The Rumors are True

As of this morning, Matthew and I are officially engaged. (I say officially, since this probably won't come as much surprise to anyone...) What started as vaguely knowing each other from class turned into chatting last summer because we were both out of school and bored, turned quickly into writing long emails and getting to know each other the old fashioned way...by letter...while he traveled around the US shortly after we met. Soon, we were pretty inseparable, and this seemed like a forgone conclusion within a few short months. We're really excited to be able to share the news with everyone else at long last!

As engagement gifts, we decided to choose rings for each other. We wanted to have some similar elements but have them unique to our own styles. They are both the same metal and have the same stone cut, which we decided beforehand, but we picked out each others' independently. We felt that for us, both purchasing rings for each other and wearing them was a good symbol of equal partnership.

Since we both had rings for each other, the cat was kind of out of the bag on the whole "surprise" element. We had planned to spend the day sight-seeing in Rhode Island as an anniversary celebration, exchange rings sometime while out, and tell everyone when we got home. This was not destiny. First I got a flat tire last night, so we needed to deal with that. This morning, it was pouring rain in much of New England, so we decided that driving to RI in a huge storm was not the best idea. While waiting for inspiration to strike, Matt was helping me fix my work computer that I have already managed to bungle up. I went out to the kitchen to get a drink, thinking we would be going out later to celebrate so not really thinking about the engagement. When I came back from the kitchen, I was slightly startled to find Matt on the floor in full on-bended-knee proposal. About 15 minutes later, I vaguely wondered what had happened to my drink, and found it sitting on the bed...miraculously upright and not a drop spilled!

We're both really excited, and are looking forward to enjoying the process with family and friends. I feel incredibly lucky to have found a partner that makes me laugh, is devoted and supportive of me in every way, and with whom I work well as a team. I can only hope that I'm half as good for him as he is for me. ;)


Matt's ring was custom made by a company I really recommend, as they were a pleasure to work with: Krikawa Designs. They specialize in an ancient japanese sword-making technique called mokume-gane, which is what gives the metal its swirly appearance. The diamond is a small step-cut diamond chosen to match my stone.

My ring was actually custom-ordered from Kay Jewelers. I wanted a lower setting, and have been in love with an Asscher Cut diamond forever, so Matt had them change the setting on a band we both liked to be lower, and replaced the original princess cut diamond with an Asscher they special-ordered for us. I'd recommend Kay to anyone; they were a huge pleasure to work with.

You can see more photos than you probably ever want at our brand new website: (soon to be) sachsfam.org