How I Asked

Okay, so now it's time to tell the story, at least from my perspective. First thing that has to be explained is why I chose what I chose... Well, Tori and I had been talking about getting married three months after we started dating. Because of this, surprising her became a very challenging task. I wanted this moment to be memorable and clever; something she'd want to tell her friends and family about.  So I started planning about a year before I would ask. Ideas came and went and it was a bit frustrating that I couldn't think of a way to surprise her without one day randomly saying "here's you're ring." A month and a half before I asked and I still had no idea, but at least I had asked her dad, purchased the ring (shipping was a month and a half) and decided I would ask at the end of the Summer. But when I got the ring, things changed. I started contemplating over when really the best time was. Every week I waited, every trip to our hometown, was another opportunity for her to think I talked to her dad, or think I bought the ring! It wasn't just that I had the ring, got impatient, and wanted to get it over with. I just suddenly realized, with all variables in place, the best time was now, at the beginning of the Summer!

So I began to make plans, and somehow this time everything just clicked. I decided I would make my plans around her plans. She had been creating a list of things she would like us to do over the Summer. So I took a look and decided which activities would work best for my plans: Hiking and picnicking. I did decide to modify her plans just a little though. I suggested to her that we dress nice and take pictures, which she thought was a great idea! ;) Now I had my idea, I had her thinking she was making the plans for the day, and finally the day was here.

The first main part of our day was the hike. It was fun and all, but I really had other reasons than hiking. The most important reason being that I would have to go to my apartment after to take a shower/grab the ring. So that's exactly what happened. After going home and getting ready I headed to her house to pick her up. We loaded up the car and left for Baldwin Park where we would have our picnick. We set up the spot, which was right next to the photo above. The problem occurred when I couldn't eat because I was so nervous! Tori asked me if I was okay a couple times, and I said yes, then she said I seemed anxious, and I was! Then I had to shove food in my mouth before she really caught on, I had only eaten as much as her! Finally, she was ready to take pictures. After setting up the camera on the tripod and taking a couple pictures of her, I set the camera on "timer". In reality, I set it on video. Then I sprinted to her side, we stood waiting for the camera to capture our photograph for a few seconds, then I looked to her. I began to tell her how much I loved her, she started freaking out. Then, I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and put it on her.......wait a minute, yes or no?... then she said yes! And then I put the ring on her finger. The only things that kept coming out of her mouth was "are you serious?" over and over again. I was definitely serious! And that's how we started this chapter of our lives.