Why did Chris get the ring in San Antonio?

I am sure many of you are wondering why Chris drove to San Antonio to buy the ring. Well, this takes us back in time to September 2008, right after Hurricane Ike hit Galveston and Houston.

For those that don't know, Hurricane Ike caused a lot of damage to both Galveston and Houston on September 12-13, 2008. Chris and I decided not to leave Houston for the storm and boy do I wish we had. Instead, we were in for the longest night of our lives listening to the rain and the wind. There were points in the night when I thought the door was going to be blow open by the wind. For those of you who would like more information on Hurricane Ike, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ike. Here are some pictures...

Me telling Ike to take a hike!

Where I slept the night of Ike
The backyard after the storm

Needless to say, most of Houston was without power for a few days. My aunt and uncle had power the day after Ike hit. As for us, not so lucky. There was no power at home for 2 full weeks! The first week was okay weather wise. Some cool front came in after the storm and it was pleasant in the evenings (we were either at work or at a friend's house during the day on most days following the storm).

The second weekend without power would have probably driven me crazier than I got if we had not "evacuated". Chris and I packed up the car and drove up to San Antonio to stay at the Westin La Cantera for the weekend.

At one point during the weekend we were out shopping and killing time until we had to go to dinner at Chris's parents house (they live near San Antonio). Chris had always mentioned Americas Diamonds every time we drove through San Antonio so I asked, can we just go and look around in there for a bit?

We made our way over to the store and walked in. The store just glitters as you walk in. I start looking around at the necklaces and earrings all while keeping my distance from the rings. During our stroll through the shiny jewelery I said to Chris that he never needed to spend the amount of money some of the pieces were worth...except for on an engagement ring. :)

Surprisingly enough, Chris said, "Let's go look at those then. I'm not buying one today...but we can look." This was just heaven to me! I started wandering around and looking at a few rings. I saw one that I liked and Chris told me to try it on. I wish I could tell you that I tried on 100's of rings, but I didn't. This ring was the only one I tried on and I fell in love with it. (I may have tried on one before, but I don't remember). The salesman then had me try on the wedding band with the engagement ring. Next he added the anniversary band (I don't get that until our 10th anniversary though). The ring was just so simple and elegant. It wasn't too big or gaudy and it looked perfect on my hand. I just knew this was the ring for me just like I knew the man who gave it to me was my perfect match.