A Year of Living Frugally-Some Splurges are Worth It :-)

On Friday, Doug and I celebrated the three year anniversary, of our first date. Weeks ago, Doug told me that he wanted to take me to Duck City, which is the nicest restaurant in the Quad Cities for our big anniversary night. So, we scrimped a little more than usual over the last few weeks, and had our big night out. Neither of us had ever been there, but it was a truly spectacular evening. I have to admit, that when they handed us our menus, and there were no prices listed, I had a real moment of panic. The old adage, "If you have to ask how much it is, then you probably can't afford it" popped into my head. Doug promptly told me not to worry about it, so I did my best to put it out of my head. We had an amazing appetizer of crab cakes, braised portabello mushrooms and chicken satay with peanut sauce. Doug had the Duck Confit and I had the New York Strip over risotto. Being from Omaha, I thought that no steak could compare with the streaks served in my hometown, I was mistaken. It was beef perfection. The only thing better were the two bites I had of Doug's duck. If we ever go back, I am getting that! We had some wine, and talked, and let the staff wait on us hand and foot. The restaurant owner and the head chef even came out to talk to us, and that was pretty neat. Overall it was a really perfect, blissfully romantic evening.

As we were leaving the restaurant, Doug just reached out his hand, the way he usually does, when we are out walking, and I placed my hand in his, the way I usually do-except this time, his hand wasn't empty. He had a little square satin box in his palm. So, there we stood, on the sidewalk, in front of Duck City in downtown Davenport, and Doug pulls me around to face him, and tells me that he knew he wanted to marry me, within 30 minutes of meeting me, on our first date three years ago, and he said many other things-most of which are a blur now, because I have to admit, as soon as he opened the ring box, my brain melted. I did hear "Will you marry me?" and I know that I was crying because it took me a couple of tries to form a coherent answer. In my mind, when I thought that this moment would happen, my answer was much more eloquent. Finally I just squawked out "Ok!" and that was that. He slid the ring on my finger, and now we are officially engaged.

A lot has happened to us over the last three years. Two years of long distance dating, traveling back and forth, and finally taking the leap and moving to the Quad Cities to be with Doug. These last several months living together, and figuring out who we are as a couple, and what we want out of life. It's been hard, but at the same time, it has been incredibly easy. Doug is, and will always be, the greatest man I have ever know, and the love of my life. If I have one regret, it is that I didn't meet him 15 years sooner. But at the same time, I think the timing was just right. The perfect guy for me, at the perfect time. At a point in my life when I can truly appreciate what I have. I feel blessed.

So how does this affect our year of living frugally? Well, our original plan of buying a house within a year is still in place. Now, we have a wedding to plan for. We are hashing out the details. I have a feeling it is going to be very DIY, and that I will be enlisting the help of anyone and everyone to pull it off. It may not be extravagant, but it will be very special and wonderful, because at the end of the day, Doug and I will be together, forever. Some splurges are worth it.