Our Story
Allen and I met about 7 or 8 years ago (2002-2003-ish) in our Church Youth Group. We talked a lot and eventually exchanged yahoo instant messenger (YIM) screen names. I distinctly remember being utterly disappointed that Allen never got online. Three months later he complained that I never got online, and we realized that his program was somehow defective.
While we both really liked each other, Allen was pretty respectful of my parent's rule that I not date until I turn 18. Or maybe he was just too nervous to make a move. Allen's senior year he (accidentally) invited me to his Senior prom. We both went and had an okay time, but independently of each other decided the other one must have had an awful time. Allen went to college, and we talked less and less often until for a while, not at all.
Our paths split, we experienced life and grew up a little bit.
We reconnected during the summer of 2006. Allen came to every one of my sister's summer events (dance lessons and volleyball nights) and eventually asked me to the movies while we were dancing one night. Our first date was on July 14, 2006 with my sister Sarah and Allen's friend, Parker.
Allen and I dated for three years--which is really the best part of the story but also the part nobody has time to read and I don't have time to write--almost to the day when Allen proposed.
The Proposal!
On the proposal night, I knew something was up. Allen wanted to go stargazing for our Anniversary to Calaveras Lake Park. Neither of us had been before so it sounded like something fun and romantic and totally a-typical for us to do since our dates generally consist of making dinner and a rented movie.
The plan was to have a picnic, watch the sunset and star gaze until we got tired and came home.
Allen was expecting an empty park, "surely this place mustn’t be popular, I mean we've never been there before so nobody else must go either right?" Wrong. The place was packed. We barely found parking before sunset started, but we spread our blanket out and watched and snacked as it sank into the horizon.
Camera phone picture from that night.
The grass was tall. There were bugs. Near the end of sunset and dinner Allen finally gets up the nerve to ask:
"Hannah, I know you picked this spot out for us, and it's a nice spot but...you know that cop is watching us right?"
In my frantic concern with getting to see the sunset I put the blanket out in perfect view of a cop car that was parked in the parking lot 30 feet behind us. Allen underestimated my cop-car awareness skills though. Allen didn't know that I had already checked the driver's seat of the cop-car and and saw it empty, and noticed a cop going down one of the pathways in search of drunk people causing a ruckus. Once I convinced him the cop wasn't actually in the car Allen relaxed a little.
About those drunk people the cop was after. Near the very end of sunset, two guys came over and politely asked if they could fish in our view of the sunset. Being polite folk, we natrually said it was fine, no problem. About twenty minutes later, their drunk friend (?) wanders up and begins to insist they go to his fishing spot, using his fishing poles and leaving theirs behind. The view blockers didn't really like his ideas, and a mild argument ensued. I have to admit, I was rather amused by the whole situation. It put Allen's nerves on edge and most certainly assured him that this was not the right time to pop the big question. He decided to pop a different question instead.
"Hannah?" he asked.
"Yes?" I responded
"I love you."
"I love you too."
This is cute, and sweet, and romantic. The first time. Repetition does seem to work the courage up, but about half an hour and five "Hannah?" "Yes?" "I love you." "I love you too's" later, we were both ready to go.
The mood in the car was a bit icy on the drive home. I tried to be light hearted but I had suspected more from the night and was disappointed it didn't amount to much. We stopped at Allen's home to clean picnic stuff out of the car, and then he took me home.
We ended up sitting on the porch swing. Allen went through a few more "Hannah?" "Yes Allen?" "I love you." "I love you too's" before finally working up the courage to pledge his love with:
"Hannah?"
"Yes Allen!?" (my tone was a bit sharp at this point)
"You know I love you more than anything else"
"I know Allen."
Finally he said "ok then, you should stand up"
We both stood, he got down on one knee, pulled a box out of his pocket and went through an agonizing thirty seconds of box malfunction. (A word of advice guys: Make sure that ring is ready, she won't ever let you live it down).
When Allen FINALLY got the ring box out of the first ring box, he opened it and asked me to marry him. Joy and enthusiasm ensued. Here's a picture of me the next day (I don't even remember where the sun burn came from)
