<p>Aw…Valentines Day is over! No more trying to convince you all it’s a silly superficial holiday…</p>
<p>Anyone want to hear my thoughts on diamond engagement rings? :)</p>
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It’s the farthest thing from superficial.</p>
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Not today, thanks, but offer again tomorrow!</p>
<p>I think that what it’s become is superficial. How it’s generally celebrated is superficial. </p>
<p>That is not to say that there’s anything wrong with superficial, it’s just not for everyone.</p>
<p>Ugh, I have the worst sugar hangover today… it will be easy for me to avoid carbs and sweets for a good while now!</p>
<p>But sharing with H all that chocolate and yummy food and some wine was DIVINE at the time… Nice for us to take time out for each other to prepare, think of each other, spend the time together.</p>
<p>Hubby and I had the loveliest Valentine’s Day. We’re coming off a bit of a bad patch and I feel that it nudged the ship into the right direction. I think we needed that.</p>
<p>I think we should definitely talk about diamond engagement rings! I LOVE mine (my favorite piece of jewelry ever) and never take it off. I love looking at diamond rings on other women, too. My daughter’s ring is a family diamond that we gave to her and her husband to have set. Diamonds are great!</p>
<p>My diamond is also a family diamond (was my grandmother’s)…and I LOVE it…love it. We have diamond rings that my mom had which can someday be given to my two kiddos if they would like them. They are nice family treasures…and a lovely reminder of the grandparents too!</p>
<p>Okay so here I go but please don’t shoot me (geez, some folks on here are so sensitive! just remember what fun we would not have if we all just agreed with each other so I’m trying to add entertainment value!!). </p>
<p>Okay so…I don’t really like diamonds. I don’t dislike their look but it also doesn’t do anything for me either. And my view is clouded by the history of the industry and the manufactured and non-romantic commercialized hype about big diamond engagement rings.</p>
<p>Now don’t get me wrong, I would LOOOOVE to have any jewelry that is a family heirloom and it would touch my heart if I ended up one day with my mom’s little diamond ring. </p>
<p>But I could entirely live without the diamond engagement ring tradition and I definitely don’t wear one. </p>
<p>Oh and whats up with the woman but not the man getting an engagement ring anyways? I better stop…</p>
<p>Men get nose rings, star bright.</p>
<p>When DH and I got engaged, he asked if I wanted a miniature. I thought he meant a miniature diamond, so I said no. I found out that what he meant was for me to get a miniature version of his West Point ring, which is tradition. I figured that if I got the miniature first, I would never get a diamond, which I did want. Twenty nine years later, I have never asked for the miniature. My diamond is not exactly a miniature, but it isn’t huge; it is just right for me.</p>
<p>I have my mother’s engagement with its little diamond, and I wear it instead of my own.</p>
<p>Dh and I picked out an underwhelming but fine-for-me solitaire. Then he took it to fit a wedding band around it. I was SHOCKED with what he presented me with at the wedding. It’s nice – a lot of women would love to have it and, in fact, his sister and my mother later bought rings that looked just like it – but, truthfully, it wasn’t my taste. I mean, there’s a reason I picked a simple solitaire, right? Well, dh didn’t like me wearing it when I’d go running on public trails so I got out of the habit. And then my mom gave me her old engagement ring when she upgraded to the wedding set like mine. I wear hers every day. I’ve always loved it. It’s funny that I get compliments on it all the time. It’s very simple and not at all showy. Just pretty.</p>
<p>My engagement/wedding ring story: DH and I sketched a picture of the ring we wanted. We went to a local jeweler’s and spoke with the owner. He gave us the price and finalized the order for us. When we went to pick it up, we were really happy with it. Even happier when the employee told us the owner had goofed and charged us the wholesale price, instead of the retail price, for the main diamond, but they would honor the quote. So I have a nicer ring than I should have gotten. I dropped it on a coral reef once when we were scuba diving, but one of the other divers, a kid from Norway, saw it glinting and grabbed it (he said he thought it was just a Coke can tab at first).</p>
<p>You all got me thinking about my own engagement. My (now) husband asked me to marry him the night before my college graduation. When he presented me with the diamond ring, “He said, it is not flawless, but neither am I.” Sweet <3</p>
<p>These are good stories. </p>
<p>We also designed our own rings and had someone make them for us! </p>
<p>One ring story from when i was young: My boyfriend, who I went out with for a number of years, gave me a ‘friendship ring’. One day I lost it and was so heartbroken and felt so so bad about losing it. Well many weeks later my boyfriend found my lost ring in my car. I was there when he saw it under the matt. I was elated! I learned quite by accident years later that he hadn’t found my ring at all but instead had an identical one made for me so I wouldn’t feel bad. Isn’t that the sweetest thing?</p>
<p>Aw, starbright. That’s sweet.</p>
<p>My HS boyfriend bought me a promise ring. Remember those? I think I still have it. I’ll have to go look.</p>
<p>lol mowc-
We actually DID cycle on that trip, but the pedals were on the bikes, and the petals were on the bed :)</p>
<p>Agree that there are some silly contrived holidays (eg grandparents day, admin assistants day, etc) but Valentines day is not one of them. Please, no Debbie downers on that one :(</p>
<p>My husband gave me a heart shaped solitaire when we got engaged. I loved it. Unfortunately, he lost his job when our kids were young and we ended up having to sell the ring in order to buy them Christmas presents. I don’t regret it for a minute but it makes me sad that my kids don’t know what it looked like.</p>
<p>I am on my third engagement ring, same husband, but I say “I do” all over again, every time I get a bigger diamond. Diamond is my birth stone.</p>
<p>I love diamonds, but honestly couldn’t stand getting one given their history. I want a sapphire and/or cubic zirconia engagement ring. With that said, my mother finally got a wedding band after being with my father for 15ish years. (I think she technically had a wedding ring but never wore it because my mom just doesn’t wear jewelry. My dad has never had a wedding band.) It’s absolutely gorgeous and I will love when I inherit it. Yes, it has diamonds. </p>
<p>My last (and only engagement ring… so far), was a white sapphire ring. I love, love, love sapphires (the blue ones) and the white sapphires just look bad IMO. He proposed to me in front of his mother and sister and when they saw the ring, they knew instantly that I wouldn’t like it. Of course, I never said anything and pretended to love it, but I think when his mother and sister knew me better than he did after 4+ years of dating, that was signal to end the relationship. We’re still good friends and quite honestly, I haven’t the slightest clue what happened to that ring. It kind of disappeared when we broke up.</p>