I want to remember every moment of Saturday, January 31, 2015. The day Andrew got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It started as any other weekend. We went to dinner with friends on Thursday night & had a low key date night in on Friday. We needed to rest up for our early morning on Saturday.
We had planned to wake up about 4:30am and drive over to Mt. Tamalpias to watch the sunrise. Andrew always gets these adventurous ideas, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Since we had an early morning, we packed our day packs the night before and set the alarm.
It was surprisingly easy to get up in the morning, which says a lot coming from this girl. We headed across the Golden Gate then up Highway 1 to the crest of Mt. Tam. This is when the morning stopped going as planned. We hoped to drive almost to the top, watch the sunrise, then park at our usual spot by the Mountain Home Inn and hike from there. Unfortunately, we didn't do our research and the gate is closed until 7:00am, right about sunrise. We had to either sit and wait for an hour, and catch sunrise at the last second, or hike 4 miles in the dark and hopefully make it to the summit by sunrise. I wasn't excited about hiking in the dark (chicken) so I suggested waiting then catching the last part of sunrise. Meanwhile, Andrew was SO frustrated the morning wasn't going as planned. I remember saying, "the day isn't ruined, it's just a little different than we had planned." I thought he was being a little ridiculous for getting so frustrated, but still I had no idea what his REAL plan was.
We waited at the entrance and watched as the darkness began to fade. Andrew was not happy. "We're missing it!" At promptly 7:00am, the ranger came to open the gate and we were off to the parking area near the summit. Just in time to capture this beautiful picture of the sunrise. We hiked to the summit, only about a quarter mile to take in the scenery & watch the sunrise.
We had the summit to ourselves, and found a great spot with a perfect view of the bay that was protected from the wind. Andrew set up the tripod so we could take a picture before the golden light of sunrise had passed. I thought he was just in a hurry to race the sun. We took one picture and he said, "let's take another just in case it didn't turn out." At which point, I still had no idea. I set the timer, and when I got back next to him, he spun my shoulders so that I was facing towards him. As soon as he did this, I knew what was about to happen. Before I knew it he was down on one knee, asking to spend the rest of our lives together. It was so magical & perfect. He knew I had wanted to be totally surprised, and was I ever!
Of course I said yes!! We hugged, cried and spent a few minutes relishing our excitement! Then of course I had to call my Mom! It was so early, and she heard the tears in my voice and got worried. But worry quickly turned to excitement! My Dad was out of town on a backpacking trip, so I tried calling him but to no avail. Next, I called my sister to share the good news. She & my brother in law guessed right away (why else would I call so early on a Saturday morning)?!
After I called my Mom & sister, we sat on the summit talking and enjoying the view. I had so many questions. How did he pick the ring? When did he get it? Did he have help? Did he ask my Dad? When? I wanted all the details! It was so fun hearing him talk about the process. And the ring is truly AMAZING. I love that he picked it out on his own, so it was a complete surprise. It's an oval solitaire with small diamonds on the band. Timeless, classic, & so me. He knew I liked vintage styles with round stones, but he thought the classic & timeless style was more suited for me than the vintage look. And he loved the oval shape for the center stone. Turns out he knows my style better than I do, because it's perfect. After staring at my hand for an hour, talking & eating the breakfast he had packed, we decided to skip the hike & head to our favorite coffee shop, Equator at Proof Lab. He did bring our camping JetBoil and drip to make coffee on the summit, but in all the excitement we sort of forgot at first & decided to go out instead.
We then called his Mom to fill her in on the morning. She knew it was happening, but was so excited to hear the details and talk to us! She wanted to know all the details of course, and see a picture of the ring on my hand. We also tried giving my Dad a call again. He still wasn't answering his phone, and I didn't want to share the news with anyone until I talked to him. But I was dying to spread tell everyone because I was so excited! I left my Dad a message to call me and figured I'd just keep trying throughout the day.
I kept saying "Louis will be so excited!" which Andrew found very entertaining! So we decided to go back into the city so he could be a part of our day. It happened to be a gorgeous, sunny and warm day in the city. So we picked up Louis and went to Alta Plaza Park for a picnic in the sun. We bought some beer, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese (of course), salami and a baguette, then posted up on a blanket for the afternoon. We were so excited and kept re-playing the morning and staring at my beautiful ring.
And, I finally was able to get a hold of my Dad. He told me that Andrew had asked him on Christmas when they went for a walk in the afternoon. I was so surprised, neither of them let on to their conversation when they came back. I love that Andrew knows me well enough to know how much it meant to me for him to talk to my Dad before proposing.
It truly was one of the best days of my life, and I'll never forget those special moments between Andrew and I. We spent the first few days soaking up engagement bliss. Then when we realized we wanted to get married in September, we dove head first into planning mode. More on that next week!
Are you married or engaged? If so, I'd love to hear your engagement story!
Awww...I love your engagement story! It's somewhat similar to mine. David and I went on a hike in Truckee and he was expecting there to be a full lake but instead we ended up hiking through a very muddy lake bed which wasn't romantic at all. He was also getting all flustered. I couldn't figure out why because I thought it was hilarious. We eventually sat down, shared a beer together, and that's when he got down on one knee and asked. I'll never forget it. I love a good engagement story! Excited to read more about your wedding.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I was really happy that Michael asked my dad too. He even asked my mom since my parents are divorced (which I didn't expect, but was so thoughtful).
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