pessimistic optimist
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2007
- Messages
- 33
It has been 2 months since I proposed, and I promised that I would share our story, so here it is... finally.
The longest proposal story ever...
In the middle of February, I approached my girlfriend about going away for a mini holiday on a long weekend. (This is about the time I purchased her engagement ring from GOG) She had spring break coming up for school which coincided with the two year anniversary of the day that we met. Also, I told her that I wanted to do something nice for her birthday, but because my friend''s wedding was on the same weekend and we would be traveling, we should celebrate earlier. I had two excuses for setting up this trip so that it would be a real surprise for her. After I suggested we take a trip, she actually asked me: "What do you propose?" I almost fell out of my chair. For a second I thought she had figured out what I was up to. Luckily, I didn''t flinch and she didn''t show any other indication that she knew the real reason for the trip. I made her promise that she would let me plan everything since it was for her birthday, and that it was going to be a surprise.
In order to draw out information about the surprise location, she kept asking what she should bring. I was very vague about what clothing to bring, and she was getting pretty frustrated. I kept telling her that we were going to Cancun, Mexico, which she knew we weren''t going to because we were only going to be gone for a few days. We set off on the morning of Saturday, March 31st from San Diego. She asked how long the car trip would be. I remained secretive with our destination and told her it would take 2-10 hours to get there. My girlfriend, having only moved to California from Australia in July, only knew some of the freeways, mainly the 5, which was our standard means of traveling to the bay area, where my parents are from, so when we branched off from the 5 and headed up 99, she was a bit confused.
Several hours later we finally passed an exit sign that said "Yosemite". She had a big smile on her face because we had been there two times previously, one in which we climbed Half Dome, and it has kind of become our place. A little bit later, she mentioned that she had seen something about a hotel in Yosemite on the computer at home, and asked if I was where we would be staying. (Luckily she had originally thought that I had been looking into it for when her parents would be visiting later this year) I said yes, but only for the first night, in the Wawona Hotel that was 40 minutes outside of Yosemite Valley, as everything was booked up for Spring Break. I told her that the other two nights we would stay in tent cabins down in the valley, which is where we had camped previously.
We drove into the valley that evening, had some dinner, and then went to the hotel. We went to bed fairly early so we could get into the valley at a reasonable time to go for a hike. The next morning she told me that she had had a strange dream. When I asked what it was about, she told me that I had proposed to her. I nearly had a heart attack. I pretended to be uninterested, but tried to draw out information. She said that in the dream I never actually got a chance to ask her. We were at a restaurant and our waiter brought out a bottle of juice, which had a ring inside of it. But before she could say anything, the waiter announced to the entire restaurant that we were engaged. She was happy in the dream that we were engaged, but disappointed that she didn''t get to say, "yes".
I remained completely calm. After telling me about the dream, she asked, "So how would you propose to me?" Without hesitation, I replied, "I don''t know. I haven''t really thought about it." I could tell that she was kind of disappointed. She then asked if it was going to be a while before we got engaged, and I played it off saying, "yeah... it might be a while." My girlfriend is studying dramatic arts, and I don''t want to brag or anything, but she told me later that I should take up acting with her after that performance.
After a nice breakfast we packed up the car and headed into Yosemite Valley. During the day we drove around the valley, taking lots of photos (because I''m "ridiculous", according to my gf, and can''t go anywhere without my camera), and then had a nice hike up to Vernal Falls. After lunch by the falls, we drove around a little more before she reminded me that we should check in to the cabins soon, otherwise we might end up waiting forever. I, of course, had this in mind all day, and was very aware of what time it was. I kept delaying, which made her a little suspicious, but eventually, I responded by saying that I wanted to take some photos of the Ahwahnee (the 4 star hotel in the valley). She gave me a funny look, and I could tell that she thought this was a little strange, but she needed to use the bathroom so she agreed to go. We took some photos at the front of the hotel, and while she went to the restroom, I quickly went to the front desk to check us in. When she came back, she saw me talking to the hotel manager, and was very suspicious. She started grilling him about what I was up to, but I acted surprised that she found that strange and said I was just making conversation with him and asking about the hotel. I suggested we take a look around the grounds to distract her and we wandered amongst some cottages that were part of the hotel. She mentioned that they were really cute so I asked if she would like to take a look inside one of them. She looked at me like I was a crazy person and said that she didn''t want to get in trouble. Then I pulled out a key, and opened the door. She was really surprised and very happy. She kept asking how I did this, and all I was thinking, was: there''s more coming. That night, we sipped champagne and ate chocolate covered strawberries in our room. She couldn''t stop smiling.
