Engagement Story (Told by Steve)

Hi Everyone!

As you have probably heard, Emily and I are got engaged on February 8th, 2009! We are very happy and super excited about our future together. I am not usually one for mushy stuff, but I thought I’d share the story of our engagement with a select few people who are closest to me. So without further ado…

I had a plan. But like all plans, when it comes to romance – you can’t plan a thing, you have to just go with your heart and roll with the punches. This was no exception. Our 5th Anniversary was coming up in about a week, on February 9th (Monday), so we decided to celebrate on Sunday, February 8th. I had reservations at a beautiful restaurant called “The Little Door” which we both had always heard of but never been to. The plan was shaping up nicely.

My Dad had a great jeweler who he had used many times before. I met with her in December and she gave me an education in diamonds.

The holidays came and went and it was now February 2009. I was ready to pop the question. I had thought about it long and hard and I knew I was ready.

But I wasn’t sure how to pull it off. Emily is picky when it comes to her jewelry, so I decided to take her shopping with me for the ring. But in the meantime, I needed a proposal ring, something to use just for the proposal. It had to be a similar style to what she likes and it should be in the same price range as I was prepared to spend, just in case she wanted to keep it. In the back of my head I though, “But what girl would pass up a chance to go shopping for diamonds?”

So the day comes to pick up the proposal ring. I have 3 choices of pre-set rings to choose from. At first glance none seemed to be exactly what I was looking for, but all seemed to be close enough for the purpose of a proposal ring. I assumed none would actually fit Emily since I didn’t know her ring size. One of the three rings catches my eye, it looks simple and timeless and very sparkly. “I’ll use this one,” I said, and she boxed it up as I wrote a large check to the jeweler. Upon leaving the jewelers house, I was not sure if I was more excited to finally have the ring or more nervous that I would lose it before we got it insured… or worse!

Now I had about 4 days to hold onto the ring without Emily finding it.

I began to wonder if I should ask for her father’s permission to marry her? I began to think, “How would I feel if she was my little girl? What would I think about the guy who didn’t have the guts to tell me first? Is he less of a man, a coward, or just flat out disrespectful?” So, I stole her Dad’s cell phone number from her cell phone. I intended to call him on Sunday morning before proposing.

On Saturday Emily informs me that her dad is coincidentally in town, and stopping by on Sunday afternoon. That’s my chance I thought! “The universe is supporting me and setting it all up for me, letting me know I am on the right track!” I couldn’t believe it. The doorbell rings. He arrives and much to my surprise he is with a friend I have never met, an older guy with an Aussie accent. He was nice, but this certainly put an obstacle in my way of speaking to Les about his daughter’s hand in marriage. How could I pull this off without his friend being there or even more importantly without Emily hearing me ask him? Just then Les went out to the car to grab some avocados he had brought for us. “Is this my chance? Do I run outside with him? No I thought – that would be way too obvious.” Then he came back inside. Emily decided to take his friend on a quick tour of our backyard garden while Les went to the restroom. I was left in the living room all by myself. “Holy Crap I thought! Now is my chance, they are both outside and Les & I are inside – only problem, he’s in the bathroom!” I waited and prayed for him to hurry up. I heard a flush and called him into the “Man’s Room” where I very quickly told him the news. He looked shocked, he wasn’t expecting it. Then it sunk in and I he looked as if he was about to cry (in the best way!). Just then I heard Emily come back inside through the back door. “Thanks!” I said before quickly hurrying out into the other room. I felt bad for being abrupt, but what else was I to do? “Whew”... she had no idea. Now hopefully Les could keep it a secret!

And he definitely did, because the night went off without a hitch…

As I said, I had a plan; I knew the basics of how I wanted the night to go:

Step 1 - Romantic dinner at “The Little Door”.
Step 2 – A romantic setting in nature (beach or view of city lights)
Step 3 – Propose!

So we first finish our wonderfully delicious dinner in a very romantic restaurant. Emily has never looked more beautiful, and we were situated underneath one of Emily's favorite plants, a giant Staghorn Fern! It was a perfect night so far.

We leave the restaurant and I tell her that I have some champagne and glasses in the trunk – “Lets go to the beach for a toast!” I say. Much to my dismay, she says it will be too cold at the beach and she is wearing a short dress and 4” black heels. Ok, I think to myself, a minor setback, but I need to roll with the punches. “How about some place in the Hollywood hills with a beautiful view of the city?” I ask. She agrees. “Great we are back on track I think to myself.”

So we start driving up the hill, past all the beautiful multi-million dollar homes. The drive is nice and we are really enjoying each other’s company. 20 minutes goes by, we are still driving, 40 minutes goes by, we are still driving. 45 minutes goes by and finally I start to get a little uneasy. We haven’t found a place to park, and I didn’t want to propose in the car or in the middle of some random street. “I need to take back control of the night!” I think to myself.

I urged her to go to the beach. She complains that it is late and now she desperately has to pee. We head home so she can change clothes and take care of business. . So now, it’s 11pm, she’s swearing sweats and her fuzzy slippers and we jump back in the car.

I start driving, not sure of exactly which beach I should drive us to. Somehow my brain just automatically started driving towards the Manhattan Beach Pier. After another hour of driving, we arrive and I park… Just in time for the heavens to suddenly open up and start storming down on us, rain falling like cats and dogs. “There is no way this is going to stop me!” I thought to myself. The wind was blowing hard and giant raindrops were pounding down on the car. Emily looks at me like I am out of my mind.

I jump out of the car yelling, “C’mon lets go!” I pop the trunk, grab the champagne and toss a blanket (cotton mind you) over Emily’s already soaked head.

“C’mon!” I grab her hand and start running through the rain towards the pier. My goal was to make it all the way to the end and pop the question there. About ½ way down the pier I can feel Emily is starting to move slower and drag behind me a bit, she was wearing fuzzy slippers afterall! She looks like she could potentially become miserable at any second, and I’m certain that she is totally confused as to why I have brought her here in this weather– I can see it in her eyes.

That’s when I knew the time was right. It was like I was living in a dream. I dropped to my knee, looked up at her adorable face wrapped in a soaking wet blue Mexican blanket and I don’t really remember exactly what I said, but I did it … “Will you marry me?” I ask. Despite the freezing cold, howling winds, and the water being blown into her eyes, I hear her say “YES!” We both instantly started to cry. Somehow I knew those were not raindrops on her face.

The crazy thing is… not only did Emily love this ring enough to NOT go shopping for diamonds the next day, but also the ring fit her finger PERFECTLY. This ring was meant for her. This was God’s hand telling us that we are on the right path and that this was all as it was supposed to be!

I stood up, we embraced, (Emily says it felt like a scene from The Notebook!) and then grabbed the champagne and said, “Let’s get outta here!” We ran hand in hand back through the storm to the car, and promptly drove home to celebrate.

All in all, this is the best decision I have ever made, the most important question I will ever ask and the most memorable day I will ever have. Emily, I love you. Thanks for always joining me on my crazy adventures… as you now know – sometimes they totally pay off! ☺ I love you more than all of these words could ever describe.

Steve