Tag Archives: engagement

The Engagement Night Story

Posted by on December 14, 2008 No comments

My birthday is December 11th and Christie and I went to dinner at the Walnut Brewery which is my favorite restaurant. The night was perfect; we had great food, great beer and we were joined by my good friends Ryan and Amanda towards the end of our meal and laughed a lot. This was a distraction from the truth.

The Plan: Christie is very close to her family and friends so I wanted to incorporate this into the engagement night. My idea was to have all of the people that were important in her life in one place so she could go and share the moment with all of them. I would propose to her nearby and trick her into going out for a drink so we could celebrate with just the two of us before chaos ensued. 

The Execution: My goal was to catch Christie completely off guard and I figured it would be pretty easy to accomplish this around my birthday. I got home from work at 6:00 I realized I had a text message from Christie asking what our plans were for the eventing. Oops, I forgot to tell her what the plans were! When I called her back she was very short and I could tell she was annoyed but I couldn’t help from laughing in my head. Her night was going to take a major turn later on. I went to her house so we could go to dinner and she seemed less than enthusiastic about the evening due to my lack of communication and the headache she was fighting all day long. I tried to cheer her up a little bit so dinner would be fun.

At 7:00, Christie and I met some of my friends from work at a Hibachi grill in Westminster to celebrate my birthday again; at least that is what she thought. My friends were in on the scam and were acting as a diversion from the whole engagement thing. We had a great dinner and finished up just before 9:00.

I told Christie that we were going to meet a friend of mine at a bar because he wanted to blow off some steam since he was in the midst of finals for grad school. My plan was to park at the St Julien Hotel (the nicest hotel in Boulder) and somehow get her out in the courtyard to propose under a gazebo. When I asked if she was going to park there she said that we should park at the bus station since it was much closer. Damn logic, couldn’t argue with her. We went from going to one of the more romantic places in boulder to a public transportation hub; awesome. I had to improvise to figure out where I could propose in the 2 blocks from the parking garage to the bar filled with everyone waiting for us.

There is an ice skating rink close to the Pearl Street Mall but as we drove near it I could see that it was packed and I wanted a slightly secluded place where people wouldn’t be staring at us. We started walking from the bus station to the bar and we were going to walk right by the courthouse.

courthouse.jpg

When I saw it I decided it was about as perfect as it was going to get. Once Christie saw it she started talking about how beautiful it was and then she went on a tangent on how she wanted to decorate her house first thing in the morning since my parents would be coming over before breakfast and how she needed to clean her house before decorating it and AHHHHHHH!!! The feeling you got from reading that sentence was how I felt at that moment.

As we got right in front of the courthouse I said “hey” and grabbed her arm. I turned her around and said “I love you.” She said she loved me too then I said “I want to marry you” and she said that she wanted to marry me too. At the moment I grabbed the jewelry box out of my pocket and started to kneel while saying “so…” While I was on my way down I was watching Christie and I could tell she was registering what was actually happening. When I got on my knee Christie bent over ever so slightly and made an awkward face that made her look like she was about to vomit. I wanted to avoid any sort of disaster so I moved along quickly.

“Will you marry me?” That was all I could get out. I didn’t have a major speach in my head but I wanted to say more than four words but I couldn’t get it out. Still bent over she managed to say yes as she started to cry. I stood up and we hugged for a little bit then I pulled away so I could put the ring on her finger. I got it about half way on then told her that she needed to do it so I wouldn’t break her finger. We hugged some more and it was a very magical moment.

We started to walk to the bar and she said excitedly “I need to call my parents!” and I said “hey, let’s go get a drink and just enjoy this moment, you can call them soon” and she agreed. When we got to the corner across from the bar I could see my friend Ryan and her father inside the bar. We had a red light so I turned her towards me so the surprise wouldn’t be ruined. We crossed the street and as we got right in front of the door she saw her dad’s head (her words) and started to cry. We went inside where her parents, my parents and 30 of our closest friends were waiting for us. We entered the bar to a showering of silver streamers (thanks mom) and  Christie was in tears.

first-reaction

The rest of the night was spent with our friends and family enjoying the night and speculating on the future (no kids anytime soon). The night turned out perfectly and I couldn’t ask for a better experience. I truly believe this was the perfect beginning for the adventure that Christie and I are setting out on.