That night, I did not sleep well. I kept going over the proposal, over and over again in my head. I had gotten this far, but I still hadn''t asked her and I wanted it to be perfect. She could tell I was a little distracted, and I told her that I hadn''t slept well. She couldn''t understand why. She said that I should be relieved because my plan went off without a hitch. I agreed, but I was still very quiet. She kept asking why I was pacing, and I didn''t even realize that I was.
After we hiked to Yosemite Falls in the morning, we picked up our lunch at the cottage and went for a walk to Mirror Lake, which has become a tradition for us when we visit Yosemite. I had suggested it the previous day, and she had kind of assumed that we would go for a walk there. When we got to our spot right in front of the reflective lake, I was really disappointed because there were other people there, and the only spot available was under the trees with our view of the lake and Half Dome partially blocked. She told me that we didn''t have to sit right in front of the lake, and that it was okay where we were. I kept mentioning that I wanted the people to leave. She was a bit confused. We were in a beautiful spot and it was a beautiful day, and she couldn''t figure out why I was annoyed. Eventually the other people left and I saw my opportunity.
I suggested that we move to a large rock right near the lake. I helped her climb onto the rock, and then I set up my tripod and camera to take photos, while she munched on easter eggs. I told her to close her eyes, because I had something for her. She told me later that her first thought was that I had written a poem for her, because I had done so before. This is exactly what I wanted her to think. Sure enough, when I told her to open her eyes, I was sitting next to her with a poem in my hands. I was a bit emotional when I read it, and after I was done, I proceeded to tell her how much she means to me. I told her that I had already asked so much of her to move from Australia to California, to leave her family, friends, and home to be with me, and that I loved her so much for that, but I had to ask her one more thing. I then jumped down off the rock, got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked her to marry me. She said yes!
Neither of us could stop smiling. We are both so excited about getting married. Immediately after I proposed, it started to hit her and she got a bit dizzy. She had to sit down for a bit because she was so surprised and overwhelmed. A little bit later I asked her when and where she would like to have the wedding. She said she didn''t know and asked if I had any ideas. I had been thinking about this for months while I had been searching for her ring, and I knew we had to have our wedding in Australia so her whole family could go. Since then we have officially booked our ceremony (at a botanic garden) and reception in Sydney, Australia for December.
On our walk back to the hotel that afternoon, I couldn''t shut up about the ring and told her the story about how I found the diamond and setting. She loved it before I told her the story, and now she loves it even more. I was so relieved to finally be able to tell her all about it after I had been keeping it a secret for 3 months.
I got both the diamond and setting from Good Old Gold, with whom I had a great experience with. I would definitely do business with them again.
The setting is a Vatche Royal Crown in yellow gold with platinum prongs. Here is a link to pics of the ring:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-ring-is-on-its-way-pics-included-proposing-soon.59319/
And here is the diamond!
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2241
0.84 ct. I VS2 Round H&A
Shape: Round
Carat Weight: 0.84ct
Color: I
Clarity: VS2
AGS Cut Grade: Ideal (estimated)
GIA Cut Grade: Excellent
est GIA Cut Grade: Excellent
est AGS Cut Grade: Ideal
AGS Light Performance: Ideal
Optical Symmetry: Superior
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: Medium
Girdle: 1.73%
I was looking for a diamond with medium fluorescence, and by coincidence (or was it meant to be), the 0.84 cts corresponds with the year my fiancee was born: 1984.
Here are some more pictures of the ring!
300x240.png)