CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE:
* Our History in a Nutshell* The Proposal/Our Engagement 
A NUTSHELL OF OUR HISTORY:
2005: Dave and I met. At most, you could call us acquaintances. He lived in the house where I went to our small group through RockHarbor Church, and my group leader was one of his close friends. We didn't talk much, but we did communicate by way of AIM on occasion (Remember when that was cool? :)). We seemingly had really different interests, and we never saw each other in THAT way.We had a few memories here and there of each other, but the LAST thing we would have guessed was what was to come. We joke now that had anyone told us then that we would have ended up together, we would have either laughed really hard or run in the opposite direction.
2010: Leading up to 2010, I remember thinking of Dave on various occasions--about how he was doing and what he was up to, and Mike and Jess would fill me in whenever I visited them. Dave had been praying one day in early 2010 where God sparked within him memories of his life and friends(including me) in Long Beach. There, he had a sense that he wasn't quite done with Long Beach yet.Even though he wasn't sure what that meant, our friend Mike asked him the very next day if he wanted to go help lead worship at City Church that coming Sunday.And Voila!T
hat's really where it all began.We saw each other at church, caught up like we were best friends who hadn't seen each other in ages. The rest is history :)
That was March 21st, 2010. We have communicated every day since. Two weeks after that, on April 15th, we officially started dating after some serious prayer and consideration. From the get-go, we knew that this was something God was orchestrating. Even though we weren't good friends before, it was as though God had been making deposits into a love/friendship account, and we were freely making withdrawals. The foundation of a friendship really assured us of our relationship and the adventure on which we were embarking.
2011: By the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, I was beginning to wonder when Dave was going to propose. He was so busy with work that I had no idea when he'd ever talk to my parents, get a ring, or plan anything...
THE PROPOSAL/OUR ENGAGEMENT
(If you're not one for details, go here for the picture documentation of our engagement day: Becoming Fiances!)
Little did I know, Dave had already spoken to my parents early January, designed and bought the ring in January, and had been waiting for just the right timing to propose.
In March, as my 25th birthday was approaching, Dave offered to help me plan my birthday party. This ended up being his "in" to getting my friends and family together to celebrate our engagement. I'll put into a nutshell the proposal for you as best as I can:
-On the Friday night before my birthday, Dave came out, and we went to our favorite Thai place in Long Beach. The whole time we were at dinner, he wastexting nonstop. I just assumed he was figuring out "birthday stuff."
- Dave told me to get ready early that Saturday morning (March 12th). He told me had a breakfast surprise. I thought: "Yayy! An early birthday surprise!"
-All the way in the car, he wouldn't tell me where were were going. I had my guesses, but I was wrong every time.
-From Long Beach, we went all the way to Malibu and ended up at Paradise Cove Cafe. We enjoyed breakfast there. The weird part? Again, Dave spent most of his time on his cell phone. I thought, "Wow, he's really planning a lot for my birthday..." After breakfast, I told Dave what a good surprise breakfast was. He figured if I thought breakfast was a surprise, man would I be in for another one...
-We kept on driving north on PCH and I noticed this beautiful field with trees to our right and said to Dave, "I would love to get married in a field of trees." Dave had this surprised look on his face, took out his phone, and told me to repeat what I said. The only difference this time was that he was recording me with his phone. I thought it was a bit strange, but I went with it.
- At this point, I began to think that we needed to get back to Long Beach, so that we could finish getting the details together for my birthday party the next day. Despite this, Dave proceeded to drive up PCH, pulled over to this overlook above this surf spot where we've hung out before, and got out of the car. As we're there, we "adventuresized" like we normally do. We started drawing pictures of each other with these coal-like rocks, and I was thoroughly enjoying our time together. I looked down by our feet and notice this pile of turquoise broken glass with one solitary yellow flower growing out of it. I told Dave to look at the glass pile and then to look at my nail polish. [Background: A few days before, I had been painting my nails. I painted them a turquoise with a yellow flower on each nail. I took it off b/c I wasn't happy with it, painted it a different color, was still not happy with it, and then redid them w/ turquoise but this time only with one yellow flower on each of my thumbs.] I didn't know it then, but it was how God confirmed the fact that Dave's idea for stalling was in fact where we needed to be at that very moment.
