Our Engagement

Well, the March 10th, 2005, and March 11th, 2005, two-day stretch may register as one of the most exciting two days in my life. On the 10th, I found out that I was admitted to the University of Oklahoma Graduate College with a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) under the reknowned Dr. Howie Bluestein. OK, so that made me very happy! Then, on a day that would change my life forever, I proposed to Kim (my girlfriend of a little over four and a half year). She first said "No"... Just kidding, she said yes! Of course I wasn't too afraid she wouldn't say yes (proposing was kind of a formality, but a necessary formality nonetheless), but I was the most nervous I have ever been in my life in the moments leading up to the proposal.

I started looking for rings towards the end of 2004. I knew what styles she liked (simple, elegant, but not too ornate or extravagant), since she had casually looked at rings previously on the internet. At any rate, there were a few different rings that I mostly liked, but I didn't find a ring that I really thought was perfect until late in February 2005. I couldn't really decide between white gold and platinum (I knew she didn't want yellow gold), but the 'perfect' ring I found was platinum, so platinum it was. The big purchase was complete...

Well, the ring was the easy part -- coming up with the perfect plan for the proposal is the tough part! I knew I had to really do something that she would remember, since people tend to want to know how we got engaged. So, the pressure was on to put on something memorable. I also wanted to make sure that it came as a semi-complete surprise. I toyed around with a number of ideas, mostly trying to decide where exactly I wanted to propose. I thought about the lake by her house, but I walked it once at night, and there was no light by which I could propose. So, unless I brought a flashlight or something, the lake idea was out. I thought about making concrete 'stepping stones', putting them along a nature walk type of trail, and proposing that way somehow, but I knew I wanted to propose after a nice dinner, so that was out (again, too dark). In the end, I finally decided that the best place to propose was at her house. Ring? Check. Location? Check.

Plan? Not checked... It had to be something pretty good, yet I really wanted the proposal to be a surprise, so I had to be VERY casual about everything. After much deliberating trying to come up with a good overall plan, I finally decided on what we would do that day. First off, she had class in the morning, and I had class until 12:30p, so I was planning on picking up some food and picnicking by the lake near her house. After eating, we would get back, get dressed up a bit, and head to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I had planned on going there a couple times in the past for anniversaries, etc, but it never really worked out. At any rate, after the art museum, we'd go the Myriad Botanical Gardens, which was where Kim took me on my Birthday freshman year. After the gardens, we would eat at Deep Fork, a nice restaurant that I had found while looking for Valentine's Day places, but which we'd never been able to go to. After dinner, we would go back to her house for the big moment. Of course it was this moment that I knew had to be something pretty awesome. I figured that I would park on the street and tell her to go in the house while I putzed around with something in my car. When she went inside, she'd find a bunch of construction paper hearts with various sayings leading to her bedroom door. When she opened up her bedroom door, there'd be some flowers and a note telling her to meet me out in her backyard. From her bedroom to the back door, there would be many more roses, paper hearts, and candles as a pathway or sorts. After opening the back door, she would see a bunch of roses and candles in the backyard. Meanwhile, "our song" ("Say It" by Voice of Theory) would be playing gently in the background. I had made some concrete stepping stones, one saying "You are my Rock", and the other saying "My One True Love". At any rate, these would be placed in the grass, with candles on them, "leading" her to a table. On this table, there would be four yellow roses and one red rose, and a note that said "Four Yellow Roses for the Past Four Years; One Red Rose for the Rest of Our Lives". Then, she would find and read a card next to the flowers, with a note telling her to turn around. When she turned around, I would walk up from the darkness (on the side of the house) with one red rose. I'd give her the rose and get down on one knee. I didn't really have a 'speech' prepared so-to-say, since I knew that if I planned it too much I would, being very nervous, stumble over myself and sound like an idiot. While all this is going on, Erin (Kim's roommate and a mutual good friend) would be in the bushes videotaping this. I was very concerned that the candles outside would be able to stay lit with the windy conditions expected, so we made sure that the string of lights they had on their patio was working. And so, that was the plan...

So the day came, and I was as nervous as I had ever been in my life. In the morning, I went to pick up a bunch of roses that I had ordered a day earlier from a local florist. I knew Kim had class at 9:30 that morning, so I went over to her house right after that to set things up. Her two roommates (Erin and Melissa) were out back picking up the backyard, so I didn't kneel down in anything sketchy. We made several dry runs through how I envisioned Kim would do things (from the front door, to her bedroom, to the backdoor, then into the backyard), since I wanted to time a particular part of the song to coincide exactly to the point when she would turn around and I would walk up to her. After running through everything, I left her place at about 11:00am just to make sure that she wouldn't see me if her class got out early. Before I left, I set up some flowers and card in her room that she would find when she got home.

