James + Julie {Bethany Beach Proposal}

    there is nothing for me but to love you, 

and the way you look tonight.
frank sinatra 

May 9, 2009

jewely: are you still up?

me: sure am :D

jewely: so i had to work till 3:30 

then james came over and was the sweetest everrrr

me: aww!!!!! tell me about it!jewely: we hung out and studied together then i had a soccer game

and just about 5 mins ago he put on "the way you look tonight" and we danced to it in my family room. 

while he sang it to me :)

yeah...me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!that actually gave me tears in my eyeswhy am i so lame? wow THAT is adorable.jewely: awwww :)no you are not lame at all!!!!

 me: hahah that is so so sweet julie

jewely: it was so so cute. 

we were sitting across from each other doing homework 

and he just kept looking at me and was like will you dance with me?

i was like heck yeah i will!  me: ohhhh my word so so sooo fun
 jewely: :) :)
 me: :) :) you have a good boyfriend, lady
 jewely: oh my gosh do i everr!me: um yeeeaa
 jewely: i'm a big fan of his :)
--
One of my best friends, and favorite people on this whole earth,Julie,accepted a marriage proposal (and RingPop...and diamond ring) from her boyfriend and best friend, James. 
I got to be there to take pictures and celebrate with her.I'm pretty sure it was a highlight of my life.

Because, you see, before there was "James and Julie" in my life,
there was "Julie."
A loud, athletic, funny, laugh-y, junk-food-lovin', talkative, happy, joyful, brave Julie.

And one summer, in 2006, her life headed down a road -
one she didn't really know she was on -
that would change her life forever.
With our church youth-group on a Missions Trip to Mexico,
Julie started crushing on James.
(Bee tee dubs, we pretty much built that little wooden thing right there.
with 12 other people.
And we didn't finish it.
But it was fun pretending like we were really helping.)

I noticed James chilling around my girl at the beginning of the trip
(gotta love group trips wearing matching shirts! ow ow!)

And then I noticed Julie cozying up to James by the end of the trip.
Hmm.
They look great together.

And pretty much from that summer in 2006... "the rest was history."
Obviously there is more to the story then that.
Their wedding won't be until six years later...
you can bet your bottom dollar there is more to the story ;)

But in good time there will be an engagement and wedding blog-post to tell that story.
For now, there is the story of how they got engaged.

The little Team Proposal Crew started to set up James' adorably perfect "love boxes."

On the most perfect night of life, no less.

James had various boxes filled with things Julie loves.
Sour Patch Kids, cause she loves candy.
Soccer ball, cause she loves soccer (duh.)
A blue cross, cause she loves Jesus AND the color blue.
These little love boxes (that actually started earlier in the evening...
he gave her a few on his own, before they got to the beach) were laid out in a path on the beach.


The last box was at the end of the sand "path,"
waiting for the big question.
Let me say real quick:
James nailed it.
Man does he know that girl.
This is SO a Julie-proposal.
The beach, the "craft-ness," the game/hunt-for-a-box element, sunset.
It was perfect,
right down to the somewhat elementary but COMPletely adorable love boxes,
where stickers, colored pencils and sticky rhinestones decorated each box.

Once everything was in perfect place, our sneaky group had to wait and wait.

And wait.

And waaaaAAaaait.

And then the tide was rising too fast, so we had to move everything back,
make a new "path"
and cover up the old "path" with sand.
It was rather epic and incredibly adrenaline-rush-y.

We nestled down to wait some more...

...and then some more.
I was getting nervous.
"This is gonna happen in the dark! James WOULD be late to his own proposal!"

And FINALLY we had a siting.
(turns out they were right on time.
But hey, time moves slow when you are waiting for your bff's engagement to happen.
Sue me.)

I was hoping Julie wouldn't "take her time" at each box,
but that was NOT a problem ;)

She'd hop right up, run to the next one, and show off her mad sprint-skills.

(I liked this moment.  I couldn't hear anything they were saying,
but I heard her say "It's BLUE!"
Apparently James said "Yeah, your favorite color!"
Lovelovelovelovelovelasjakakaj)

However, this was no time to slow down because of a color.
And just like *that* she was off again.

Completely, fully and excitedly ready to get to this last box.

After she squealed in delight over her RingPop,
James asked a very simple
"Julie, will you marry me?"
and presented her with a stunning diamond ring.

Julie yelled "YEAAAH-ES!"

Followed very closely by a giant collapse into his arms ;)

The waves turned,
and a few beach-anchored onlookers cheered,
but other then that there was silence under the pink moon.

Just some lovin'...

...and some bling checkin'-out-in'.

Happily, Julie didn't see us hiding (she was never the most observant girl ;)
but how could she?
She was totally in the moment.
So was James.
It was flawless, beautiful and breath-taking.

A few minutes later it was pitch-black.
We snuck away to let them enjoy each other.

Julie and James, I'll never forget the way you both looked that night.
Not to creep on your romance or try to insert myself in a special song,
but seriously...
I have never seen the two of you happier.
"God has done this.  We are glad."

Bring on the weeeeeedding!