Vanessa and I started to talk about getting engaged around the beginning of this summer. We had gone to the Getty Museum in June and as we walked around, I joked with her that it would be funny if I proposed to her there. After that trip, she would always ask me, "So when are we going to the Getty, hmmm?", meaning, of course, "When are we getting engaged?".
When I finally decided in October that I would propose to Vanessa, I wanted to incorporate 2 things:
1. Going to the Getty
and
2. A dream that Vanessa had about me proposing to her.
Here is a summary of her extremely vivid dream:
I take her to a really high hill and ask her to walk up it with me so I can propose to her on top. Vanessa, not being too fond of hiking, adamantly refuses my offer even though I ask her over and over again. We go back to my apartment, where I implement Plan B and pull out some salmon gelato from the freezer, engagement ring frozen inside(I guess I had another one). I propose to her, but once again, Vanessa says no because the ring is too ugly.
The next day, one of Vanessa's preschoolers in adult form comes up to her and proposes to her too, except he has a whole assortment of rings. Luckily, all of these rings are ugly as well, and Vanessa rejects him too. She then comes back and says yes to me...
I wanted to incorporate that into the proposal just so I could say something to the extent of "let's make your dream come true" while proposing to her. I am corny.
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After a chaotic week of prepping for the proposal, I picked up Vanessa around noon on Saturday, October 24th. We got on the freeway and began heading up to the LA. By this time, Vanessa actually already knew I was going to propose to her that day. Earlier in the week, knowing that I was going to propose to her on a weekend and not wanting to give anything away, I told her to keep all her weekends free. Vanessa thought I wanted her to keep EVERY weekend free until the end of the year so she asked me to be a little more specific. I guess she didn't want to have to sit at home by herself every weekend, waiting for my phone calls. I consented and told her, "Okay... keep October 24th free, around the afternoon time". I guess I was a little too specific.
Anyways, we arrived at the Getty and walked around for a bit:
I was doing my best to stall because as we were walking, David, Tim and Anthony were busy setting up a picnic for Vanessa and I outside. Three dudes setting up a picnic... I know, I was concerned too. But, they actually did an awesome job! Vanessa and I walked outside right when they finished and I led Vanessa to our picnic blanket on the grass:
Not bad for three guys huh? Tim even picked some flowers as a finishing touch. We sat down and ate our early dinner. At this point, Vanessa was thoroughly confused. At first, she was worried that we were sitting on some random person's blanket and eating their food, but she eventually started to eat. The whole time, she was trying to figure out how all this food got there. I told her I set it all up when she went to the bathroom, but she wouldn't believe me.
Towards the end of our picnic, I gave her a poem scrapbook that I had made her:
And then after, we enjoyed some Gelato. In case you are wondering, there are no places outside of Italy that sell Salmon Gelato. Yes, I did my research. We settled for some Blood Orange Gelato instead, which, if you ignore all the labels, can pass quite well as Salmon Gelato.
To make her dream come true, I wanted to propose to her on a hill in Palos Verde that we had gone to a while ago. So, we left the Getty right after we finished the Gelato. Vanessa was worried because we walked away from the picnic without cleaning a thing. We left the food, the blanket, everything. I told her the janitors would take care of it, which is technically what happened. After we left, David, Tim, and Anthony got out of their hiding places and had their own picnic with our leftovers. I am told they received quite a few curious stares... We took the tram out of the Getty and headed to the parking lot so we could leave for the hill:
As we were driving, really thick fog began to roll into LA. With the sun setting soon, I realized that if we didn't get to the hill quick enough, it would be too foggy and dark to propose to Vanessa. We got to the hill which was on a cliffside right next to the ocean and guess what... it was too foggy and dark to propose to Vanessa... I didn't want to accept it at first, so we actually walked up to the hill to see if it would work. To the left of the hill was a sheer drop onto some rocks and eventually into the ocean. On the other side was another slope which, if you were clumsy enough to slip, led straight onto the highway. At least, that's what we could kind of make out in the darkness and fog. We decided not to take our chances and we headed back to the car.
We sat in the car and I contemplated about what to do from there. I had three options:
1. Follow in the footsteps of all the great romantics at Berean and propose to her in the car.
2. Drive to the nearest light source and propose there.
3. Don't propose at all.
I actually tried number 1, but the lightbulb in the car was actually burnt out, so I had to go with option 2. We drove around and were able to find a well-lit shopping plaza and so we stopped there, meaning that I would not have to go with option 3. We walked around and because it was dinner time, there were quite a few people in and around the patios. I had wanted our proposal to be a little bit more private, so we headed back to the car. Disheartened, I was ready to go back to option 1, but then we saw a little corner with a really bright lamp and a table and chairs
Vanessa and I walked over and then I asked her to sit down. I got down on my knees, pulled the ring box out of my camera bag and asked her if she would marry me. Of course, she said yes. Afterwards, we hugged, prayed and took some pictures.
The Ring:
Us:
And that is the story of the first time I ever proposed to somebody.
If you want to see the scrapbook, ask Vanessa nicely and she might let you take a look at it.
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