It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that....ring!

Yes, it is now officially official! and yes, I was COMPLETELY blown away-not that he asked, after all I knew that the Texas trip was so he could talk to dad and we had been ring shopping and even had scheduled the temple already (August 21st), but I knew that my ring wouldn't be here for awhile. Because of the design of the ring, they couldn't size it down + apparently someone came in and bought the ring we loved an hour before Cody came to buy it (yes people, I am a trend setter). So since I have a miniscule size 4 ring finger they had to make a fresh brand new one in my size which is great since I know no one else has ever worn it but it takes 3 weeks to get back. Because of all this I figured I had some time before the question was popped-apparently not!
So I got back Thursday evening from texas-had dinner with Cody and his good friend Wayne who told us the incredible story of his engagement/meeting his wife etc. Friday night we watched our cousin Jeff and Sally's kids with Nate and Drea which was way fun and then came yesterday.
I had thought of a fun secret activity we could do in the afternoon- (we had always talked about going to IKEA and looking around and playing house.) In Hind sight I guess I sort of noticed that Cody seemed nervous about it and kept asking when we would be back etc. and emphasized that we needed to be back here at 4 for something he was planning. Though this wasn't very suspect to me cause we always will plan secret somethings for each other and so it wasn't really anything out of the ordinary.
We had fun at IKEA (according to Cody he was acting squirrely and nervous all day but I didn't notice it). Then we came back and had a few minutes until 4 so he drove to our favorite spot that we have to go and talk. Again, not totally out of the ordinary though normally we tend to go there in the evening than the middle of the day but whatever, i was still clueless.
We sat and talked about our favorite memories that we had at this spot-for me one was one particular night when we walked up there (a hill up near the base of the Y where there's a church) and just talked for hours and it was really fun to learn about each other, another was when it was my year anniversary of being home from the mission and we went out there with hot cocoa and sweet potatoes ( it's an inside thing) and he just sat and listened to me talk about my mission.
After we had talked about that for awhile I unknowingly gave him the perfect opportunity when I said: I can't wait for all of this wedding stuff to feel real and then he asked: when do you think that'll be? I unknowingly said: oh, probably when there's a ring on my finger.
As he reached for his pocket he said: I can help with that. My eyes got huge, my heart started pounding and the following romantic conversation took place: You do not have a ring! Yes I do. No you don't!Yes I do... haha
warning me that it was a substitute until my ring would get in he opened the box and the above ring was there and he asked me. As a girl you never know how you're going to react in this moment-you see in movies all sorts of reactions:
the huge smile and huge eyes
the crying reaction
the screaming and jumping up and down reaction
there are many, and I always wondered how it would feel and how I would react. My reaction was completely dazed with some tears thrown in. It's just hard to describe the touching feeling when someone you love declares their love for you and wants you-all of you, the good,bad, and the ugly for all of eternity. I feel so lucky and oh yeah, of course I said yes, though I had to repeat myself cause I think Cody was so nervous/dazed himself that he didn't hear me the first time, haha.

After that we changed and went to dinner at The Roof-a way nice restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building that overlooks the Salt Lake temple which is where we'll be sealed for time and all eternity August 21st, at 9:00 am by my grandpa Richards. We are sooo excited and can't wait to now officially start planning (even though we have the date saved, locations and dates for both receptions, the colors, and an overall look/style for the wedding-pictures to be posted on that subject at another time. AFter dinner we walked around the temple took some pics (as seen below) and then stopped by Grandpa and Grandma Richards' to tell them the good news. It was so fun and sitting and talking with them, seeing where they are in life and how their family has grown and seeing where we're starting out and all that we have to look forward to.
I feel so lucky to be marrying the love of my life and best friend-it's gonna be awesome! and I canNOT get used to the sparkle coming from my left hand-I must have ADD cause I keep getting distracted and thinking: ooo! shiny!