Saying “my fiance” feels like playing dress-up, like I’m trying on a word that’s just a bit too grown up for my normal wardrobe. Which is silly, since living like old married folk has never felt like playing house. It just feels like us. And even though the title doesn’t fit just yet, it does feel rather spectacular, this being engaged business. Except for the part where he had to take the ring back this afternoon. I’m told that stones just get loose and that they’ll tighten up the prongs and all will be well, but you could not have found a sadder face in the whole wide state of Texas last night when I first discovered the loose stone.
Now, no, I don’t think that the ring is What’s Important Here, but it is so lovely and I would be lying if I said I don’t take several moments throughout the day to just stare at it, rolling it around in the light to feed my Jeremy the Crow sparkle craving. And what it means! It says, “I’m taken! And incidentally quite pretty!” I love it to pieces.
I tried apologizing to the Dork Lord for my saditude, but it simply wasn’t something I could control and if he thought I was overreacting, he didn’t let on. He just tapped me on the nose and promised he’d get it fixed. He had to make this promise six or seven times before we went to bed last night because again, the saddest face in all the land was staring at him from the adjacent pillow. And that’s how I know he loves me just as stupid as I love him. Ten minutes into pouty hour and anyone who loved me less would have offered to give me something to cry about.
Thank you, thank you for all your warm wonderful wishes and for sharing in our excitement. If you want to see this lovely ring that makes my heart delight, it’s on Flickr. I just can’t get the link right now (Flickr is apparently website non grata here at work).
Update! This is the ring. And this is the ridiculous perfection that is my niece. Wearing my grandmother’s wig. You’re welcome.
I still have the guard on my ring after 5 months because I don’t want to let it go long enough to have it sized lol. So I know exactly what you mean about being sad. I’m so glad he understands you. Your ring will be home again very soon and be just as gorgeous and perfect with nothing loose so you’ll never have to be sad again
Fear not! The ring will be home safe and sound with you in no time.
I don’t have “Flickr”, as I’m at work so, here’s hoping that at some point you’re able to create a link to the photo.
I LOVE that you referenced The Secret of Nimh! Where I will leave you with my favorite quote, “I’ve always wanted a Sparkly of my very own!”
Blast! I’m trolling Flickr looking for it, but can’t find it. How would one go about finding it/you on there? Dying to see it
Is it totally pathetic that I went and got a faux replacement ring from Target when my was at the jeweler? My ring lost four (count ‘em!) stones within the first few months. It was a quality ring but something about having it resized compromised the integrity of the band. After the fourth one, they gave up and made a whole new one – I made them promise to reuse the main diamond though! Good luck, it’ll be back on your finger before you know it.
Nevermind! Found it
Beautiful!!
You are too cute – we got “engaged” (read: decided rather spontaneously to get married over text messages … we’re ALL about big romance here) & then had to wait 6-ish weeks for the ring to arrive so I felt sad & weird too!
If it makes you feel any better, it took me just about the whole engagement period to get used to the title change. And now we’re married, and saying husband is even more strange. I usually fumble around for any other term before pulling that one out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisfish/4497276572/
Don’t say I never do anything for you
I am so happy for the two of you. There is something lovely about having a “oh, but I am so taken” ring on your finger.
SO pretty! (Thank you, Paul!) And so sad for you – but I will rejoice with you when it’s all fixed. (I ALMOST said “all better,” but thought better of doing so….)
You guys are so freakin’ cute with this engaged business!
I love it!
Ohmygod! It’s STUNNING!!! I tossed around getting an eternity band for my engagement ring. Yours makes me wish I had. One of my stones was loose when I first got my ring, too (after MONTHS of waiting for it to be done). I didn’t want to give it back either but I could hear the stone move when I moved my hand and I eventually decided a couple days without it was better than losing or breaking the stone.
Better safe than sorry! It’ll be back in no time!
Anywhoo, its beautiful! Enjoy every second!
