Of
course telling the proposal story is always so exciting and ours is no
exception! We got engaged on the Del Norte Beach in Monterey California at the
stroke of midnight on New Years Eve... and yes I will give more details than
that!
But
first things first... buying the ring. So I had this huge fear of the day Clark
would ask me to go ring shopping. I'm sorry, but I really really really don't
like the idea of ring shopping together! I had always wanted my ring to be a
surprise, and luckily, Clark felt the same way. After dropping me off at the
airport one at the end of fall semester, Clark had a secret meeting with my
roommates about the ring. I had become a little suspicious that we might get
engaged soon, so I had totally discussed what types of rings I like and what I
don't like, so they were fully prepared when the time came. Anyways, armed with
information about cuts, halos, and pave diamonds Clark was prepared to go
shopping!
Clark
had originally planned to purchase my ring around Valentine's Day, but it just
so happened that his dad had an invitation to a jewelers market. So on Christms
Eve Clark his dad, and his sister Lauren were off to San Francisco to buy a
ring. They were hugely lucky and found the perfect ring. Seriously, it is everything
I have ever dreamed of wanting in a wedding ring. While they were waiting for the diamond to be placed in the
setting and the ring to be sized they went to a small Mexican restaurant… and
unfortunately both Clark and Laur got MAJOR food poisoning and were sick all
Christmas. But they were such sweethearts and didn’t even care because they
were so excited about the upcoming engagement! As soon as Clark had the ring,
he called my dad and they planned to meet for breakfast in Vacaville (halfway
between our home towns) on the 26th.
| Where Clark and my Dad met for breakfast |
Clark
was super nervous to meet with my dad, so on the way to the restaurant he
listened to a book on tape called…. “You can Negotiate Anything”. Ha! I love
it. Well apparently it worked, because Clark got permission!!! My dad promised
to keep it a secret so the whole thing would be a total surprise. In fact, when
he got home from meeting with Clark I asked him where he had gone and he told
me he had an emergency patient that morning. I was not suspicious at ALL! And
what’s funny is my Mom found out, who then told my sister, who told a cousin,
who told aunts, who told my grandma… and my friends all knew about it too. So
basically I was the only one who was completely in the dark. Thanks for that
you sneakies..
Anyways
Clark and I spent some time with my family in Los Altos, and then we were off
to Monterey for New Years with his family. Now Monterey is one of my favorite
places along the California Coastline. I love it. It’s so beautiful and I love
the small town authenticity it has. While in Monterey we stayed at his family’s
beach house on Del Norte Beach. We rode those cool “car bikes” (I have no idea
what they are called), we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we spent tons
of time on the beach building sand castles and playing in the ocean. It was
wonderful!
Ok
that’s probably enough background info and I’m sure you’re all dying to hear
how it happened. So New Years Eve (Day) we went biking along the coast to
Lover’s Point. For a while Clark and I got ahead of everyone and we were just
having fun on our own. Little did I know, everyone had slowed down to give
Clark and opportunity to propose then… but the time wasn’t right. Then we went
and played on the beach for a couple hours. Clark and I went on a walk, and when
we came back everyone kept asking how our walk was, and what we did… they
thought he would propose then too! But Clark had other plans. He asked me if I
wanted to go out to dinner or do something special on our own for New Years. I
said it would be more fun if we hung out with his family and then we could go
off on our own right before midnight.