-At this point, I justified us driving north on PCH because Dave had forgotten his speakers that I needed for his party. We get to his house in Oxnard, and he told me that he actually didn't have his keys and that his mom had them. Rather than letting me get suspicious, Dave proceeded to tell me that she had to get things from the family that Dave lives with. This ended up being bad news for me because I had really had to use the restroom...
-Instead of making me hold it all the way back to Long Beach, Dave drove to Camarillo, pulled up to a Starbucks, and told me to get out and do my thing. I got back into the car, we started talking, and I asked him how he would ask my parents for my hand once he got to it. He told me he'd either "call or text or something." I just told him not to text; at the time, my mom didn't know how.
-Continuing down this street in Camarillo, this song came on called "Marry Me" (by Bruno Mars) as I noticed this beautiful green field with trees that seemed to come out of nowhere. It almost seemed out of place because everything else around it was a business of some sort. I pointed it out, and Dave knowing me all too well said, "Do you wanna go there?" And of course--I couldn't resist the offer.
- When Dave parked the car, he got out and pulled out two pairs of my shoes and told me to pick one. I thought this was kind of weird because it was sort of my idea to go to the field (or so I thought). The moment I picked a pair was the very moment that I became slightly suspicious. Why did he want to make sure that my feet were well protected? He's never packed shoes for me before... As he was getting his things out of the car, I checked all of his pockets for anything that looked like a ring box. I saw nothing, so I just kind of tucked my suspicions under the rug.
-We basically ran over to the field for another one of our adventures, and the moment we got into the heart of the field, we couldn't even see the busy street or any of the other nearby buildings anymore. And there in the clearing was this old, wooden cross. We stood in front of it, and Dave asked me, "If you could ask Jesus for anything right now, what would it be?" Though I knew my answer to this, I had thought about Dave proposing for the last 2 months leading up to this point, that I didn't want to say it out loud. I just told him that I had too many things that I'd ask Jesus, so I'd have to think about it some more.
-He told me he had one more surprise. He told me to close my eyes, and to hold on to him as he led me to ...well, I had no idea where. At this point I'm thinking, "Oh! Maybe he IS going to propose, and he had some friends set up a surprise picnic. I found that idea cute but a little strange seeing that we had just eaten a big brunch. I could tell that we were walking up a hill. We finally stop walking. My eyes had been closed the whole time we were walking.
-He placed his hands over my eyes and whispered, "I already talked to your parents." Right then, my mind and heart went racing. He took his hands off of my eyes, revealing this beautifully constructed tree house nestled right in between these two trees. I wept immediately because I knew that this was IT! I had told Dave on a number of occasions that I'd love to have a treehouse someday. [Background: A few months before Dave proposed, he asked me how I wanted to be proposed to. Haha. I told him that he had to figure it out, and that he should ask God because He is the only one that knows my heart more than Dave does.] Dave asked God how he should propose to me, and one day while he was driving home from work, he was exited off the freeway and heard "treehouse." And that's where the inspiration for the proposal came. It couldn't have been anymore divine. Dave remembered throughout this whole process that if God had brought the two of us together, He would also be the one to make the proposal, the engagement, and ultimately our marriage happen :).
- Weeping and making my way up the ladder, my eyes immediately spotted some bottles of "Fresh Ginger Ale Ginger Ale" that I knew had to have been ordered from New York and a tiny little plate that had the word "Congratulations!" on it. I fell straight to my knees and pulled Dave down with me (still weeping), which ended up making it really hard for him to ask me down on one knee.
-He pulled up his pant leg, reached down his cowboy boot, and pulled out this black ring box. He had things to say, and I KNEW they were beautiful, but I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even know what he was saying. In the midst of my happy tears, I even said out loud, "I always wondered what this would feel like..." and then I cried (literally), "YES!!"
-After I got myself composed (sort of), I noticed that our friends Jon and Mike as well as Dave's mom came out of the woodworks with various digital recording devices. Honestly, that whole period after the proposal is a slight blur to us, but I do know that phone calls were made, texts were sent out, and a whole lot of field frolicking, laughing, and sheer amazement
- I felt like THE most blessed, surprised, and giddy person in the world. The time and effort that Dave (and his friends) put into making that day perfect is something I'll never quite be able to wrap my head around.
-He asked. I said yes, and we were to be married...
