Wedding Blog

So it’s that time, folks. Time to hear the story of the Peppermints’ engagement…It was the weekend of our four-year anniversary and we were going out to our favorite place (yep, Palm Springs) to celebrate. A lot of people have asked if it was unexpected… and it really was! I mean, both our families had talked about it for a good year or more, but we knew it was going to happen - it was just a matter of when. I even made Mr. Peppermint an anniversary card where the first line read, “Well, it’s our four-year anniversary so all I have to say is ‘I Do’! Just Kidding “

So, off we headed for a relaxing weekend in the Desert. We spent our first night in Palm Springs (at the Best Western–saving some moola!) and spent Saturday around town. One of the highlights was going to the Living Desert in Palm Desert. They had a special butterfly exhibit while we were there. Mr. Peppermint was a bit antsy to move on, which in retrospect should have been a tip off.

We then proceeded toward 29 Palms (the small town bordering Joshua Tree). We were excited to be staying at the delightful 29 Palms Inn. I had wanted to relax around the hotel–hello, swimming pool!–but Mr. Peppermint was eager to get to Joshua Tree while it was still light out. Yes, I know this should have been suspect, too, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Below we have Mr. Pep sitting on the hammock from our room before heading to Joshua Tree–is it just me, or does someone look a little nervous??

As I later found out, Mr. Peppermint’s grand plan was to climb to the top of the rocks and kneel down for his proposal. As luck would have it, I was happy scrambling up the rocks about halfway and taking my time. One of the great things about Joshua Tree is that it’s so vast you can feel completely alone (and I mean that it a nice, intimate way–not a creepy way)

Mr. Peppermint kept urging me, “Let’s just get to the top!”. And perhaps grand plans are meant to be broken because as we kept making our way up, I slipped on a rock. I didn’t get hurt, but I did get a tad crabby. He got all nervous and as I said, “Let’s just go,” he bargained “No, no…uh why don’t we just rest here for a second.” He started talking and it’s now such a blur. He was talking about our relationship and somehow I still didn’t see where he was going with it–I mean it was our 4-year anniversary, so it made sense that he’d say stuff like, “I see myself with you for the rest of my life”–okay, so I’m daft. Next thing I knew he asked “Will you marry me?” and I said, “Are you serious!?!”.

In my defense, a few weeks before I had seen on his computer a recent Google search for “wedding rings” and he (somehow) convinced me that it was an elaborate joke–long story, but I bought it at the time, so now I was suspicious! Of course, once I realized that he was indeed serious and he pulled out a box all I could say was yes….

You may notice, my ring is on the wrong hand. You see, as I’ve mentioned, I was the first of my friends to get engaged and, as such, Mr. Peppermint and I are both so clueless. He was convinced that you wear the engagement ring on your right hand until you’re married and then you move it to the left (a la the graduation cap tassel). I kind of like that I was so clueless because I always get a good laugh when I look back at these pictures!

The remainder of the weekend was a fantastic, relaxing celebration of the engagement. We even spent the last night at the amazing Korakia Pensione B&B (see below)…

And, for any of you who are curious, here’s the ring:

He actually asked my sister to meet him (to approve his choice) and “not tell anyone where she was going”….She’s not quite as daft as I am, so she caught on!

More on the ring later…!