I thought I would share the story of my proposal to the Girlfriend. Rather than describe all the work and sneaking around I did to pull it off; I will let her tell you. Below is copied from her post on her blog. Enjoy!
I got a phone call from my friend Shelly in Farmington last Friday night asking if I knew of a scrapbook store called Memory Lane. She said they were having some sort of awesome sale and wondered if I would be willing to swing by the store and pick something up for her co-worker, Lindsey. She told me what it was that Lindsey wanted and that Lindsey had already called the store to make sure they had one on hand.
I told Shelly that I'd gladly pick up Lindsey's stamp set, but that I didn't think I'd be able to get over to the store until Sunday afternoon and asked her to have Lindsey pay for the stamp set over the phone and have the owner hold it behind the counter. I explained that Saturday was going to be a busy day, that the store was way up in the heights, and that we'd be on that side of town on Sunday for Father's Day to visit Dan's parents. She said she thought that would be okay and that she would call Lindsey in the morning.
A few minutes later, Dan comes out to the kitchen and asks "So, what did your friend Shelly have to say?" I told him that we needed to swing by Memory Lane on Sunday to pick something up for Lindsey. Dan said okay and proceeded to ask about Father's Day: "What do you want to do about Father's Day? Do you want to do Father's Day stuff with my Dad tomorrow and then Father's Day stuff with your Dad on Sunday?" "Sure! That would be great. We can pick up Lindsey's stuff tomorrow then!" Problem solved.
Saturday arrives and we take Darby to his 9 a.m. Family Dog class. After class, we come home and I make us an yummy little breakfast, complete with turkey bacon, eggs, and salsa! I never cook, but I did that morning and it was delicious! By this time, it's about 11 o'clock. I then decide to plan the tomatoes that have been sitting in the sink for the past couple of weeks. I needed to get them planted planted and out of the sink before my trip to Minnesota. Dan reluctantly helps me plant the tomatoes and then says, "Okay, it's time for you to get in the shower so we can get over to see my parents." It's now noon. I get into the shower thinking to myself, "What's the big hurry? We have all afternoon." I take a nice long shower and finish up around 12:30. I dilly dally around trying to find something to wear and we head out the door around 1 p.m. My hair is still wet, but that's okay. I figure I'll just quick curl it when we get home before we head over to the zoo for my office's annual party.
When we get to Memory Lane, Dan asks if I'm going to take all day and reminds me that we need to get over to his parents' house. I tell him I'll just run in and get Lindsey's stuff and be out in a flash. He says "Yeah, right," and starts to tease me about my shopping habits which then prompts me to quip, "Just for that, I'm gong to look around and see what all there is to see and, if I find something I want, then you'll just have to buy it for me because I didn't bring my purse!"
With that, into the store we went. I immediately found Becky and said, "Hi, I'm here to pick up something for Lindsey. She lives in Farmington and prepaid for a stamp set over the phone." Becky replies, "Oh, you'll need to talk to Robin, the store owner. She's right over there." I walk up to the counter and repeat the statement to which Robin replies, "I've got the stamp set right here (picking up something from behind the counter), but I'm going to need to look into whether or not she pre-paid. Would you like to look around the store while I do that?" "Sure, no problem." I begin to look around. Dan then asks to use the restroom. He stands at the counter for a minute, waiting for them to direct him to the bathroom. When he emerges from the bathroom, we start looking around the store together. He points out some paper and I say, "Oh, I've got some of that paper. I plan to use it when I scrapbook our high school days." "And when are you going to do that?" Dan asks. "Someday," I reply. "Yeah right, and when are you going to finish an actual album?" "Hey, you just leave me alone. I've finished albums, just never one for myself!" We emerge from the paper room and start looking at rubber stamps. Robin then comes over and says she has an album she thinks I should see, handing me a pretty little album about 1 inch thick. I've looked at albums in the store before, getting inspiration from the work of others, and didn't even give it a second thought when she handed the album to me. "Sure," I say, "Let's have a look."
When I opened the book, the first page read, "Dan & Erin." "What?" I turned to the second page and there was a photo of me from high school, as well as one of Dan. "We met in 1991 at Eldorado High School." It took me until about the third page to realize that I was looking at a scrapbook that Dan had made, chronicling the six years we had spent together as a couple. I was immediately overcome with emotion and tears began to well up in my eyes. The hustle and bustle of the store just seemed to disappear. I know there were several customers watching and waiting, but, from that moment forward, it was if they weren't even there. It was just me, Dan, and his beautiful album and the tears began to fall. I carefully turned and read each page until I reached the end of the book and there, on the very last page, I found a ring, a very special message and photo, and the words, "Will you marry me?" By then, Dan was down on one knee and repeating the question. With tears streaming down my face, the answer was a resounding, "Yes!"
The photo above captured the very moment Dan put the ring on my finger. It was taken by Becky, one of the ladies who works in the scrapbook store. She was supposed to be off that day, but, after hearing about Dan's in-store proposal plan, she found a reason to be there (and even skipped her lunch date with a friend when we didn't arrive at noon as anticipated)! Dan added the star burst or "chispa" in photoshop, but there wasn't anything he could do to fix my wet hair! Thank God I had enough time to put make-up on before leaving the house!