I would like to thank everyone that showed up or sent us congratulations and best wishes. Though it might take us a while to get in touch with each of you, know that you are in our thoughts and we will be in touch soon.

engagement

Engagement Ring Diary

Posted by on December 14, 2008 No comments

October 8, 2008 – Tonight I was in San Diego for work (which is just about every other week). After a few beers with coworkers I made the nightly “girlfriend call” and I mentioned to Christie that she should go to a jewelry store to get her finger sized so I knew what size ring to get. Obviously she was caught off guard and said that she wanted me to go with her because she was nervous. After a few minutes I agreed to go with her because that is the type of guy I am.

October 9, 2008 – When I got back from San Diego I went over to Christie’s for dinner since I had not seen her in 5 days. When I walked in the door she was really excited to see me and I just assumed it is because we haven’t seen each other in a while. We hug then move on to pressing matters; I was hungry and she had a burger on the George Foreman for me. After I finish eating it we turn on Grey’s Anatomy and within 10 minutes she said “I have a present for you.” Oh crap, I forgot it was our 1 year celebration of our first date tomorrow. I told her that I didn’t get anything for her and she didn’t mind. She handed me a card and I opened it to find a perfect card (won’t divulge what it said) and pictures of rings she tried on that she liked. That’s why she was so giddy! 

October 14, 2008 – Today I planned on going to a jeweler to start the process but I chickened out justifying that I should wait to take care of it tomorrow since I needed to be around work in case something breaks.

October 15, 2008 – Today was the day I made my venture to the jeweler. I hemmed and hawed over if I should go or not but then I thought that if Christie could do it,  so could I. I grabbed the pictures Christie gave me so I had a reference of what she liked and headed out the door. When I got in the elevator it felt like the floor dropped out but it was actually my stomach. For all the time I spent thinking about it this was the first time that it seemed real. I know it is the right decision but I am still nervous about buying a ring. Not for what it stands for but the fact that I am actually buying a ring. The one block walk to the jeweler went way too fast, I needed more time or some excuse to turn around but I couldn’t back out now. I went to the third floor where they are located and walked to the door to find out that they were closed for the day. DAMNIT. The journey continues….

October 16, 2008 – Today I made my way to the jeweler and when they asked me how they could help me and I stumbled over saying “I guess I need to look for an engagement ring.” Now this wasn’t their first rodeo so they maintained their calm while my stomach was doing some sort of exotic dance that I can’t do. I was introduced to a salesperson and told she would help take care of me. First off she wanted to know what I was looking for (aka how much I could spend) and she was very polite and helped put me at ease. She then disappeared into the back room and came back with a handful of pouches that contained different diamonds. Over the next 45 minutes she showed me various stones of different sizes, shapes and varying quality so I could see what I was up against. Wow, if I thought the decision was tough before it just got 100 times worse. She brought out round cuts, princess cuts, ascher cuts, radiant cuts and that is just the shape! I had to learn about clarity and color all the while trying to keep things in order so I knew what I was looking at and what I was looking for. She had me look at the diamonds through a magnifying piece and that was an art form all of it’s own. A couple times she pointed out imperfections and told me where to look and I just said “Yeah, I see that” even though I couldn’t see a damn thing. At the end I came out with some knowledge but still confused. I don’t know if I’m supposed to pick the ring first then pick the diamond that looks good in it or pick the diamond I want then pick a setting that makes it look good (I’m leaning towards the latter). Whew, time to breathe…

October 23, 2008 – Today I opened the flood gates. I setup a Google Document so Christie and I could put pictures and links to rings that we liked and she could add her feedback on them. No less than 20 minutes after I set it up and sent her the note was there a ring in there. Keep in mind, this is about 9:00 AM and we are both at work so it isn’t what either of us are supposed to be doing but that seem to get in the way. By lunch I threw in links to 3 rings I found and by 2:00 she left her feedback for me. When I got home from work there were about 8 more rings in there for me to look at. I gotta say, she has good taste and I’m sure I’ll be paying for it soon!

