So I asked her and she said yes.

Her story

Well now, there was a bit more to it than a simple question and answer and an awful lot more planning and secrecy too I might add. The boy is not half bad at organising surprises, I’ll tell you that much for nothing. I probably should have known he had something up his sleeve, what with the romantic break in an undisclosed location but we don’t get to see each other very much sometimes so it wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary. Oh, but out of the ordinary it certainly was and in County Tipperary in the middle of nowhere no less.

After a refreshing walk in the Glen of Aherlow on Tuesday the 27th of November 2007, Ryan strategically drove me past as many signs as he possibly could for Mandy Parslow’s pottery. We often stop to look at pottery places when we have the time. It’s something we’ve always enjoyed doing together and I always learn something from the experience. Of course, I thought I was deciding to check out Mandy’s place myself but little did I know when we got to the door that she had been expecting us for quite some time. I thought she was expecting another Ryan when she came out to greet us but I went along with it all because I trust Ryan and he seemed very much at ease.

And then the fun really started. Ryan handed me an apron as soon as we had finished introducing ourselves properly to Mandy and her beautiful dog Molly.  Mandy then invited me to roll up my sleeves and join her at the pottery wheel. Ryan got to show us his moves a little later and we chatted and laughed in between doing some serious concentrating, and our afternoon would have been nowhere near as special if Mandy hadn’t been as understanding and genuinely excited as we were. She discreetly excused herself so she could put the kettle on after our lesson was over and to my amazement and utter delight, Ryan got down on one knee with ring in hand, took my breath away and made me the happiest woman alive.