In honor of New Year’s Eve, I think it’s only appropriate to re-live the best celebration of my life. And trust me, I’ve been a part of some amazingly epic NYE bashes.
You probably think I’m going to tell you yet again about New Year’s Eve 2012 in Walt Disney World. While that ranks up there at a good second place, even the magic of Mickey Mouse and fireworks over Cinderella’s castle can’t top what I was doing seven (seven?!?!) years ago today.
You see, today changed my life forever. Because on December 31, 2007, under the fireworks on the beaches of Great Guana Cay, Courtny finally put a ring on it.
And I said, “yes.”
That’s right. Today is the day that I agreed to become a Cotten. Sure, getting engaged in the Bahamas on New Year’s Eve is easily one of the best days of my life, however most years this anniversary comes as an afterthought (normally after a few bottles of champagne have been opened, and we jointly realize that maybe we’re forgetting something important…).
Oops.
Our ride from Miami to the Bahamas.
The view from our back porch certainly could have been better.
I had been prodding Courtny about getting engaged for some time by that point. Because, my just turned 20-year old self couldn’t wait for anything apparently (did I mention we got married only five months later?). But even with wedding bells at the forefront of my thoughts, the fact that we might get engaged on a family vacation in the Bahamas never crossed my mind.
I didn’t even think it was fishy when my parents offered to let us take the only golf cart and go out for New Year’s Eve on our own.
I didn’t think anything out of the ordinary when my sisters told me I should wear the new dress that I had packed. In fact, I ignored them and wore jeans, a halter and a zip-up sweatshirt. In hindsight – I should have worn the dress.
Hell, I didn’t even get the hint when Courtny and I were sitting on the beach after a fancy dinner, and he began to go into a monologue about how much he loved me.
Clearly, I’m an idiot.
He proposed right before the 9 p.m. kiddie fireworks on the beach, because he couldn’t wait until midnight. To be completely honest, I have no idea what he said to me. I can only remember thinking, “How did I not see this coming?!” In a nutshell, I was stunned that pretty much everyone I know pulled this over on me.
We laughed and cried, and we did what any other 20-year old couple would do in a country with a drinking age of 18. We went to the bar to celebrate, and proceeded to drink an absolutely lethal rum and punch cocktail that is probably only legal in the Bahamas. Throw in a little NYE DJ dance party under the stars, and you could say our engagement was perfectly Caribbean.
This is Nippers Beach Bar and Grill – where we got engaged. I read some time after this trip in People Magazine that Beyonce and Jay-Z visit there often. Pretty sure that makes us besties.
I will never, ever forget how I felt that night. Life was exciting, everything was changing, and I was enjoying it in paradise with the man of my dreams. How many times are we lucky enough to be at that place in our lives? We were so naively in love, and nothing could stop us. If Cloud 9 exists, we were certainly on it.
Even if I tried, I’m pretty sure New Year’s Eve can’t get much better than that. π
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What has been your best New Year’s Eve celebration to date? Until next year… Happy 2015!
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