After class, I picked up some Quizno's, and we picnicked out by the lake. Well, it was very windy that day, so it wasn't exactly perfect. Add to that a crazy goose that wanted us out of the area (it was hissing and certainly showing that we weren't welcome on his land I guess), and it wasn't entirely perfect, but it was fun nonetheless. After lunch, the plan was to get dressed up a little and go to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. When we got back to her house, she said she was tired and in need of a nap, but she didn't want to ruin any plans I had for the afternoon. Not wanting to tip her off to anything, I told her that it wasn't a big deal. So, I went home to change and get my camera and the ring. I picked her up at her place and we left for Oklahoma City. It was already 4:30pm by the time we got near the OKC Museum of Art, and it closed at 5. So, that obviously didn't really work out. Instead, we just went straight to the Myriad gardens. We made it through the gardens and had some nice conversation. Since we had some extra time, we decided to go to Penn Square Mall and walk around a bit. I must say that I have never felt like time was moving so incredibly slow as I did at the mall... The dinner reservation was at 7:00, and we had about an hour to kill. I was starting to get increasingly nervous at this point, so it felt like we were in the mall for hours! At any rate, by the time 6:40 rolled around, we left and headed for Deep Fork Grill.

We arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes before 7:00p, and were seated right away. For what it's worth, the restaurant was very nice and the food was incredible! After eating a very delicious meal, I "went to the bathroom", where I actually called Erin, who had been working hard to set everything up back at her house, to make sure everything was set. Kim and I left the restaurant at about 8:15pm after eating a very good molten chocolate dessert. T minus 30 minutes...

As we neared Norman, Kim suggested that we stop and get a movie at the local Hollywood Video. Again, not wanted to tip her off to anything, I agreed. After the movie stop, we went to her place... I had been planning on parking on the street, as that would give me the best chance of not being seen when I bolted from the car to the backyard when she neared her front door. Well, she found it odd that I would choose to park on the street instead of her driveway. So, the driveway it was! Luckily, I had remembered to take the battery out of the garage door opener, since everything was contingent upon her going through the front door. At any rate, I told her to just head on inside while I rearranged the trunk to make packing a little easier (we were leaving for spring break the following day). She gave me a goofy look, though she did get out and move to the door. I waited a few seconds while pretending to move stuff around in the car. As soon as I lost site of her by the front door, I ran to the side of her house (the entrance gate of her backyard) and picked up the stereo remote and rose which Erin had set on the air conditioner. I then stuck my head around the corner to look into the backyard and wait for her entrance. Just to note, I was shaking like I have never been in my life. Nervous? Just a bit...

When she opened up the door to the backyard, I pressed "play" on the remote, which was supposed to start our song. Well, it didn't. I frantically turned on a flashlight that Erin had left for me since it was dark outside and I needed to see where the "play" button was. I pressed it a few more times, and it finally started playing! Meanwhile, Kim slowly walked down the stepping stone path to the table. On this table, there was the four yellow roses, a vase with a single rose, a paper heart and a card. She didn't see the card right away and stood by the table waiting for me to show up. All the while, I'm peeking around the corning and saying to myself "Read the card! Read the card!". I was just about to step out around the corning when she looked down, saw the card, and opened it up. When I saw that she was done with it, I stepped out from beside the house and walked over to her. I handed her the rose, and got down on one knee. She did try to lean over and kiss me at this time, but I wouldn't let her until I said what I needed to say. LOL... When she said yes, I put the ring on her finger, and Erin came prancing out from behind a tree and hugged us both. We took a bunch of pictures and shared our excitement. It truly was a remarkable day. I was especially happy that it did go off as a surprise! Kim knew when she walked into the house, but she didn't know before then. I know it was killer her roommates to not let her know what was going on too!

I must take this time to greatly thank her two roommates for all the help they provided. Melissa, unfortunately, had some previous commitments that meant she had to leave in the afternoon, but Erin graciously stayed all day and set up EVERYTHING while we were at the gardens and dinner. She did an absolutely incredible job setting everything up (flowers, candles, etc) and it certainly wouldn't have been what it was without her help. In addition, thanks for Dan Dawson for letting me borrow his camcorder, as well as to Aaron Kennedy for lending me his flash. Thanks also to those who gave me ideas and feedback!

As far as setting a marriage date, we haven't really had much time to talk about it yet. Neither of us are in a hurry, so we're thinking a ways down the road. I'll post more information here when we decide... Check out the pictures below!

Engagement Pictures

Click on any photo to see a larger version