The Proposal

On Friday, July 31, Steve and I headed to Shelter Island, which overlooks the San Diego skyline. We've been planning to go see Jim Gaffigan, a comedian, at Humphry's in celebration of my birthday (because I was in Peru at the time). Steve got off work early, got to my house at about 3:45 or 4, and we decided to get to Shelter early because of traffic and we wanted to eat dinner before the 6:30 show. We got there around 4:30, and--since it was a little early for dinner--we took a walk along the water, something that we do pretty often in San Diego. We walked on the sidewalk for about 10 or 15 minutes when I asked if we should turn around. Steve said, "No, let's go a little farther." I was even talking about people that I knew that had gotten engaged on Shelter Island. I had brought my camera along, and we took a self-portrait (our favorite) in front of the San Diego skyline. We walked a little farther, and Steve suggested we step down onto the rocks by the water (it was his attempt to be lower than me, as well as to make it a little more private for us). I'm standing there, taking pictures, and he asked, "Do you want to take a picture as an engaged couple?" I stood there dumbfounded, thinking, "It's not funny for him to joke about this when I've been pestering him for months." But before I could react, he had the ring in his hand and asked, "Will you marry me?" He went for zero intro -- complete shock factor. I stood there, jaw dropped, for about five seconds before I shreaked, "Yes!" I kissed him about a dozen times, we took another self-portrait (above)-- our first as an engaged couple! I still look a little shocked and amazed and pretty much on a cloud.
The ring is amazing. Steve designed it himself, and he had actually only picked up the ring from the jeweler on his lunch break that day. He had been working for months with the designer to make the perfect ring. It's hard to get a good photo of it, but it has a .7 carat center stone that's round, and it has diamonds lining the split shaft on the sides. On the front and back of the center stone, there's an "M" for Mavis, with the symbol of the trinity on either side. It's completely unique and completely perfect for me.

We headed over to Point Loma Seafood, and while Steve waited for our bread bowls of clam chowder, I called my parents and grandparents, who were very excited for me. Steve had flown out to Texas in May while I was still in Peru to ask permission from them, so they somewhat knew it was coming, but he hadn't given them a timeframe. I think they would have had a little chat with him in Oregon on our family vacation in a week if we weren't engaged. It was so nice that no one really knew about it, except for my family, for a few hours. We were sitting there at Point Loma Seafood and then later at the Jim Gaffigan show as a newly engaged couple, and no one around us knew. It was such a sweet time.

The show at Humphry's was hilarious. Jim Gaffigan is so funny and very clean. Steve and I shared a Stella Artois during the show as my "birthday beverage." On the way home from the show, Steve and I both started going down the list of people we needed to call to share the news. We got to my house a little before 9 p.m., and as I walked to the door, I saw one of Steve's best friends, Josh Lewis, down the hall in my house. Confused, I was all flustered to find my house key. I couldn't believe there was more to the surprise. I walked in my kitchen to find about 15 people--church friends, Steve's friends, Steve's brother and sister-in-law--yell "Congratulations!" I turned bright red. They had shown up with champagne and a beautiful cake (that Josh's wife Laura made) to celebrate with us. Steve made such a sweet toast, and so did Josh. I was so caught off guard, and now that whole night seems like a blur. Josh was the last to leave, and he prayed over us and our relationship before he left. Steve and I made a few more phone calls to family and friends, and then we hung out for a bit before he went home. He felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders--with all the stress of getting the ring in time--while I felt as giddy as ever. Steve slept like a rock for 10 hours, and I had one of the most restless sleeps of my life. The night had been perfect and it was completely worth the wait.