But then Josh started to back-pedal. He went right along with my idea to go biking in the valley and then ride the train back. He made some other suggestions for places like Nelson Ledges and Brandywine Falls. My confidence was shaking. Then one evening we were skyping and my dad came in the room.
"How're you doing, Joshy-poo?!" he teased and carried on a little conversation with Josh before leaving the room.
"I should've called him Geraldine! But I haven't made the big phone call to him yet, and that might make him say no." He tried to catch himself, but it was too late.
He said it as naturally as if he'd told me that he was going to Chick-fila for lunch the next day.
I sighed. "You mean you haven't talked to him yet?'
"Oops. You weren't supposed to know that."
I went to bed that night SO confused.
The next day my family went out for dinner together. We drove two cars as some of us had errands to run afterwards, and I happily rode along with my dad. We had a conversation about Josh, nothing totally out of the ordinary, or at least, not at first.
But then Dad looked at me (something that always makes me nervous when he's driving :P), "So you really like this guy, huh?" It seemed like a strange question. We talked about Josh all the time! And gosh, my dad of all people should know! Josh called him to ask if he could court me and he and my dad had been phone "dating" ever since!
"Yes, Dad, I really do!"
"So, if he proposes, will you tell him yes?"
"Of course!!!"
Dad looked at me again, "Well, I better be the first to know before he proposes!"
"Dad!" I shrieked, putting my hands over my ears, "I told you and Josh, I don't want to know anything! I don't want to know if he asked you yet or not."
Dad put his hands up in the air (another thing that makes me nervous when he's driving!), "Hey, I don't know anything! But I'm just saying that if he wants to marry you, he better be asking me first!"
Now I was really confused and had convinced myself that he wasn't going to propose when he came up on Labor Day weekend.
The anticipated weekend finally came and I picked Josh up from the Pittsburgh airport on Friday night. I was SO happy just to be with him that I didn't think about a proposal much that night. We got up early the next morning, knowing that the day would be very hot and humid, and headed to the Valley. We'd settled on hiking at Brandywine Falls in the morning before getting lunch and biking later on.
We got to the valley and parked the car before looking at the map and finding our trailhead-the main trail leading to Brandywine Falls was closed, so we had to find an alternate route. We got on the trail and found it to be beautiful but with a pretty intense incline. The incline combined with the heat and humidity made it so that we were out of breathe after just 20 minutes! But we were happy to see the trail level out shortly after, and we enjoyed God's beautiful creation around us as we talked and enjoyed being together. A few runners passed us, but it was a pretty quiet morning in the woods. We came up on the creek and pulled off our shoes and socks, enjoying the coolness of the water as it rushed across our toes. I would have been content to stay and enjoy the water for a while longer, but Josh seemed eager to move on, so we did.
We hit another steep incline, but this time I knew we were almost at the end of the trail, so we trudged along! Josh was texting a lot while we were hiking, something that he doesn't usually do a whole lot while he's with me, but he had mentioned that he was texting his dad at the beginning of our hike, so I assumed that's what he was still doing and didn't question him on it.
We finally made it to the falls and Josh suggested going down to the lower falls boardwalk. We headed down, passing a few photographers as they came up, but the lookout area was completely deserted when we got down there.
Josh turned towards me and said softly, "I didn't know 5 months ago that I would know already that you're the one" (As of September 3, the day he proposed, we'd been courting for just over 5 months).
I smiled, not catching onto the fact that he was leading into something. We'd talked plenty in the past month about most definitely feeling God calling us to more than courtship. "Mmmm, I never would have known either." I gave him a spontaneous hug. He was trembling as I embraced him. And then it hit me. "Oh my goodness!" I thought, "he's gonna propose right now!!!"
I pulled back and looked at him, "Whatchya thinking about?"
He took a deep breath before replying, "I am thinking," he said as he sunk down on one knee, "that knowing you and courting you has been the greatest earthly joy of my life."
I clasped my hand over my mouth and I could hear myself saying "Oh, Josh...Josh..." I was near tears.
"Ashley, you are my best friend and the most wonderful woman I know. I want you more than anything else in the world. When I look ahead to the rest of my life, I know that I want to spend it with you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box, opening it to show me a beautiful diamond ring! "Ashley Kate McMichael, will you marry me?"
I know I said yes, but to this day, I don't remember it. What I do remember is him standing up, hugging me, and saying the most wonderful words I've ever heard come out of his mouth, "I love you!!!" I do remember telling him that I loved him, too!
He put the ring on my finger and guess what? It fits! He did such a good job and I absolutely love it!!!!
After we had a little time alone by the falls, people started to trickle down and tell us congratulations.
And then we headed back up to the top, deciding that it was really hot and we might want to start the trek back. That's when we started talking about how it all came about- Josh had actually called my dad on August 1st, and they both had to keep the secret for over a month! And yes, my dad wasn't quite truthful about not knowing anything- but him doing that really salvaged the surprise aspect! Josh accidentally told me that he hadn't asked Dad the question, that's why it sounded so natural even though he had- he was really just teasing me! I'm SO very happy that he was able to pull it all together!
But what I didn't know was that Rachel was up at the top and had captured our special moments!!!! She dashed down and just about knocked me over with her hug. She admired my ring and got to meet Josh for the first time ever. Can you believe that they coordinated the whole thing without ever having met?! Josh'd been texting Rachel to tell her where we were and find out when the coast was clear. She'd been shooing people away, telling them that when they saw a happy young couple making their way down the steps, they should come up. I still can't believe how well Joshua and Rachel planned it all out!
Rachel and Mrs. Clarke drove us to our car so that we didn't have to walk to 1 1/2 mile trail back.
In the car on the way back, Josh looked at me and said "I love you!"
I sighed happily and said, "I love you, too! I love being able to tell you that!!!!"
Rachel spun around in her seat. "Wait, you've NEVER said that to each other before?" she asked incredulously.
"Nope, we wanted to save it for when we got engaged. And, wow, it's so much better this way!"
Rachel took some wonderful pictures for us, which I LOVE and am so excited to get to share with you all! Our emotions were so very raw- anytime Rachel told us to look at each other while she was shooting us, she'd always say "Aw, Ashley! You're crying!" And crying I was, tears of joy and happiness!
So anyways, here are the pictures- there are lots, cause I couldn't decide which I liked best :P Ignore the messy hair and sweaty faces and note how absolutely positively happy we are!!!!!!!!
Josh started serenading me with air guitar/banjo/drums...and he made up a song about how much he loves me! We have way too much fun together!
I have so many memories at Brandywine Falls. We used to play there all the time when I was little. I remember clay fights in the river, rock skipping contests, picnics and hikes with our dear friends, the Willekes...and never did I imagine in those happy childhood days that one of the most joyful days of my life would take place there! I love you, Joshua Andrew, and can't wait to be your bride!!!!
