He Said

It all started with me planning a clever way to propose, so many people have done the ring-in-champagne glass, or other equally trite proposals - I figured I'd try to be original.  The idea was to have glow-in-the-dark paint, paint the proposal on a wall in the guest bedroom, take Heather out to dinner, then make as if I needed something in the bedroom - and voila! unique proposal and wide eyed surprise from my fiance.  Great, right? ..well, I had good intentions.

See, you are supposed to leave the paint under a light source to "charge" the paint, and make it glow.  I popped the lid off, put the jar under the lamp on my nightstand, and let it charge while I watched NCIS.  Problem is I fell asleep, the paint dried, and it was time for plan B.



So, I figured instead of trying for A+ in the uniqueness category, why not go with a simple, special proposal that will capture her heart just as sure as a glowing proposal? I finally got the courage in May when the weather was nice, and not yet too hot (turned out to be a wise decision, we had weeks of 100+ degree weather, hottest summer on record).

The plan was a romantic walk in the park on a beautiful day, a picnic lunch, and at the right time, look into her eyes, and pop the question.  It mostly worked as planned, but I didn't anticipate how nervous I'd be.  I was doing well, the buterflies were under control, and I was feeling good about the plan.  When it came right down to it though, after we walked a bit, and sat down to eat and chat, I felt nervous - and started getting chatty, and made an excuse to get up and examine some odd formation in the field behind us - which turned out to be a drain pipe. Clearly worthy of closer examination, right?

Anyway - having gathered up my courage on my investigatory trip to the drain pipe I made my way back to the picnic table.  Heather sat there smiling at me, clearly aware I was nervous about something.  I started by saying that a year and a half is a long time and that we're still as happy as day 1.  ..then my brain decided it wasn't ready to supply the necessary words and I digressed into whatever it decided was suitable conversation... eventually I managed to get back on track..

At this point that the jig was clearly up - Heather had cleaned the table of obstructions, and I was handed a napkin.  I briefly wondered if she was going to produce a pen, so I could write the words down and slip it to her like a bashful kid in homeroom - as I was clearly not going to be able to come up with a verbal proposal.  She took it back before my brain decided to go on another hiatus, and laid it on the ground next to her.  I remember thinking - GO. This is it. Drop down there and pop the question! So I did.

..and stepped right on the napkin that was intended to be a landing pad for my knee.  Heather suggested I put my knee on the napkin instead of my foot, and I replied that I was fine.  I was THERE, and the proposal was imminent..but I managed to swap foot for knee and with the birds chirping in the background, and no passers-by in sight, I asked Heather to marry me.  There was a bit of a delay.. (gulp) it briefly occurred that I might have messed it up by stepping on the napkin.  Was that a Mormon custom? Had I offended her? But thankfully she said yes, and I presented her with the ring :)  All in all it was a wonderful day! As we all know Heather is an amazing woman, still not sure what I did to deserve her - but I am thankful every day!