I never had an engagement ring. We had rent money, which seemed more important at the time. Stephen bought me a ten-year anniversary band, which I adore, though, because he surprised me and it always bothered *him* that he never got me an engagement ring.

I almost never wear it, though. Our wedding bands are gold, because we were young and naively led by tradition, and I really only wear silver. I wear my grandmother's platinum band behind my gold band on an everday basis.

Personally, I hope when the time comes, that I get a ring. I mean, I wouldn't say, "No! I'm not going to marry you!" if he didn't get me a ring, but part of me is still that little girl that wants the whole fairy tale.

I loved my Sister's engagement and would likely emulate it:

Around Thanksgiving, after years of living together, they decided to get married. They talked about a bunch of stuff (kids, the like) and came to certain agreements. She wears jewelry about as little as I do and wasn't interested in a ring. He really wanted to get her one. They agreed to a ring. They didn't tell anyone they'd decided to get married.

A month later he gave her the ring Christmas morning and when they showed up at Mom's they shared the news once someone noticed it (which took an hysterically long time and drove them crazy! I was all "guys, you trained us to stop asking TEN YEARS AGO")

The thing I like about it is they got to enjoy being engaged for a while before everyone went all koo koo about it (Poor BiL had enough trouble with the attention as it was). There is something nicely intimate about it.

Oh, funny thing about the ring: She now likes it a lot. In part because her hub knows her so well -- very simple and small and not fussy. When he picked the setting and the stone they kept telling him "She won't like a stone that small!" and he kept saying "Oh she will. She doesn't want me spending THIS much as it is."

If I got engaged I would want a ring... but mostly because I really want THIS particular ring [link] (its the 24k gold bezel set) but with a smaller stone. Love that designer, love that ring, and some day I'd like to own it -- but it wouldn't be a priority.

I don't wear my engagement/wedding rings anymore. Mainly because they don't fit. I was very young when I got engaged and while I wanted "a ring", I was quite happy to have a diamond I already owned reset from a necklace to a ring.

Now I would like to have it reset again. I very, VERY rarely wear gold these days. But then we get back to the not wearing any rings thing, and it seems silly to spend the dough.

Cheese is not freaky. Mayo is a bit unusual, but not freaky. What's the difference between bologne and hot dogs, other than shape? No body thinks it's freaky to eat a bologne sammich with mayo.

WindSparrow is my new best friend.

What Plei said. It's worse than bacon.

Lee is dead to me. I was willing to deal with the bacon hate (cause, well, more for me), but mayo?

Ok, quick poll: Is a couple engaged when they agree to get married, or when after such agreement, a gemstone ring changes hands?

When they agree to get married. The jewelry is simply a physical manifestation of the promise. OTOH, for some people, they don’t consider themselves truly engaged until that point, which I think is silly, but whatev. Also, Miss Manners says that you don’t congratulate the woman, you congratulate the man, but wish her the best.

My ring at the wedding was one I happened to have in my jewelry box, and we didn't get matching rings till about 8 years ago. He keeps saying he's going to get me a rock of some sort, but I figure I won't make a big deal of it.

I was once a witness at a wedding where the couple didn't have a ring. As far as I'm concerned, if you can get married without a ring, you can sure get engaged without one.

Also, Miss Manners says that you don’t congratulate the woman, you congratulate the man, but wish her the best.

"Dude! You're getting married! Way to go! Congrats!"

"Hey Sally, I hear you're getting married. Sorry to hear that. Well, I hope it works out... best of luck!"

My favorite hot dog comes with guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheddar cheese. It sounds weird, but it's SO nummy.

My dad used to do this thing with hot dogs where he'd cook up a big batch of tomatoes and onions, add a bunch of spices and throw it on a hot dog. Less of a sauce, more like sauteed veggies on a dog. Really good.