November 14th is such a special day that just thinking about it makes me smile! November 14th, 2007, is the day I met Max and November 14th, 2008, is the day Max asked me to marry him : ) Looking back on how special he made our engagement still fills me with with so much joy and amazement. Not only did he coordinate with my student teacher and principal at the time so that he could come into my classroom for the big moment, but he also planned a surprise trip to Mexico to celebrate! This included lining up a substitute teacher for my classroom without my knowledge, and secretly taking my passport out of my apartment to make sure I'd have it for the flight. How incredible was he? Never in a million years could I have even dreamt of a man as loving, caring and attentive as my (now) husband.
Officially engaged!!
Apparently when Max actually popped the big question (after coming into my classroom at 8:30 in the morning with the principal, secretaries, and my student teacher in tow) I was so completely surprised and shocked that I forgot to say yes! Max got to turn to my sweet little 4th graders and ask them what they thought I should say. At the time, they knew him as "Mr. Max" and knew of course that my answer should be yes. The proposal will always be one of the best moments of my life.
The next thing I knew, we were off to SFO. Having only been wearing my engagement ring for a couple hours, I held it up to the window as soon as we boarded the plane and continued to tilt it from side to side and admire it until a woman walking down the aisle to her seat commented on what a nice ring it was, to which I replied "I got it today!!" Max was my fiancé! I don't think I ever stopped beaming. After landing at DFW just long enough to grab a bite to eat, we caught our connecting flight and were on to Cancún! It was seriously out of a dream.
It was night when we arrived, but by morning it looked like this:
Turquoise water! And the dream weekend continued - Max had arranged for me to do my "checkout dives" in the water off of Cancún. At the time, I had already taken my written/pool SCUBA classes and was ready to "show my skills" in the ocean for certification! Max has introduced me to many new things that I would never think of doing on my own and diving was one of them. The idea of breathing from a tank of air seemed so foreign and dangerous to me that, when we first met, I thought Max was crazy to be a diver. If it hadn't been for his support, I know I wouldn't have even tried it, and diving has now become one of the most incredible, amazing experiences I could ever imagine having. But at the beginning, it just seemed super scary. Part of the pool class entailed sitting at the bottom while my dive instructor turned off my air valve - eek! Then came the ocean checkout dive: I would have to sit on the ocean floor, take off my mask, and put it back on. Seems simple enough, until you realize that by taking the mask of you 1. Pretty much lose your vision and 2. Risk breathing water through your nose. It's quite challenging. Max watched the whole time (even though he could have swam on ahead). Just one of the reasons why I love him.
I waved to all the fish:
My favorite photo from diving:
Our dives in Mexico were my first dives in the ocean and I instantly knew I was hooked. There is seriously nothing else like being able to float above beautiful corals and fish, just flying and being one of them. It's a gorgeous experience and I couldn't be more thankful to Max for giving me the gift of diving, and of course, the gift of a life together with him : )
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