A Ring of Hope

A wedding band. A ring. A circle. A symbol of eternal dedication.

A promise ring. A circle. A promise of one day being eternally dedicated to another. A "place holder" to show others that you're taken. Wow.

Last night, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Aaron gave me a promise ring. He bought it at the Renaissance fair we went to in Maryland on Saturday. It's quite beautiful; it's silver with a deep purple stone in the middle. I love it. But the physical beauty of it hardly matters to me. The fact that he gave it to me is what matters.

He specifically waited for that very moment to give it to me. We sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and pondered what the life ahead of us would be like lived together. I honestly cannot WAIT to spend the rest of my life with him. I've been thinking about it a lot while I've been here, and I know it's going to happen. Being around Chris and Heidi (Aaron's older brother and sister-in-law) has made us both long to start our lives together within the next couple of years. We've discussed timing and getting degrees beforehand and all of that. It's been amazing. To be honest, it seems somewhat unreal. I told Heidi that I never saw myself choosing a "geek." She talked about how she could've chosen anyone, and she ended up picking Chris. It's so odd to think about. But it's incredibly true.

*start mushy stories*

I was just LOOKING at Aaron the other day, and I thought, "Gosh, he's gorgeous. On the inside and the outside. He's been so good to me. I honestly can't remember how I ever lived without him by my side." Sure, we've had our ups and downs. There have been times I've wondered what on earth got into me when I agreed to date him. But lately, I've only been able to think about how blessed I am to have him in my life. I really am. Sometimes people don't see it at all, but I know I'll always be thankful for everything God is doing in my life through this relationship. I mean, I was weeping last night -- truly weeping. Sometimes it feels like my whole life -- what I want it to be -- what I thought God wanted it to be -- comes crashing down around me. Saturday and Sunday were amazing. And yesterday would've been okay. But when I ended the night by visiting the World War II Memorial and pondering the times I wish I could've had with my late grandfather... yeah -- it ended up being an incredibly emotional night. But then... while crying my eyes out and spilling my heart to Aaron, he held me close to him and stroked my face saying, "It's gonna be okay. Stop crying, baby. It's gonna be okay. I'm here. Shhhh..." Man, oh man. What did I ever do to deserve someone who cares about me that way? When I look back on the past twelve months, I realize how much I've grown. A LOT of it is to be attributed to our relationship. Granted, God has changed my heart on a great many things, but He has certainly used Aaron to teach me a large portion of what I've learned, lately.

*end mushy stories*

Like I said: Wow. Murder she wrote. Er... That's all she wrote. *winks* I think I'm gonna sign off for now. Love you guys!!