I owe you at least this much

There and back again.. Kevin's tale of San Diego.

Yep.. things have changed. Kelsey and I are engaged now, and we've jumped head first into the engagement phase and have realized that we have a lot of work to do. But first... the story:

I had been planning this trip to San Diego since November of 2007. I had first thought that this would be a good place/time to propose to Kelsey, but I wanted to keep my options open in case Christmas, or some random time in January presented itself. It didn't, so I made all the plans to get organized, and ready for the "big trip." I went to look at diamonds with my sister in late January. After much deliberation, I choose the perfect rock with the help of my wonderful, older, wiser sister, and her advice paid off. (Again.. THANK YOU!) So, after picking out the diamond, we moved on to settings. At this point i gave up and chose a solitaire setting because the range of settings was more than my brain could handle. Especially without any clue as to what Kelsey really wanted. So i made arrangements to pick up the ring a week before we left. I hid the ring in a very safe place and it went unnoticed for the time it was in our house.

When it came time to pack, i took the ring out of the box and slipped it into a pair of socks. Yep.. i'm stealth like that. I did have the foresight to get the ring insured before we left, in case someone at NWA had sticky fingers. We arrived in San Diego and had a low key first night due to rain and jet lag. The next morning, I put the ring in my pocket. I wasn't planning on proposing until Saturday because I wanted to get acclimated to the area and pick out the perfect spot. However, knowing how our plans can change at any point, i wanted to have access to the ring at all times, if only because i didn't know when the perfect moment would present itself. I had hoped to do it on top of some cliffs overlooking the ocean in northern La Jolla. (the town we were staying in). But I also had thought we would visit this area on Saturday, not Friday. Turns out, we changed our Saturday plans and we were definitely not going to be in a spot that was good enough for me to propose to in the way I wanted. So I suggested that we watch the sunset on the cliffs on Friday night. We headed out to the cliffs around 5:00pm.

The cliffs are part of a park that gives people access to a large landing strip for gliders, parachute fliers, and other thrill seekers. It is honestly one of the most awesome places to watch a sunset. It was a cloudless day, and the sun was slowly sinking into the ocean. I had "rehearsed" what I wanted to say to Kelsey when the moment was right, but still a little shaky as to the precise wording. We found "our spot" and I took a LOT of pictures to try and freeze that moment in time for us. I took a video of the sun set, and when it was gone, i immediately put the camera in my pocket and started off with what I thought was going to be an OK proposal. This is what i said:

"You know, ever since I saw the movie Shawshank Redemption, I've had a fascination with the Ocean. It always amazed me that something so big, could make a person feel so small. (Pause for effect) and I guess I'm just really happy that I finally found someone that could make me feel so.... big."

I'll wait until you stop laughing......

Yes i used the word "Big." I stalled.. i froze.. and i would have liked to have found a better descriptor than "big" but i didn't. So after mentally kicking myself in the butt, i finally just convinced myself to shut up, quickly drop down to one knee, and ask Kelsey to marry me. There was about a .5 second delay before "YES!" was forced out of her mouth like she was holding it in for about 18 months. I looked down at the ring to guide it onto her finger, but before I could, it was taken out of my hand! She grabbed the ring, and I stood up to give her a great big hug. We stood there for a few seconds, and ironically, both of us had the same thought. "SHE BETTER NOT DROP THAT RING DOWN THIS 200ft CLIFF!" So after a nice pause, she put the ring on her finger and it fit perfectly! I was really surprised at this, because I don't know her ring size. All i knew was that her ring finger was very similar in size to my pinky finger. I guess it was my time for a little luck.

We had some passers by take some pictures of us (I had waited to propose until there was no one in sight. I knew Kelsey wanted it to be private), and after a few tries we got our excellent picture and were satisfied. I immediately started venting on Kelsey about how nice it finally was to have that ring on her finger. No more will I have to deal with the constant barrage of engagement questions or concerns. I know the questions don't stop at engagement, but the rest of the questions I can handle. I told Kelsey the story of the diamond, and all the little things I had to listen to, all while the diamond was ready and waiting to be given. It was my time to share all that I had to go through and how happy I was to finally enjoy this moment together. We spent the rest of the trip reveling in the feeling of being a newly engaged couple. It is excellent.

One thing I am surprised about is the speed at which we're getting into wedding talk. I figured we might simply discuss rough ideas about where, when, and how we would get married, but so far (and this is just my observations) it seems like we have a church, a time frame (narrowed down to two possible months) and even some of the more intricate things like music, photographers and wedding party details. WE'VE ONLY BEEN ENGAGED FOR 6 DAYS! I guess i should have seen this coming. Kelsey and I have never been good at being patient and letting things settle in.. we're always better off figuring things out sooner rather than later, and then enjoying the time we have once we have our bases covered.

I will say this, the weird part is that getting started seems to be a bigger hurdle than I thought it was going to be. We have our church, but before we can reserve it, we need a date. Before we have a date, we need a reception hall with availability. Before we have a reception hall we need to know how much it costs.. and before we can get a cost estimate, we need a wedding party size. SOOO.... we need to make our tentative lists. I now have something to do when i travel to Dallas next week. :-)

I'm taking bets: What is the ratio of Trauscht guests to Biagi guests.... The leading line is 3:1. I'm putting my bet down on 2.8:1.

I'm also hoping that our wedding is during golfing season. I think it'd be a great time for a nice big family golf outing the day of the rehearsal!

I'll keep updating with my thoughts and experiences just to keep everyone entertained at how inept I am at these kinds of things. The good news is that I'll have a lot of help along the way.

Ho K Peace out!