"YES!"

So it finally happened. Randal Matthew Stewart has asked me to be his wife. Obviously, my answer was YES!
So the story of our proposal:

To begin, Matt planned the whole weekend as a surprise. The only thing he told me was that we were going to the mountains. Immediately, I was excited. I love the mountains and there is nowhere else I would have rather gone, especially when the weather is like it is now: crisp, chilly, and the leaves starting to change. I love being in the crisp mountain air wrapped in a warm sweater and sitting around a fire.

Barn on the inn's property. Relevant to my love of the mountains.

Anyways, so we go up on Friday night and stay at a the Key Falls Inn in Pisgah Forest, NC. It's an old farmhouse that was constructed in 1890-something and is situated on 35 acres at the base of the blue ridge mountains. We were both so excited because the place Matt found had a room named the Stewart room. Obviously, that's what room he booked for our weekend, but I had no idea I would become the future Mrs. Stewart there!

Our lovely B&B

Matt planned out an amazing day of activities on Saturday that showed how well he really knew me. It was all things that I love to do, and he somehow managed to squeeze them all into one awesome day.

I made a mistake in time and accidentally made us an hour early for our first activity. To pass some time, we pulled over at a random mall in Asheville to pass the time. We wandered into an antiques store called Heirlooms and I saw it: my church pew. I have been looking for an old long church pew to go on my front porch, but since I had a certain one imagined in my mind, it was getting difficult to find. All the ones I'd seen before were too short, needed a lot of work, or had padding on them. I wanted an old oak or pine one to sit on my front porch and watch the neighborhood and our garden. As we were walking around the store it shouted out to me: I'M OVER HERE! After making arrangements to come pick it up the next day, we realized that I had gotten us behind schedule for our super secret activity #1!

Matt & Emily like each other. The horses, not so much.

Since Matt didn't want us to be late, he drove like a super speed racer to get us there on time. You can imagine my glee when we pulled up at a horse ranch!!!! Super secret activity #1 was a 2 hr horseback ride through a farm nestled in the mountains. We saddled up, mounted, and got on our way. My horse apparently wasn't a fan of anyone (although he took a strong liking to me when I shared my apple with him), but the horse that seemed to really bug him was Matt's. Whenever Matt and his horse were in front of me and mine, mine would bite his on his rear end. Matt always got a little surprise jolt because his horse would jump in fright, and once his horse bucked and tried to kick mine in the face. The look on Matt's face was hilarious and had me laughing sooooo hard! While riding, we got to see sheep grazing with a sheepdog watching over them. I got so excited because I love anything relating to farms. I also got to see cows grazing with their calves.

literally, we rode through sheep

One really great thing we got to do during our ride was stop off and spend a few minutes exploring a 200 year old Garnet mine. I have a love of gemstones and am a sucker for those 'mine for gems' places, so it was a pleasure to see a real gem mine where some of the stones I like could have come out of.

Matt in the old garnet mine

After our super secret activity #1, Matt took me to activity #2: a tour & tasting at the Pisgah Brewing Co. Whenever Matt & I go to a new place, we always try to find a local brewery or vineyard to go try out and taste something that we don't get at home and that isn't mass produced. The Pisgah Brewing Co. is one of only a few truly organic brewery's in the nation, and I loved seeing what they do to make their beers different from others.

Pisgah Brewing Co.

Activity #3 of our amazing day was dinner at the Pisgah Inn. The Pisgah Inn is a hotel and restaurant at the highest peak of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and overlooks the mountains. They didn't take reservations, but we got there early enough to where Matt got us a table overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains at sunset. It was an amazingly clear night, so we could see for miles out over the trees changing colours.

Blue Ridge Mountains

After a full days worth of activities, we stopped at the grocery to get some wine to drink by the fire that evening. Matt kept making fun of me because I picked out a $4 wine, and encouraging me to pick a more expensive one. After insisting that my $4 bottle would be just as good, we checked out and headed back to the B&B.

Self-timer in The Stewart Room

Once we got to the B&B, I started playing with the Inn's cat Simon on the front porch. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Matt reach for something out of his pocket and start to go down on his knee. I drop everything I am carrying and began crying tears of joy as Matt asked me those journey-starting words: "Will you marry me?" Laughing and crying, I immediately jump into his arms and say yes! After a few seconds, he goes "So would you like to put on the ring?" I was so excited that I had completely forgotten to take the ring from the box!

Where Matt proposed with Simon

The ring was a perfect fit and the perfect type of ring for me: conventional with a little something extra. It's got 3 stones, all round cut, with a circle of diamonds around each stone. My favourite part is that the center stone is Tanzanite, a stone that I've been in love with for the past year. It's got a rich colour and can range from purple to blue. It seems fitting that I got a ring that was more than just white, but with a little flair included.

Afterwards, we drank wine around the firepit curled up under a blanket and chatting with another couple staying at the Inn for their 11th wedding anniversary. When they found out we had gotten engaged roughly 10 minutes before, the woman started freaking out excitedly. Apparently, her husband had told her after breakfast that morning that he 'had a feeling that boy would propose to that girl today. I just knew it.'

It was a magical weekend that showed me just how well Matt knows me, and I am so excited that I will get to spend the rest of my life with him. I will say though, it will definitely take some getting used to hearing the future Mrs. Matthew Stewart. :)

Future Mr. & Mrs. Stewart