Although this story is neither mundane nor pointless (at least for me :)), this is the best forum to put it in. Since I came to the SDMB for advice about the engagement to my girlfriend, I thought I’d share the results as well.
Last Friday (Nov. 24) was my birthday. I had planned to propose to her on that day. I had gotten the ring the previous Tuesday. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted (I wanted an antique diamond as the center stone), but I figured it would do as kind of a promisary ring: “We’re engaged, but I promise to get you a better one.”
Anyway, the opportunity to propose on Friday never presented itself. We ended up having dinner with my family.
Saturday, she took me out to dinner for my birthday since we weren’t able to go out Friday night. Unfortunately, the place wasn’t right place to propose either. However, for a birthday gift she gave me some tickets to see Penn and Teller in San Francisco the next day. This got me thinking.
On Sunday, we headed out to San Francisco, with the ring in tow. Saturn had been kind enough to give us free tickets to the San Francisco International Auto Show, so we spent the morning there.
By noon we were done. The Penn and Teller show wasn’t until 2pm, so we had a little time to kill, which she thought would include lunch. I mentioned to her that we should go take a look at Coit Tower since she had never been there and every time I had gone it was closed. She agreed.
After waiting in line in the car for about twenty minutes, we finally parked and made our way to the top. She went around to the windows in the tower and was taking various pictures of the city from our high vantage point. Meanwhile, I moved around, taking in the view, and then finally ended up standing in the center of the top floor waiting for her to finish with her photographs.
She did finish and came over to me. I gave her a hug and a kiss. While I was hugging her, I reached into my jacket pocket, but could not seem to extract what I was looking for. I continued to struggle with it and she was starting to wonder what was going on, looking a little suspicous.
Finally, it popped out. I got down on one knee, opened up the ring box, and asked her to marry me.
Then she totally freaked out. She didn’t believe it at first; I had caught her totally by surprise. When it finally did register what I was doing, all sorts of emotions hit her face at the same time (including absolute joy, shock, amazement, and “I can’t believe this is really happening!”) and tears started to leak out. She was able to get out a “yes” after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a second or two.
I put the ring on her finger and stood up and hugged and kissed her again. She was shaking. I was shaking. We just stood there for a while, her in unbelief and amazement, me just hoping my heart would calm down, but both of us very happy. We finally to walk down and take our leave of the famous landmark. We then went to the magic show, both of us hoping feverantly that she wouldn’t faint in the car (she came close).
Anyway, it was a great day! She loves the ring and said she won’t trade it for anything else. I offered to get her a full size diamond, instead of the aquamarine stone in the center, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She loves the ring just the way it is and shows it off to everybody.
So, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who provided me with input and advice to help in this situation. For one who thought he was out of his league, I guess I didn’t do so bad after all.
Scott
P.S. No, we haven’t set a date or location. We’d like to aim for April or May (of this year). And we’re thinking of registering at Sears ;}
P.P.S. If you want to read about my quest for the right ring, you can do it here.
