her. I told them that I had a few things I wanted to say first. It went something like this:

“I’ve put a lot of thought and prayers into this so go easy on me as this is my first time doing this…and hopefully my last. Crystal and I have been seeing each other since March. During that time, she has brought a lot of joy and inspiration into my life. She’s an incredible girl with an incredible family. You all have treated me like your own and there is no doubt in my mind that Crystal will make an excellent wife and mother and that you all will make great in-laws. With your blessing, I’d love to ask Crystal to marry me.”

There was a pause that seemed to last forever and I felt my heart drop. Her mom had tears in her eyes with a big smile and said, “You’re going to make me cry!” Her dad on the other hand…stoic…no expression. I thought, “Uh oh.”

Finally he said, “I have two things I want to say.” Here I am thinking “oh crap.” He goes on to say, “She’s my only girl and I want her protected and safe…always. I never want a finger laid on her. You seem like a decent guy and I know you’ll make her happy…she’s crazy about you and I think you’re crazy about her. The other thing is…I appreciate you doing this. Some people think it’s old fashioned to ask for the parents’ blessing, but you were sincere about it and I appreciate that.”

Whew.

He went on to ask about my plans…whether I will move and what I will do if I move. I told him about how well Crystal has done with her life with her career, house, car, etc and that I would hate to take her away from such a great family. I said, “I may not be able to give her everything she wants, but I’ll give her everything that I’ve got.”

Shortly after that, he stood up, shook my hand, hugged me and said, “Welcome to the family. I know you’ll make a great son-in-law and we’re going to have a lot of fun.” Mama jumped up and hugged me and I felt a HUGE sigh of relief wash over me…the hard part was done!!!

After that, I showed them my plans for the proposal, which they loved and agreed to help with! Everything is ready to go now!!!

So I thought over this for a long time trying to figure out the best way to do it. I’ve had Crystal thinking that I’m going to wait on the ring until February or so and that I am buying her a bunch of little things for Christmas, which I am. So here is the plan.

While Crystal is visiting me for Christmas Eve, her family is going to plant all of the gifts that I have already given them a week before. When Crystal opens the door to her house, there will be rose pedals going up her stairs and leading to her stocking. In the stocking is an envelope that says “Crystal Elizabeth Alred – Christmas 2005”. Inside the envelope is a card telling her that her gifts are already there waiting on her and that she must figure out the clues to find them. It is a scavenger hunt!

The clues have different gifts waiting such as a necklace, bracelet, earrings, and perfume. All of them get a bit nicer to make her think she isn’t getting anything else (a ring). The final clue leads to a gift underneath the Christmas tree. Inside the box is a professionally printed, hardbound book that I put together with Apple’s iPhoto. On the cover it says “You and Me – 2005”. On the front page it says “1 Corinthians 13”. Each page has a different verse from that chapter (Love is patient, love is kind…) and has various photos of us. The last few pages say:

“The greatest of these is…”

“Love”

“Crystal Elizabeth Alred, I Love You…”

As she flips the page, the last page says, “Will you marry me?”

That is when I hit my knee and show her the ring!

So now I just have to ask for her parents’ blessing and see if they will help me plant these clues & gifts!

To see the pages of the book, click here!

Whew…what a ring!!! She had picked the style out a few months back and was sized at 5 3/4, so I went ahead and bought that exact ring in that exact size. Sounds like a safe move, right? Well…it may not be. Lately she has been saying that she believes she is a 6. Ugh…and I already got the ring! There isn’t a big difference between 5 3/4 and a 6 so I am going to wait until I give it to her for her to decide whether or not to change the size. May be a bad move, but I don’t want to risk getting it scratched or messed up before she even sees it! I’m sure she’ll shove it on to get it to fit anyway. HA

The diamond is beautiful. I could have gotten a larger diamond with less clarity, but everyone has one of those. I ended up getting her the clearest, most perfect diamond I could find in the size I could afford. I’m happy with the decision as this thing shoots out all kinds of fire. I hope she feels the same! 🙂 For anyone looking to buy diamonds, I have to tout bluenile.com. Their prices and service can’t be beat. I looked around at many different stores and even checked with vendors at America’s Mart in Georgia. Nobody could match Blue Nile’s prices! So I was able to get a better diamond for the same price as a smaller/less quality one anywhere else.

The ring came from Jared’s. It’s a very unique style with channel set diamonds on the side. I can’t wait to see this baby on her finger!

Some things fell into place over the past month to make all of this possible. First, I was able to double the limit on one of my credit cards. I was then able to un-secure another credit card to release $500 extra. Next, I had asked for just money for Christmas, so I asked my mom & mamaw for my “present” early so I could put it towards the ring. Then, out of the blue, my papaw sold my old Honda which gave me an extra $1000 and meant I didn’t have to use any of my credit cards!

Ever since buying the ring 2 weeks ago, I have looked at it every day. It’ll soon be on her finger 3 hours away where I will only get to see it on the weekends, so I want to look at it while I can! Hopefully by next year I’ll have the rest of my life to see it everyday. 🙂

Welcome to the blog of Crystal and Shane! Crystal doesn’t even know I’m making this, so it will be one of her surprises this Christmas! These next few posts will show you what all has happened in December leading up to her big surprise(s). Enjoy!!!