On Wednesday, Sean asked me if I wanted to stay in the Windsor again (the room with a pink marble fireplace and fainting couch at the foot of a grand bed . . . same room we stayed in for our anniversary). He then gave me the option of one of the cottages. My answer was whatever he wanted, it was his birthday. Sean told me that this was for me too . . . another way in which I thought was Sean trying to convince me it was ok to spend so much on his birthday. He also said things like, "I want to go someplace where I don't have any stress," and "It's one of two places where I can go and not have work cross my mind." Pretty convincing I must say. 

     Wednesday continued . . . Sean tells me that Ashley is coming to watch Brody for us . . . A question I had because though I love Brody, he would not fully appreciate The English Inn. Its not a place kids would love, more of a couples getaway. Regardless, I thought it was interesting that Sean had asked his sister to sit for us when we have our friend Michelle here in Lansing or Grammy. This is when I started to get suspicious. Not that Ashley is a bad baby sitter, just that she works really hard and our schedules hardly ever coincide with one another. 

     Thursday - Sean tells me that he asked Ashley last week to sit for us. This is after I ask him why she doesn't have to work on a friday or saturday morning. He says this so nonchalantly that my curiosity doesn't peak anymore than it already has, but I remain suspicious. 

     Friday morning - We are chaperones for Brody's trip to the zoo. We have 8 kids between the two of us. Before lunch time, I already start thinking about what a great idea it was to go to The English Inn . . . especially after chaperoning 1st graders at the zoo. We leave Brody with his classmates just before the busses come to pick up the kids. We head back home to pack the truck and await Ashley's arrival. At 4 PM, Sean is so antsy, he suggests we go to Meijer for snacks for the night... and if Ashley gets to our house by the time we are done, then we'll stop in and see her. We end up missing each other, but Ashley picks Brody up from daycare and they have some quality time together. 

     Friday Evening - The short drive to The English Inn was nothing of interest. I could not tell whether Sean was nervous or not. I was excited to get some relaxation after the zoo trip. Sean pulls into the lot that is closest to the newly built cottages . . . I thought to myself 'that was smart because last time we parked in the Manor driveway and it was a bit tight.' I mostly thought this because I'm a backseat driver hahaha. I get out of the truck and start to reach for our things, thinking we are staying in the Windsor room as we did last time. Sean says, "Leave our stuff. We can come back out and get it." I find this odd but agree because last time we were fumbling with our bags as we checked in while other guests were waiting to be seated for dinner. We also brought our own snacks this time and wine . . . so here I'm thinking, what a clever guy. My favorite waiter checks us in. Nothing out of the ordinary. But he keeps saying, "The Dove." I think its some special package deal Sean scored for us . . . "yayyy bargain" is what I'm thinking. But then the waiter asks the young woman at the desk to walk us to our room and she leads us outside. Now I'm confused. 

     The NEW cottages were being built when we were there in October 2013. At the time of this whole ordeal, I found that there are no pictures online or even the ability to reserve one of the new cottages. I should have been a private investigator. [Back to the love story . . . ] We walk to the furthest cabin and are ushered into the furthest room, The Dove. It smells of new carpet and fresh lumber. The entrance is tiled and immediately I see a balcony that over looks the pergola. The bed is HUGE and there is a fireplace with a tv on the mantel. Then I see the bathroom. An almost all glass door leads us into a happy blue bathroom with heated floors, a chandelier, a glass shower and tub big enough to fit the entire McNamee family (Sean's mum's side of the family). This bathroom is by far the most beautiful bathroom I've ever been privileged to see in person and use. We also have a mini fridge, which contained chocolate covered strawberries (special order of course) and a Kurig. 

     After looking around for a few minutes, I help Sean bring the stuff in from the truck. We then relax for a few minutes and Sean tells me that he is going to exchange our decaf coffee pods for caffeinated ones. An odd thing because we already have two caffeinated pods, but I think he is just trying to make things perfect so I stop thinking about the amount of money being spent. Sean was gone for quite some time . . . He comes back and tells me that the staff was so busy he decided to not bother them and will do it in the morning. Mmmmmmm...????

    We eventually get dressed for dinner and head to the manor for our 7:30 reservation. This is something Sean did on his own, which was also odd because he never just makes plans without consulting first. I thought it was late for dinner, but he told me that 7:30 was the earliest he could get us in. I don't think anything of it and move on. 

     We have a lovely dinner of smoke salmon bruschetta for an appetizer, a house salad with a honey balsamic dressing, a trio of medallions for our main course and for dessert a white chocolate mousse wrapped in fresh mango with a mango and raspberry sauce. We also had a bottle of champagne which chilled in a marble wine chiller at our table. Then the owner came over and asked how our dinner was before he sat down with his wife for dinner. How lovely I thought. He shook Sean's hand and then left us to finish our dinner. 

     Sean asked if I still wanted to take a walk around the grounds before it got too dark out. I agreed but had to use the restroom first. While I was in the restroom, Sean said he was running out to the truck for something. When he came back we stood on the balcony for a few minutes, then he told me to go inside because he had a surprise for me. Mmmmm odd. But ok. He did something out there, then came in and said lets go. We walked around and took the ever so romantic route to the pergola. He told me to stand still and he raced around to get the lights on the pergola to turn on . . . twinkle lights like what cinderella would have. He asked me to dance under the lights and I agreed. Now I knew something was up and I had a good idea, but didn't want to get too confident in fear that I was wrong. As the giant mosquitos ate my legs, Sean said, "Alright, I gotta do this before I no longer have the courage." He said some kind words . . . most of which I can't remember now because I stopped breathing . . . kinda like the night I met him. :) Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. 

     I said . . .  YES!!! 

     The next morning, our server for breakfast asked how our evening went and then asked to see the ring. Apparently, the entire staff had known for quite some time. Sean had been communicating with a number of employees, as well as the owners. He had driven out there right after he'd drop me off at school and before he would start work. He'd toured the new cottages and chose one away from the other guests that night, who were celebrating a graduation or something of that sort. 

 

 

Sean sure does know how to romance and court a lady. :)