I’ve been following you for YEARS, and I haven’t yet said CONGRATS! That, and you have many years to enjoy the sparkly! Gorgeous ring, by the way.
I understand completely. I still haven’t had my wedding band sized down from September. I don’t want to take it off. Congratulations on your engagement!! It will feel real.
You are correct, it is not about the ring. But, the ring sure puts a smile on our faces! Your ring is absolutely gorgeous! He has quite good taste!
My engagement ring was my grandmother’s, and it had to undergo two weeks of surgery before I could wear it. We went to Target and picked out a $13 fake ring in the interim, since were going to see his parents right after we got engaged. Even after the surgery, the ring is a touch too big, but I did not want to part with it to have it resized again.
Now that I am married and work in a lab, I wear my sparkly wedding band that kind of matches my engagement ring. I would hate for some nasty chemicals to ruin the family heirloom, so I do not wear my engagement ring everyday. My finger misses it, though!
My take-away message is that a $13 Target ring might be worth eating Ramen noodles for a couple of meals.
)
Yay for eternity band engagement rings! That’s what I have too! I had to part with mine to be resized, and was so sad. Only reason that I consented was because I was gesturing in our backyard and it flew off.
Be forewarned: if its white gold, it might need to be dropped off to be re-plated every year or so.
P.S.–It takes a while to get used to the word “fiance,” and when you finally feel it naturally rolling of your tongue, he will be your husband, instead!
Oh, that is pretty!! Congratulations!
Aw, you’re entitled to be a little whimsical and superficial every once in a while. We “know” you better to think that it’s all about the ring. I mean it really is all about the DRESS anyways (just kidding
).
LOVE IT. And I would be totally bereft without it too.
Hey Kudos to Paul for the link! Thanks much!
Oh Heather, it’s absolutely beautiful! Stunning! It looks amazing on your hand.
Wear it in good health, my dear.
When it’s back home, we need more pictures!
Congratulations!! What an exciting time! Have been a reader for quite a while and so thrilled for you to have found someone who makes you giddy and loved and most importantly, just happy.
1) Thank you for that pic of your niece. Hi-larious.
2) I’ve been following your blog for….well….a long time. So long, I vaguely remember it looking different…?? I digress. Congrats. Truly happy for you.
Ok, the ring is beautiful…. but the picture of your niece in that wig absolutely takes the cake. Thanks so much for sharing!
Your ring is very pretty. I would react EXACTLY same way as you did so don’t feel bad. Its your ring and you have a right to be upset that you don’t have it anymore, even if it’s just a short period of time.
You think ‘fiance’ is weird? Just wait til you have to start using the words ‘my husband’! Your head will explode. I remember that feeling very clearly.
The ring is lovely. I got engaged just before my college finals and I think I probably knocked a whole grade off my final marks due to the amount of time I spent sitting in the library with my books open and my eyes totally focused on my sparkly ring.
I SHOULD be coming to comment on the loveliness of your ring…but I’m totally distracted by your niece in a wig. Priceless!
what a lovely ring! i have a smaller version as my wedding band. =)
i have an obsession w/ babies…and your niece is now at the top of my list! too cute!!
Your ring is lovely! The same thing happened to me about a week after I got mine – I stopped into a Jared for the sole purpose of getting my ring cleaned and two of the diamonds were loose! They tightened them for me and it only took two hours and cost $35. If the fiance has not yet taken the ring in, go to Jared and you can have it back today!!
Congrats again, your ring is beautiful and so sparkly!
A note of advice, if you haven’t already, please call your insurance company and add the ring to your renters insurance. When I got engaged I was so worried that something might happen to my ring (and even to this day double-check that my diamond is secure in the setting). Knowing that the ring is insured just in case something does happen to it is a weight off my shoulders! And the addition will hardly raise the cost of your insurance at all.
The ring… gorgeous!
The niece… also gorgeous! And funny as can be with that wig on her little head. Made me LOL!
