the engagement story!

I still can't believe it sometimes, although the gorgeous ring is a not only a constant reminder but a pleasant shove back into reality! The wonderful man I had a huge crush on 4ish years ago is now my fiance!! We're going to get married!! If anything deserves a Yay! Hip Hip Hooray--that's it, for sure! :)

For those of you who haven't heard the story, here's my attempt at once again creating the magic...haha!

It began on Wednesday night, Paul took me to Olive Garden (the restaurant we had our first date 4 years ago, almost to the day! Not to mention it includes my favorite dish: braised beef and tortellini!) I hoped it would be the night, but he threw me off by telling me on Tuesday he wanted me to visit him in SD on Wednesday and not go to the NBA game, which was only $7! Then on Wednesday morning he said I can just visit on Thursday, which made me frustrated because I could have gone to the game! Sooo, if he said I could just come on Thanksgiving he must not have anything planned, right?? Also, once I got to SD he was busy doing stuff like going to "hang out with the guys" (he was really preparing for the proposal, but I was completely duped!) When he came home he said he would make it up to me by taking me on a hott date thus...The Olive Garden.

After dinner he took us to Coronado. The spot called Bay View Park where it overlooks all of downtown SD from across the bay. We've been there before and it's a special park for us. Although, we couldn't exactly find the exact park in the dark, but we found one just like it, just smaller and more secluded. It was beautiful and we enjoyed the view as we slow danced and talked. There was even a ferry that sailed by with slow dance music blaring from the party on board. Paul, like every wonderful man, took credit for that. :) It was a very sentimental time and Paul said many caring and beautiful things to me. Then he made me face him, took my hands in his, and said very soft and intentionally, "Monique..." I replied, "Yes?" With a big grin on his face he said, "Are you ready to go?" Tricked! He got me! Well, sorta...I knew he is too sentimental to propose in a place that isn't that meaningful to us and I knew that fact in the back of my head! But he definitely got me in the moment! :) He gave me a piggy back ride back to the car, the pathway was mucky from the rain. And I love piggys...so I will take advantage of the opportunity whenever I get a chance! :)

On the way home, I wanted to know where we were going next and Paul said, "Home, I'm tired." We watched tv with his parents until I fell asleep on his shoulder. Before bed, Paul read me a story and said he would wake me up (he always wakes me up when I stay the night at his parent's) when it was time to help with the chores before the family arrived for the Thanksgiving meal.

The next morning he came in all dressed and ready to go. He joked that it was 8am when really it was about 6:15am. Prior to this event, I'd been telling him that I want to be an "active couple" and do things like hiking, rollerblading, sports, etc. So he said he wanted to be an "active couple" and go for a walk before all the Thanksgiving festivities. Even though it was raining! I thought maybe he just wanted to get out of helping with house chores! haha! :)

When we left it was still raining a bit and pretty chilly (I didn't have a good coat, he let me borrow one. What a gentleman!) so we went to Starbucks to get hot drinks. We sat at Starbucks with our drinks and talked and laughed and had a great time. Not once did he look at his watch or seem rushed. At about 7:30am we left for Harry Griffin Park and by then it had stopped raining.

Arriving at the park, he "forgot" the frisbee in the car (we love playing frisbee usually) and so he went back to get it, although I made it a point to let him know I was too cold and it was too wet to play frisbee. We walked and talked for a bit and then he said we were going to play frisbee...I didn't want to play and argued for a moment but am pretty compliant so I "went looong". I noticed after a couple throws that there was something taped under the frisbee and it was A CLUE! We began a scavenger hunt and followed Paul's handmade clues to find the treasure. He had done a scavenger hunt like this before at the same park and so it wasn't out of the ordinary too much, but it was a fun surprise. The clues were made with lots of thought and creativity and I am still quite impressed!

On the way to play frisbee.

Scavenger hunt time !
I'm so excited I don't even want to hold the umbrella anymore!

Searching for a clue, can you find us?

Finally a clue led us to his truck where the treasure ended up being last time. Part of the clue revealed there was something in the glove box that I can wear for a lifetime. The clue also had two stickers one of Troy Bolton and one of Gabrielle Montez (our favorite High School Musical characters). I thought..."no way, the glove box really?!" When I opened the glove box there was a jewelry box awaiting with a necklace with the letter "P"! I just started laughing! If you know anything about HSM you know that in the second movie Troy gives Gabriella a cheeseball necklace with the letter T for Troy. Paul and I thought it was the funniest thing and totally laughed when we watched that part of the movie. I thought that was the end of the scavenger hunt, but to my surprise there was another clue in the box!

This time the clue led to a tree in the park that is very meaningful to us with memories of talks, picnics, lazy afternoon readings, and a very unforgettable talk about God, relationships, and grace. It's funny because we don't talk about that tree much, but when we first arrived I mentioned it when we walked by. :) There, at this spot, Paul had the clue in his pocket and he read a poem he had written and it even rhymed! It was so touching I welled up with tears! When he finished I finally knew he was going to propose and he did! I was crying tears of joy and I really wanted to remember everything he said as he asked me to marry him while down on one knee. But alas I can't, but I did say "Yes, of course!" I really wanted to say "Hell Yes!" but sometimes you get lost in the moment.
We hugged and he asked me if I wanted a tissue and he pulled out some tissues and along with them came the gorgeous ring! I was shocked and speechless at its beauty. He had picked it out himself with no input from me and it was better than anything I could have imagined!

As I gave him another big hug that's when I noticed someone jump behind a tree and it was Jeannette and Derek, Paul's brother and sis-in-law, taking pictures! They came running toward us and we all celebrated together!

It's safe to say, that Thanksgiving morning began the best day of my life...so far!