Four Years Ago...

Four years ago today, my baby-daddy proposed on a perfect autumn afternoon :) It was actually a day a lot like today.. unseasonably warm and sunny with a perfect breeze in the air.

Lee had been traveling the world for the better part of a year (we had already been apart for almost a year and a half) and we hadn't seen each other in person since the previous April. I was back in the states missing him like crazy and looking forward to my trip to London over Christmas to visit him. Little did I know that he had something else up his sleeve!

We had talked late the night before on Skype and I woke up super excited because he told me to be expecting a special surprise arriving in the morning! Sure enough, there was a box on the front porch that had a DVD, postcard and special note claiming November 22 as "Happy Traci Day!"

I watched the DVD of Lee in Tokyo giving me the first of many clues on a scavenger hunt! He always planned the BEST surprises, so I was super excited!

Later, he called to make sure that the box had arrived (all the while pretending to still be in South Africa where I thought he was at the time). And then I was on my way to the first clue. Each clue led to a place where Lee and I had either had a special date, or related to a special memory together and included a small gift from some place around the world.

The final clue was the best of all, as it led to my favorite little chapel on William Jewell College campus. When I walked in the aisle was lined with candles and filled with rose petals and one of our songs began playing on a sound system. One dozen perfect red roses and a small note sat on a podium illuminated by spotlights. As I walked down the aisle to the flowers and note, I assumed that the surprise was over.

But there was a knock at the side door, and I approached, expecting another friend with a gift. I never thought it would be Lee! After all, he just called from South Africa this morning! I opened the door, and there he was dressed in a suit with a huge smile! I dropped everything and screamed! He got down on one knee and said he couldn't stay away one second longer. He was home to stay and asked me if I'd marry him!

The story he told me about his journey home was unbelievable. He traveled across the globe in a week sleeping in airports in Tokyo, Helsinki, Russia (who deported him BACK to Helsinki!), Paris, London, Chicago and on to Champaign, Illinois. Staying up ALL night the night before, he prepared each clue and gift for the scavenger hunt. The next morning, he and his mom drove seven hours to Missouri. He went to each business, met with managers and planted clues. The next day, after calling "from Africa", he went to the chapel. Setting the song on repeat for over an hour, he hid in the small side room until I arrived! As if perfectly scripted, the song that was on repeat instantly started as soon as I walked in the chapel! And the fairy tale continued as we were married five weeks later on New Years Eve :)