For the 5-6 months between the time we decided to get married and when we actually did, I don’t know that I ever referred to my now-husband as my fiance, aside from a couple times, jokingly, between the two of us. People who knew me knew that I was engaged, but that was it- no ring, no wedding talk. For me the transition to calling him my husband was slightly weird, but not as weird as a lot of people seem to feel it is.. I guess it makes more sense to me because it’s something that actually is, vs. something that will be. (I did spend a lot of time futzing with/looking at the ring, though. That hit me most, as a concrete symbol of what we’d gone and done, I think. Yours is lovely, btw.)
i LOVE the original, eternity band idea for an engagement rings as opposed to the traditional solitaire. well done, Dork Lord. Congratulations.
Congratulations! And your engagement ring is beautiful. As is your niece – that wig suits her rather nicely!
It’s BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. I love the ring! Classy, beautiful, timeless!
2. Fiancé is just a strange word. Even in reference to another’s fiancé.
3. THAT BABY IS SO CUTE!
It’s lovely, and just think how exciting it will be to get it back! It will almost be like getting it all over again! Congratulations! x
Congrats! Enjoy the celebrating…the planning will be next! P.S. I too am engaged and refuse to use the word fiancee…I prefer almost husband
Awwww…congrats Fish. It’s gorgeous.
The rings is so sparkly and pretty. I can see why you don’t want to be parted.
The Dork Lord has great taste. You’re a lucky woman. Beautiful ring, too cute niece. Happy Sunday!
I can totally sympathize! I had to give up my ring on Friday for a few hours because it is custom made and so my wedding band also has to be custom made and they needed it to make a mold. I was completely out of sorts until I got it back that night! Fortunately my fiance was just as understanding as yours. I think it even made him happy that I was that reluctant to give it up after the hell I put him through in finding the perfect ring to begin with.
Congratulations on the engagement and the ring is gorgeous! Hopefully they will get everything tightened up and fixed and you’ll never have to be apart from it again!
Beautiful sparkly! Is it back on your finger? That’s one fashion forward niece you’ve got there. Will she be rocking the wig at your wedding?
I can relate. I once was engaged for what turned out to be more than two years. At that time, I just could not bring myself to even try on the traditional solitaire ring… I felt totally ..branded, as if someone was about to taint me right between the eyes with the traditional Hindu dot. So I picked a totally non-traditional ring and couldn’t quite get it when nobody understood it.
Congrats again on the engagement. THe Dork Lord is a man of good taste, as Avi H said above. I would add that the ring looks nice, too!
Maybe some of the “saditude” is related to the fact that you have been building up to this moment for so long that now you are coming off the high? Don’t worry, it’s nothing abnormal. A moment is one thing; building a LIFE together is a greater goal. It is constant work, but very rewarding, right?
As far as feeling funny using the term “fiancé” goes, remember that the Dork Lord has to transition to the terms “fiancée” and then “WIFE.” I think it is tougher on the guys (but I wouldn’t have it any other way).
Good luck with the wedding plans. While you are at it, why not go house hunting, too? Yeah, like you don’t have enough to do.
Um, wait. Why is it tougher on dudes? We have to transition to using, “Husband,” too. I don’t get it.
It’s not really tougher on dudes. I was trying to be a bit funny. Well, you can file it under the “boys are stupid” category. LOL
You weren’t going to fall for me saying that “adding the extra ‘e’ to fiancée is what is really difficult,” were you?
Ha! Now I get it. I thought you were implying it was more EMOTIONALLY difficult for men to transition.
Congratulations! May you have many years of happiness together!
I know what you mean about feeling like playing dress up with “fiance”. I was there too. Thing is, we were planning on getting married 5 years down the road, so fiance really did feel a bit much. Now I love it more than ever and we still have a year to go.
) By the way, if you don’t mind sharing, do you have a date set? Mine’s 6/4/11. 
)