Thanks everybody!
I was just so excited I HAD to tell somebody. lol. Ok, I'll share the details, but here's a warning....we are both women and I know that is upsetting to some people. I hesitated to come back and elaborate on this for fear of offending.
First, I met Amy 15 years ago. She was my first and only real love. We dated a year or so, then she had to leave my state (she was stationed near me while in the Navy). It took years and years to get over her...maybe I never really did!
Then I found her on MySpace about 18 months ago and we quickly fell in love all over again.
We've had a rough year. She was diagnosed with uterine cancer only months after we found each other. They took out her uterus and cured her, thank God. But that was very hard, especially as we live 2500 miles from each other. Then a few months ago I went in for a surgery that turned into a life threatening infection which kept me in the hospital for a month. This trip to Disneyland with Amy and my daughter is what saw me through that!
So being there meant the world to both of us! She actually proposed in our hotel room. She had wanted to at Blue Bayou, had totally planned to do that, then found out that the reservations I had made weren't until Monday and she couldn't wait that long (it was Saturday when we arrived)!
So she proposed in the hotel room after our first day in the park...told me she had a speech all planned out but she forgot it!
Funny that she seemed so nervous when she HAD to know I'd say yes! Jeez, I told her within 30 minutes of meeting her 15 years ago that I was going to marry her someday! I didn't think it would take so long, but better late than never!
She chose a Claddagh Ring because I am less traditional (and Pagan). She wanted a ring that would be feel more symbolic to my beliefs. There is a very sweet meaning behind the ring. It means, "
With both hands I give you my heart and crown it with my love."
She gave my daughter a ring too because she is also committed to her and wanted to show that. My daughter, who is 18, burst into tears. She adores my partner and is very, very happy about all this. I've had a rough life with very serious health issues (autoimmune disease) and I had more or less given up on love thinking nobody would want to take on a partner with so many problems, then I found Amy...now I've never been happier or more excited to be alive! This alone makes Amy a hero in my daughter's eyes.
We plan to have a Handfasting Ceremony, which is what I've dreamed of my entire life! She wants to get married in October when the leaves are starting to turn. And she wants it to be near a waterfall! So I gotta find a nice place like that in PA where she lives! Oh...and it looks like I'll be leaving my beloved Washington State. She has a good career in PA and I am just not as committed to anything where I live, so logically it has to be me that moves. I never thought I would, but I love Amy more than my beautiful Washington. Besides, my daughter is a musician and the best music schools are on the East Coast. So she is VERY happy to move there!
Amy is upset because a few days after she proposed, she saw a man propose to his gf in front of the castle. She regretted not doing that. I wouldn't care if she proposed to me in a cemetery! I'm just so happy she finally did.
And she did manage to ask at the happiest place on Earth and Disneyland is and always will be my favorite place to be. So she did good, even if it wasn't in front of the castle or at the Blue Bayou!
I too got engaged this same week 5 years ago in 
