Joanna Gaines On Why She’ll Never ‘Upgrade’ Her Engagement Ring

Does this couple ever slow down? I mean, seriously. Between renovating houses and raising their four kids, how do they find the time to also open a bed & breakfast, a cafe and also, oh, I don’t know, pen a memoir?

I’m not sure how they manage, but somehow, they do.

And when you hear just one of the stories from their book, “The Magnolia Story,” you’ll definitely want to make a purchase. Their love story is a serious page-turner.

Cosmopolitan ran an excerpt from the book in which Joanna explains why she’ll never want to “upgrade” her engagement ring, though it’s something many couples decide to do after reaching a new point of financial success or security.

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You see, right after Chip proposed, he surprised her with a trip to the jewelry store where she was allowed to customize her ring. Because the ring was going to take some time to create, the jeweler gave the couple a big, gaudy fake ring to show to their friends and family.

Because Chip is such a jokester, he didn’t tell everyone the ring was fake until the diamond Joanna had customized came in.

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“It’s funny to me that, even way back then, they all seemed to realize that a flashy ring just wasn’t my style. They expected to see me wearing something a little subtler, a little smaller, a little more classic maybe. But we strung them along for a good long while, and we all had a good laugh when Chip finally revealed that the ring was fake,” Joanna recounts in the book.

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Twelve years later, Joanna came up on her porch to find the exact same jeweler sitting with a velvet box. He told Joanna that Chip wanted her to upgrade her ring.

“That’s supposed to be every girl’s dream, right? But I looked him in the eye, and I said, ‘I’m sorry, but no. This is the original diamond I picked, and it’s perfect just the way it is.’”

To her, her ring is “part of [their] story.” And you’ve got to admire her for not ever wanting to change that.

Aww! Excuse me while I cry tears of joy and remember that age-old lesson that bigger isn’t always better.

[h/t: Shape Magazine]