I'm Engaged!!!

Okay, so people keep asking me for the story of how I did it, so I figured I'd post it up here.

Last night, Kristen and I went on a double date with her roommate Janae and Janae's fiance Richard. We told the girls that the date was a surprise. The only thing they knew was that we were going to dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. So we go to dinner, enjoy ourselves, enjoy the food, and then Janae signals Kristen with the secret girl code that she needed to use the restroom. For some reason, girls cannot go to the bathroom alone when in a group setting. I know it's usually partly the whole talk about your date thing, but I also think it's a natural aversion girls have to odd numbers.

Anyway, we used this knowledge about girls to our advantage, and had Janae (who was a co-conspirator in the whole thing) do that on purpose. Richard and I hurried and paid, then left, and left a message and his car keys on the table. Now, we'd all come in the same car, but Richard and I had driven by earlier to drop off his car near the restaurant.

The message we left the girls was this:
This is the beginning of your Super Secret Fun Date. It will be the most fun you’ve had in a long time. You will experience thrills, chills, ooh’s and aah’s, and will love us both more with each new adventure you have. We are now in two different locations, and you will have to follow the trail of clues to get to us and get the grand prize. Are you ready? The clues are really hard. Here goes.

We then proceeded to send the girls to places of significance to our respective relationships. They alternated with clues for Kristen and clues for Janae, and at each spot, they received little gifts. [Consequently, all this time, Richard and I were chilling in the car, chatting. At one point, I said, "You know, we're probably going to be spending a lot of time together. As your fiance and my soon-to-be-fiance are each other's maids of honor and all. Good thing you're able to tolerate my presence." We had a good laugh about that.] The next to last clue led to where Richard had proposed to Janae, and he was there waiting with the last clue, which read:

I gave you your ideal _____ here.
Almost there! When we’re all together, we’ll give you both the grand prize. Don’t ask Richard what it is – he won’t tell.

When Kristen and I were first getting to know each other, somehow the subject of kissing came up, and she asked me if I had a "perfect kiss" or an "ideal kiss" or something along those lines. I didn't. I doubt many boys do - apparently it's a girl thing. So I asked her if she had one, and she said yes. It involved playgrounds and being pushed on a swing, then being kissed while the boy stood in front of her, holding the chains while she still sat on the swing. Anyway, so I decided that the first time I kissed Kristen (if I kissed her - I wasn't sure at the time as we were just getting to know each other), I would give her her ideal kiss. Often, first kisses are awkward or lame or just disappointing, but I was determined that ours wouldn't be.

So for her last clue, Kristen went to the same playground where we had our first kiss. She came bounding out of the car all smiles, and hugged me and kissed me and said how much fun she'd had. After a second, I asked her if she was ready for the grand prize. She said yes, and so I stepped back and knelt down on the snow and looked up at her. I said, "I love you and I want to be with you forever." As I was saying that, I took the box out of my coat pocket and held it in front of her. Then I said, "Kristen Marie Southerland," and opened the box. "Will you marry me?"

She was crying and smiling so huge, as she said, "Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" I stood up (closing the ring box as I did so) and hugged her and kissed her (a few times), then pulled away and opened the ring box, pulled out the ring, and put it on her finger. After more kisses and hugs, I smiled and said, "Go ahead," as she proceeded to yell (to Janae), "I'm engaged!"

And there was much running and rejoicing and yelling and hugging on the part of the two girls (who are best friends, if you haven't gathered as much by this point). It was a lot of fun, and I hope it will be a good memory for her - one that's fun to tell later on.