...On June 26 we attended a wedding along with my folks in Orange
County. During dinner I noticed that Chris and my Dad were deep
in conversation; when I asked what they were talking about Chris
responded so casually "you know, computers, Sony stuff." A flicker
of hope gleamed in my eye, but it was just so normal that that
would be the conversation. Sigh....always the bridesmaid....
We arrived home a little past midnight that night and I was DREADING
the mover's Sunday 7am arrival! What a fiasco that was. They arrived
1 & 1/2 hours late, so after a bit of a "conversation"
between Chris and the movers, we managed to get a second 4-man
team out to move both our apartments at the same time in under
6 hours. We were racing against the clock because we had tickets
for the Hollywood Bowl that evening with my family! Way to hustle...
By 3:30pm, we were both exhausted and dirty from all the dust
that I hadn't had time to clean up over the last few months. My
very helpful brother Neil was told he had to leave so we could
spend the first night in the house with just the two of us. (Very
sweet - first night in the first house ever!) We were all to meet
up at the Hollywood Bowl at 6pm for dinner later that night.
I jumped into the shower, Chris went looking for something lost
among our TEN THOUSAND boxes. He shut the bathroom doors inside
the master bedroom, which I thought was very considerate considering
that he knows I don't like to be cold when I get out of the shower.
When I was done I opened the doors, in my towel, to discover Chris
had been patiently seated just outside the doors with two dozen
long stemmed red roses. "YAY!! HAPPY HOUSE DAY!!" I cheered, thinking
that he had them because it was our first day in the house. He
stood up and handed me the flowers and sat me down. For a second
I thought he just wanted me to sit there while he went to take
a shower. Keep in mind that I was very tired and confusion had
set in.
Then he got down on one knee and said something like "I know
you have waited patiently for a long time....I love you....Will
you marry me..." Of course I was crying....OH - and then there
was the steady grinding of the construction workers saw downstairs...Ah,
so romantic! :) I was so emotional, I was sure I wouldn't remember
it all.
I then realized we were going to miss the Westwood bus to the
bowl! Chris said, "let's not rush, I'll drive." I was THINKING
"are you crazy!! No one drives to the Bowl!! I don't even know
where to park!" He continued to get ready and we go downstairs.
I opened the garage door; he closed it. I asked, "What are you
doing? Did you want me to drive? I can drive." (I was parked on
the street due to the other TEN THOUSAND boxes in the garage).
He said, "we'll take my other car."
I wondered - "What other car??" And then the LIMO pulled up!!!
We took the limo to the bowl and along the way we called Chris's
family on the East coast and my family in Illinois to share the
news. We were about 1/2 a mile from the Hollywood bowl (45 minutes
later) and Chris' face dropped. "I forgot the tickets at home."
WHO CARES!! We were in a limo and we could go wherever we wanted!!
We finally got to the bowl, met my parents and I showed my mom
the ring - it was a big surprise! She gave Chris a big kiss on
the cheek. My dad seemed so excited that he knew ahead of time.
He was announcing to everyone around us at the bowl that we got
engaged. It was really cute. Apparently Chris had already shown
the ring to Neil so he wouldn't feel bad that he had been booted
back to Arcadia after a hard day's work helping us with the move.
We watched the show, had a little dinner and then took my family
back to Arcadia in the limo. My parents had never been in one
before so it was pretty exciting :)
Then Chris and I passed out in the limo on the way back to the
Marina. We spent the night in the guest room because the master
bedroom was full of stuff. Our first night in our first house
on our first day as fiancées
... And that is the story!
