...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!
