Finally...We're Engaged!

We finally got her the ring! Karen and I got engaged on Thursday, October 30th. We will be getting married on January 20th. We both are very excited!

I proposed to Karen in the gardens behind Tahitian Noni around 9:45 pm. Earlier that day, I sent her a text saying that my friend Heidi really wanted to meet her. I knew she had a big test the next day but, this was important! Karen says she had a suspicion that I was going to propose that night so...she quickly agreed to go :)

After her class at 9, I picked her up and we headed for "Heidi and Derek's house." On our way there, Heidi called me and said that they weren't at their house but had walked down the street to the Tahitian Noni gardens. Beforehand, Heidi and I had planned this conversation so that Karen would not suspect a proposal which was a good thing because Karen could hear Heidi's voice on the phone and was instantly bummed thinking that yes, we really were going to see her and Derek instead of getting the ring. She really became annoyed because she could have been studying for her test.

Her annoyance grew because 1)I talked to Heidi the whole way up there, and 2)Karen knew that this was not going to be the quick trip we wanted it to be because we weren't going to their house but going somewhere completely different. We pulled up to Tahitian Noni and parked the car. I ran out of the car to get the security guard's attention at the front desk and left Karen in the car. ..oops. Realizing that I was not coming around to open her door, Karen got out of the car feeling completely shafted and annoyed at the entire situation. The guard came up to the door and let us inside and into the gardens. I was still on the phone with Heidi "getting directions" and kind of ignoring Karen. Karen later said that she thought that this would be a perfect place to get proposed to but was confused on why Heidi and Derek were there!

To get to the falls, which was where Heidi and Derek were at, we needed to cross a bridge. As we approached the bridge I told Heidi that I could see them and began to point towards the waterfall ahead in hopes that Karen would also look for them. I closed my phone and continued to point asking if Karen could see them. We got to the middle of the bridge and I tugged at her arm. When she turned around I was already down on one knee and reaching into my pocket to get the ring. When she turned her head and saw that I was down on one knee she was bewildered and in disbelief. She asked about 3 or 4 times, "Are you serious?" She also was very concerned about Heidi and Derek being "behind us watching." I looked at her and assured her that we were the only ones here and began proposing. SHE SAID YES EVERYONE!!!

We then spent the next hour walking around the garden. I had placed little notes all over the paths showing and reminding us of the different stages of our relationship. The pictures below will show you parts of the garden and the notes I wrote...

This is the bridge where I proposed to Karen. It was windy that night so I had to tape the rose pedals to the bridge in a circle. I really wanted to do the circle of roses. It was very picturesque. I felt that the bridge was a nice touch :)

This note reminded us of our first date at Fat Jack's Pizza where I was introduced to the most heavenly-made cheese sticks. It was that night that we ended up talking for hours and hours. After this night, I really became interested in Karen and wanted to continue to see her. Since that night, we literally have seen each other everyday with exception of just a couple of days for vacations.

This note reminded us of the first time we held hands while watching the classic movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." It was a very romantic and a very eventful night. There were a lot of obstacles in the way of watching this movie: i.e. roommate stole the TV, battery died on the laptop, the sprinklers came on 3 different times, people interrupted us playing nightgames etc... But alas, we persevered, finished the movie, and held hands.

This golf club was a reminder of a date we went on to the driving range. It was later that night that we had our first kiss. I'll save you all by not going into those details ;)

This little tree is a representation of our trip to San Francisco when we went to Muir Woods. It was there where we first said "I love you" and first talked about where our relationship was headed...marriage.

This picture was the last thing that I left in the garden. It is to represent all the many more memories that we will create throughout the rest of our lives as we spend it together.

We're engaged!