We have a few more engagement stories to close out our competition!!!
Our engagement story:
Bryan and I are high school sweethearts. We started dating when I was a sophomore in high school and he was a senior. For the past 10 years, we have been with each other through everything. We’ve lived in Chicago together for the past three years, but are from Iowa City originally.
We had planned a trip to California during the last weekend in September to celebrate my 26th birthday. Bryan basically put a disclaimer on the trip and said that he knew I was probably expecting a proposal, but that he didn't want there to be pressure on the trip and he didn't want me to get my hopes up. He said he just wanted us to enjoy our trip and each other and not come home feeling disappointed. Of course, Bryan knows me too well, and knew I was hoping for him to pop the question, so I was happy he was "honest" with me about what to expect from our vacation. (Secretly, I was holding out hope that he was just trying to throw me off...I also know him too well!)
We met in San Francisco on Friday afternoon. Right away, he presented me with my birthday gift: A beautiful pair of diamond earrings! After receiving such a generous gift, all hopes of a proposal were pretty much gone, but I felt a little relieved that I wouldn't be waiting for him to "surprise me" with a proposal. We spent the day sightseeing in San Fran, and we went to the Cubs vs Giants game that night.
Saturday morning, we got up early to drive up the coast. We stopped at the Golden Gate bridge and continued North. Along the way, we hiked Mt.Tamalpais, visited the Muir Woods and made stops at Stinson Beach and Pt. Reyes. It was an amazing day. We stopped in Jenner, a small beach town, where Bryan had made reservations at a cute little inn right where the Russian River meets the Pacific ocean. It had amazing views and is known for it's sunset views and charms -- the URL is www.ilovesunsets.com for goodness sakes!
We had a dinner reservation at 7pm. After we got ready, Bryan set up the camera to take a couple of pictures of us during the sunset. We were sitting, talking, enjoying a glass of wine before dinner while the sun was setting. I asked Bryan if he could please take a picture of me and my new diamonds. He seemed confused and unnerved by my request...he went into the room and poked his head back out, asking me if I wanted to take a picture right now, or what. I didn't understand what was complicated about my request, so I believe my exact words were, "Just take an effing picture of me!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, saying, "Well, I guess I should give you another diamond first."
It all gets a little blurry after that as I was totally shocked and couldn't believe what was happening! I remember him saying some very sweet things, getting one knee and asking me to marry him. I also remember staring at the hand he offered me, rather than taking it, and not saying anything but a string of swear words before I said yes (So he says!). When I finally found my words, it was nothing but smiles, tears and more swear words and startled phrases. We were both VERY happy!
We didn't have any cell phone service up there, so we spent the evening celebrating just us two, which was perfect. We had an amazing dinner, where I found out all of the fun details about Bryan's scheming and wondered how he possibly could have tricked me. We both decided the diamond earrings were a great decoy :) We had wine, champagne, a walk on the beach and lots of conversations about our future ahead. I can't remember a more romantic or perfect night!
The best part was that our celebration wasn't over, as we had a full day of wine tasting in Napa on Sunday! We spent the day drinking wine and champagne (again!) and had another great meal to end our trip.
Bryan told me that he had planned to propose that night after dinner while walking on the beach, but the minute I asked him to take a picture of me and my diamond, while the sun was setting, he knew the moment was perfect.
I hope you enjoyed our story
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