November 17, 2008 – Today I went to another jeweler to get a different perspective and I’m glad I did. When I told this jeweler what my budget was they said that wouldn’t be a problem and proceeded to show me diamonds that were 50% larger than the last store I went to. I really enjoyed my time with this guy and he made it seem like it wouldn’t be a problem to get the ring I want at the price I want in the timeframe I want (5 weeks from today!).  As I was leaving he gave me his card and put down 4 websites I should look at to find the right ring for me. Being the managerial type that I am I gave the links to Christie and sent her to work. Soon there were about 24 rings in the spreadsheet for me to peruse so I could figure out what she likes, what she doesn’t like and hopefully I can come up with the perfect ring. 5 weeks seems like a lot of time but with my travel schedule I figure I need to be on the ball plus  I have heard horror stories of guys getting messed up rings or delays in delivery. Gotta figure this one out soon.

November 29, 2008 – I just spent Thanksgiving with Christie’s family and it was  a lot of fun. I met her brother and his two boys and they were very nice and did not put me through the ringer. We came home today and sat throgh 3.5 hours of driving home through a crazy storm but I had someplace to go. My jeweler, Lauren Diamonds, had some diamonds for me to see and I wanted to look at them today since I am leaving for San Diego tomorrow. They close at 3:00 and we were still in Georgetown at 2:45, uh oh. I called and they said they would stick around for me but I drove pretty fast since the roads were okay. Christie and I have been talking about getting engaged for a while so I told her I needed to run by my jeweler to look at some diamonds and she agreed to go there but not go in. When I got there Gary (the owner) asked if I wanted a beer…. Christie can drive, right? Helen (my salesperson) brought out a beautiful round diamond that is bigger than I expected and showed it to me and told me the surprising price. Before we looked at another diamond I said “done” and that was that. Now I have a diamond but I need to pick a setting…

December 1, 2008 – Today I needed to decide on the setting so I can get the ring by this weekend. I spent this morning pouring over hundreds of rings (again) trying to find the perfect ring. I printed out 5 that I thought were awesome and headed to Lauren Diamonds to get a better idea based on the catalog and price (I do have a buget after all). When I got there I quickly got rid of 3 of them because they can’t hold the diamond because it’s too big (BOOYAH) or cost half as much as the diamond. I was down to two rings and one really stuck out in my mind so I went with that one. Of course that was one of the first rings I found that I liked so I felt pretty good about it. Next thing I knew they had my credit card and we are off to the races.

December 6, 2008 – Today was a great day, sort of. I had this grand plan to pick up the ring then head straight up to Christie’s parents house to talk to them. I was hanging out with Christie before she left for for an overnight birthday celebration for a friend in Keystone but  she didn’t leave until 12:30. I didn’t want to drive up there and get stuck or have a 3 hour drive home so I decided to head up tomorrow. After my lazy saturday morning I drove down to Denver to pick up the ring. When I got there they showed me the ring and it was awesome. I gave them my credit card again and boom, it was done. I left the store and I had my eye on everyone thinking that they knew I had a small fortune in my pocket and they intend to steal it. They knew I was a ninja so they left me alone. When I got to my car I decided to take another peek at it and again; I was in awe. I went home and looked at it some more. She has to love the ring, it is beautiful. Everywhere I went I took it with me to make sure nobody stole it. 

December 7, 2008 – Today was the day I went to Christie’s parents house and begged them to let me ask her to marry me. This is a story all in itself so you will have to read that post.

December 9, 2008 – Today I added a couple of rings to the spreadsheet to try and throw Christie off some more so the the 12th (when I propose) is a real surprise. Tonight after dinner I had her pull them up to make sure she got a good look and I also had her pull up the ring I bought her. It was awesome, as she looked through about a dozen rings she kept the one I bought open the entire time and said it was her favorite. Now I feel really good about my decision and she will love it. I hope she doesn’t think I bought it after tonight…

Here it is

ring

Begging for Acceptance

Posted by on December 14, 2008 1 comment

December 7, 2008 – Today is the day. Well, the first “the day” of this week. Today I am going to ask Christie’s parents permission to ask Christie to marry me.