So we went ice skating in Old Monterey, and walked through all the
street parties going on for New Years. It was so fun! And it was funny to learn
that Clark had the ring in his pocket, but he got nervous I would feel it so he
put it in his mom’s purse. Anyways, we got back to their house, had a New Years
Eve feast, and played Just Dance. Have I mentioned that I love his family? It
was such a blast, and they are all so great and I’ve always felt like I
belonged in their family. Well they think so too. Anyways, about a half hour before midnight, Clark asked if I
wanted to go for a walk on the beach……
 |
| Riding those cool "car bikes" |
 |
We
walked down to the sand dunes, and as we were walking we talked about how
wonderful the past year was, how much fun we had as a couple, and we even
talked about how miraculous our meeting was! You would think I would have
realized that he was gearing up for some big question about our relationship…
yep I still had no clue. After a while we reached a high place on the dune with
a perfect view of Old Monterey and the ocean. It was breathtaking. The moon was
full so the beach and the harbor were perfectly lit. We could see the Christmas
lights from Old Monterey, as well as the stars, reflecting on the calm clear
ocean. Once we reached this spot,
Clark asked to see my phone. He started playing, “Cant’ Take My Eyes Off You”
(Remember our dance to this earlier? if not read my post about dating him!!!),
and we slow danced on the beach. Now this is when my heart started to pound and
I started to get curious. But I was still in total denial! It was so sweet and
so romantic, Clark was even singing along to the song. Adorable. And he timed
it perfectly! The song ended exactly at midnight, and BAM fireworks went off in
Monterey! After admiring them for a minute, Clark got down on his knee… and
asked me if I would make his dreams come true and marry him. Wait… What?!?! I
was SHOCKED! I guess I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything for a couple
seconds, but jeez, as soon as I realized that he was really proposing I couldn’t
say “YES!” enough times! We twirled, jumped, screamed, and just danced around
like goofs we were so happy. IT was the perfect proposal. After we had
celebrated on our own we giddily made our way back to the beach house to share
the news with our family. We were greeted with the loudest, happiest mob I’d ever
seen. One of our cousins even said they were louder when we came in than at
midnight when the ball dropped! It was a blast. And that my friends is how
Clark and I got engaged.
 |
Ok
that’s probably enough background info and I’m sure you’re all dying to hear
how it happened. So New Years Eve (Day) we went biking along the coast to
Lover’s Point. For a while Clark and I got ahead of everyone and we were just
having fun on our own. Little did I know, everyone had slowed down to give
Clark and opportunity to propose then… but the time wasn’t right. Then we went
and played on the beach for a couple hours. Clark and I went on a walk, and when
we came back everyone kept asking how our walk was, and what we did… they
thought he would propose then too! But Clark had other plans. He asked me if I
wanted to go out to dinner or do something special on our own for New Years. I
said it would be more fun if we hung out with his family and then we could go
off on our own right before midnight.
So we went ice skating in Old Monterey, and walked through all the
street parties going on for New Years. It was so fun! And it was funny to learn
that Clark had the ring in his pocket, but he got nervous I would feel it so he
put it in his mom’s purse. Anyways, we got back to their house, had a New Years
Eve feast, and played Just Dance. Have I mentioned that I love his family? It
was such a blast, and they are all so great and I’ve always felt like I
belonged in their family. Well they think so too. Anyways, about a half hour before midnight, Clark asked if I
wanted to go for a walk on the beach…… 
We
walked down to the sand dunes, and as we were walking we talked about how
wonderful the past year was, how much fun we had as a couple, and we even
talked about how miraculous our meeting was! You would think I would have
realized that he was gearing up for some big question about our relationship…
yep I still had no clue. After a while we reached a high place on the dune with
a perfect view of Old Monterey and the ocean. It was breathtaking. The moon was
full so the beach and the harbor were perfectly lit. We could see the Christmas
lights from Old Monterey, as well as the stars, reflecting on the calm clear
ocean. Once we reached this spot,
Clark asked to see my phone. He started playing, “Cant’ Take My Eyes Off You”
(Remember our dance to this earlier? if not read my post about dating him!!!),
and we slow danced on the beach. Now this is when my heart started to pound and
I started to get curious. But I was still in total denial! It was so sweet and
so romantic, Clark was even singing along to the song. Adorable. And he timed
it perfectly! The song ended exactly at midnight, and BAM fireworks went off in
Monterey! After admiring them for a minute, Clark got down on his knee… and
asked me if I would make his dreams come true and marry him. Wait… What?!?! I
was SHOCKED! I guess I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything for a couple
seconds, but jeez, as soon as I realized that he was really proposing I couldn’t
say “YES!” enough times! We twirled, jumped, screamed, and just danced around
like goofs we were so happy. IT was the perfect proposal. After we had
celebrated on our own we giddily made our way back to the beach house to share
the news with our family. We were greeted with the loudest, happiest mob I’d ever
seen. One of our cousins even said they were louder when we came in than at
midnight when the ball dropped! It was a blast. And that my friends is how
Clark and I got engaged. 
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