And with the drop of a knee...

Everything changes!

I could shout it from the mountain tops. I could have shouted it from the Empire State Building if I hadn't been in complete shock! I'M ENGAGED! I am so excited. I'm pretty sure I could not be more excited than I am. So now, to get you excited too, I'll tell you the story!

But first, a little background... I want to keep you waiting! Before I left for the city, Blake and I sat down and chose a weekend for him to come visit me. We both were prepared for our long distance relationship as we had done it once before while I studied in Spain, and we knew we would want to see each other as much as possible. To make things easier on Blake after I told him I had for sure decided to move, we bought a ticket so we knew for sure when we would see each other again. I was very much looking forward to his visit, but of course, he was delayed! It wasn't too bad though because Lisa and Allison were both flying out on the plane that Blake was flying in on so they kept me company for the majority of his three hour delay! When he finally got here, I was so excited to take him back to my apartment so I could give him a real tour of our place!

I also had another surprise for the Blakester! I didn't have to go to work on Friday so we would get to spend the whole day together. I thought this was great, but I came to find out Blake thought, "oh shit!" He had planned on doing some preparation that day, but in my world of proposal oblivion, I hadn't planned for that!

Friday we just ran around Park Slope and hung out. We had planned to go to the Empire State Building that night, but we postponed it for Saturday. Saturday morning we woke up. Well.. let me be clear. Blake woke up, and then thoroughly annoyed me until I woke up. By the time we got up and around it was 11 so we headed to Manhattan to watch the KU game. That was depressing so we left there to go shopping. Blake was oddly cranky that day, (I think he was under a little stress ;)) but we had a great day. Blake helped me finally find some boots that I have been hunting for! After I found my boots, we walked up Fifth Avenue and went to the Empire State Building. The line was sooo long! We waited for at least an hour and a half before we got up to the top, but I can now say it was totally worth it.

Once we got to the top of the Empire State Building, it was around 6:30. It was sunset. The city looked so pretty! I was a little shaky because it was chilly. Blake was a little shaky for his own reasons. We had made our way around 3/4 of the building and stopped to look out to the east. Blake mumbled something and the conversation went as follows:

V: What? Did you say 'do you know what would look pretty up here?'
B: No
V: Oh. Well I was going to say a big fat diamond.

It was the perfect setup!

And as I turned around to giggle at my comment, I noticed Blake was not towering over me as usual. I heard, "Babe. I am ready to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" So the obvious reply was, "uhhh yeah!" Then Blake stood up and gave me a million kisses! I was in total shock. I had been teasing him about proposing because let's face it, we're made for each other, but he had said literally the day before, "Val, seriously, no. Not 'til after I graduate." I think he was trying to keep me off his trail and it worked!

Once I had my beautiful ring on my finger I was so afraid to be up there. I just knew I was going to drop it! Blake called his mom, and we spent a little more time looking at the city. It wasn't until we were about to go down that I actually realized what had happened and started to tear up. My heart was racing, much like it does every time I look down at my left hand and see my ring. I have never worn a ring on that finger specifically so that when I got engaged, it was even more special. It feels so weird to have a ring there!

Now I'll keep the rest short, because I know that nothing compares to that. That night we went to dinner in Chelsea with Katy, friend and assistant wedding planner, and to Norwood. We had a champagne toast to start our engagement, but we headed home early. I had had a big day and was ready to snuggle up in my cozy bed... I mean futon. Sunday Blake and I went down to see the Statue of Liberty, hung out in Battery Park and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a perfect first day as an engaged couple. Alex took us to City Island to dinner that night. Blake and Alex are obvs bffs, so they love hanging out. City Island was a nice escape from the city. After dinner we headed to LaGuardia to pick up Lisa. It was nice to have her home!

Sadly, the next morning Blake had to leave at 5, and I had to be back to work. I was wishing my weekend with Blake could last a little longer, but I had to get back to my real life... in New York City! I still love that. I'll post a pic of the ring, but I don't think my iPhone does it justice! It's perfect for me. I am in love with it. More so, I am absolutely 100% in love with Blake. No one makes me happier. No one makes me giggle like he does. No one balances me out quite like he can. No one can make me feel better when I am mad, sad, stressed. No one ever, ever will. I used to be a little afraid of spending the rest of my life with one person, but now I'm more afraid of what my life would be like if I didn't get to spend it with the one person that I care about the most. Yeah, yeah, mushy I know, but if ever I can get away with a lovey dovey blog post, this is it! I'm in love, and I fall more and more in love every day. Signing off as the future Mrs. Kasselman, which is still weird, but I have two more years before I have to get used to that! Here are the pics.

Me right after Blake proposed.

Close up of my ring!