I am a little nervous about actually saying anything to her parents as I have a fear of public speaking (anyone besides myself counts as public speaking) so I try to focus on my trip to and from Silverthorne. The front tires on my car have been bald for a few months so I get a little concerned. Will I get stuck, get in an accident, hydroplane and fly off a cliff? I’m starting to freak out but I hit the trail anyway.

I am on target to get there at noon which I think is perfect. They should be finishing up a nice sandwich with a salad, maybe a glass of wine, and I will get to attack them when they are no longer hungry and much more likely to agree to anything since I am in the way of their nap. My estimation was great and I got there right at noon. After a few failed attempts to get up their driveway due to my bald tires I parked my car at the end of their street and walked the rest of the way. Too bad they weren’t there.

I called Chirstie’s dad (I stole his phone number from Christie’s phone earlier) and left him a vague message saying I was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by. He couldn’t crack that code, right? I hiked back to my car and started a vigorous game of Brickbreaker on my Blackberry. After 15 minutes I figured that they probably went to lunch and he probably didn’t want to answer his phone while eating so I decided to send him a text message thinking he might glance at it. Here is what I sent: “I think my attempt at a surprise is dead now but I would like to ask you a question in person. Can you give me a call? Luke.”

At this point I am getting hungry since I forgot to eat breakfast due to my nerves.  At 12:45 I started to head back to Silverthorne to grab some food to wait it out. I went to Wendy’s and indulged in a Spicy Chicken Sandwich combo then went back to their house at 1:15. I managed to get my car most of the way up their driveway and parked there and continued my quest at Brickbreaker.

At 1:45 I decided to head home to make sure I didn’t get stuck in traffic or die due to ice so I started back down to Silverthorne. As I pulled out of the driveway they pulled in. I raised my arms in victory and followed them back to their house. I managed to get my car up the driveway again avoiding any embarrassment (at least on that front) and helped them carry some groceries into the house. After a few minutes of regular chit-chat I said “So I know you guys aren’t stupid…” then her dad told me to take a seat on the couch and to relax. Apparently I was visibly nervous and can’t wait to hear their side of the story. I probably had sweat marks and a voice like a 12 year old boy going through puberty.

We have another light exchange then I dive into it. As I am telling them how in love I am with their daughter and how special she is to me I see her mother start to tear up. Man, I hope those are happy tears! After I stumble over myself I manage to pull a Luke and make a joke before they can answer: “Feel free to play 20 questions with me before you answer.”

This part is a little fuzzy to me know. I think I have so much adrenaline that once I finished talking I was exhausted and blood started flowing to the rest of my body again. I am pretty sure they said yes in there somewhere. I hugged her mom and shook her dad’s hand then we worked out the dowry. I owe them a cow, 2 chickens, a 30-pack of Keystone Light and some Broncos tickets. Just kidding. Since everything was out on the table I showed them the ring I picked up the day before. Some things happened that I promised I wouldn’t speak of and they both seemed excited.

I stuck around for another 30-45 minutes just talking and telling them more about me and my family. We also spoke about Christie and this part kind of felt like dealing with a real estate agent going over full disclosure of what I am about get into. They were saying that sometimes Christie can be a handful and my response was “I haven’t seen that at all. Is this going to change once she gets the ring?” I have said that to Christie before too so I feel safe writing it here. Honestly I am not worried about it at all. We have spent enough time with each other that we know who the other person really is. I am myself around Christie, idiot and all, and she is okay with it.

It’s around 2:15 and her father looks outside and comments on the traffic. Either he is trying to get rid of me or looking out for me. I’m going with the latter. I do need to hit the road so I don’t get stuck in traffic and I also need to beat Christie home so she doesn’t think anything is up. Another round of hugs and handshakes and I’m out the door with an enthusiastic “Welcome to the family” from her father. What a great day.