My boyfriend's wanted to propose to me for awhile now. He's so sweet and funny about it - he told me that he was planning on proposing to me when he got here, but after about a month in he and I had another talk. He wasn't happy with paying for the ring using the funds his brother lent him. To him, it was really important he bought it using his own money (which he had, but he didn't have enough to cover the trip and the ring), and he felt it was necessary to have a ring to propose to me. I told him he could use an onion ring, but he gave me a quelling look and said it was important to him, so in the end, we ended up not getting engaged while he was here.

It's funny, I suppose some women would be really let down, but I was fine with it. You know, I could go out and buy myself a big old shiny ring if I wanted to tomorrow with my money sitting in my bank, but the fact is all I want is his love and support in a healthy, committed relationship. Yes, I want to get engaged and married, but one of the things that attracted me to him was his firm stand on his principles. I understand the want - no, the need - to be able to come ring in hand, job under his belt and show that he can provide with his own money.

The bling doesn't matter when the underlying factors are where they should be. I have the best husband in the world.