How I Spent My Week

Ok, yea, I've been noticeably absent for a bit (and if you're reading this on MySpace, it's not only because I have jumped ship and abandoned Tom for Facebook.

Sarah came to visit last week and to say I've been a little preoccupied would be an understatement. And because people want "the whole story"...here it is. A little condensed. But just a little.

Sarah got in last Wednesday afternoon. Her train ended up getting into town about an hour late and we crossed the street to go to A Loaf of Bread, a wonderful bakery here in town owned and operated by Sadie, Phil's wife. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Phil and Sadie and to say Phil gave Sarah a welcome she won't soon forget would be putting it lightly (it included Phil opening the door of the bakery and screaming to the people outside "Sarah's here, everybody!!").

That night Sarah and I drove out to Chester county to visit The Whip, an English pub out in the middle of the Pennsylvania countryside. The food was incredible and when we left that night there was a beautiful mist in every direction.

Thursday Sarah and I visited the gang at work at WJTL and lunched at the Lancaster Coffee Company. That night got together with Chuck & Ann, Lisa, Stacey, and Mindy for dinner and conversation. At one point during the evening, as we were all seated around the dinner table enjoying our grilled burgers and salmon, I commented that I felt like I was in a Woody Allen film. Everyone agreed. After dinner we enjoyed a rousing game of Celebrity.

Friday afternoon Sarah and I ran around downtown Lancaster, taking in the sites, the market, and the sun. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a great lunch at the Prince Street Cafe. That night we hung out with Tom & Mel. We had some great food, enjoyed a lot of heartfelt laughs, and watched "Freedom Writers" to wind up the night.

On Saturday Sarah and I went to the Park City Mall to kill time before heading up to Nissley Vineyards. We met Ethan & Aubrey and some friends of theirs as we settled in to enjoy a night of wine, cheese, and a live band playing both swing and latin music. It was a perfect night and Sarah and I found ourselves alone for a short bit. Ethan is a very talented photographer and I mentioned to Sarah he brought his camera along. I suggested we ask him if he would take some pictures of us while there was still sunlight. When we returned to where the group was picnicking, Ethan asked if we'd seen the inside of the winery. I told him no, and asked him if he would bring his camera along to take some photos of us.

The three of us headed inside the winery and I motioned to the racks of wine that stood before us. "Maybe we could stand in front of these for a good shot?" Sarah and I made our way further in and Sarah began to look around.

"How should we pose?" she asked, "What should we do?"

Sarah was facing away from me when I answered, "Why don't you stand there and I'll give you this?" Sarah turned back to me and saw I was holding a small box with a ring inside.

I asked Sarah if she would marry me and her face lit up. It was beautiful; SHE was beautiful. She answered "yes" and we hugged and kissed and hugged some more. The energy was amazing and all the while, Ethan continued to click away on his camera.

Hours after the events of that night Sarah was still beaming, still glowing. It was amazing and couldn't have been any more perfect.

Yesterday we spent the day at HersheyPark and this afternoon Sarah got back on the train for the return ride home. I put a bunch of pictures from the week on my Facebook page. It was a great week; An amazing week. I'm in love with my best friend and I'm going to marry her.