No, not the Sandra Bullock movie.
MY proposal.
Which, incidentally, could have been ripped right out of a movie script.
No, not a sweet romantic Julia Roberts movie.
More like an Adam Sandler movie.
Ready?
***
Click here for Parts 1, 2, & 3.
During college summers, I packed up and went back home and interned for an architecure firm.
Andy, however, stayed in our college town and interned there.
So, ironically, we were split up again, albeit temporarily.
Anyway, one Friday night in August, Andy drove the 200+ miles home to hang out.
Except that he called Friday to say he couldn’t come over because his mom was in a lot of pain and needed to go to the ER.
(Turns out she had gall stones, so I guess she gets a pass on this one…).
Saturday night we had plans of some kind, although I couldn’t tell you what they were anymore.
And then he was leaving Sunday morning.
So really, Saturday DAY was the only time we had to hang out just the two of us. Got that? K.
Remember, it was August.
In Southern California.
And incidentally, it was also a heat wave.
Fun times.
Think 104.
I happened to be coming down with a migraine.
But because I hadn’t seen Andy in a few weeks, I agreed to a lunch at Ruby’s Diner.
The cool air conditioning and a cheeseburger sounded good.
And might help with the migraine I could feel coming on.
Andy was acting a little weird. But I didn’t think much of it.
In fact, I just thought I was being overly sensitive since my head was starting to pound.
He wanted to sit *next* to me in the booth…as opposed to across from me.
Normally, ths would be fine, but remember, I was feeling crummy and canoodling was not appealing to me.
Then, he let me order my own milkshake.
Remember, we were still poor, mac & cheese eating, college students.
So, getting my own milkshake was unusual.
And I distinctly remember being surprised by it.
But I was jazzed that I could order strawberry instead of sharing a chocolate and figured he was just being nice since we hadn’t seen eachother and he knew I wasn’t feeling well.
Well, lunch wasn’t helping my headache and it was getting worse, so I told him I wanted to go home so I could lay down.
He said no…he wanted to go to Our Bench.
Now, I have to explain:
Our Bench was located in a park. At the top of a hill. And at night, you could see the city’s twinkling lights.
Which, so happened to be one of my favorite things ever.
And we would often sit on this bench and talk while looking at the lights.
But this was the middle of the day.
We had never been to Our Bench in daylight.
There was no point.
Besides, it was hot.
And Our Bench was a solitary bench atop a hill…
a treeless, shadeless hill.
We wouldn’t be able to see anything.
And it was crazy hot.
That was a stupid idea.
I had no interest in going.
And relayed all of this information to him.
Annoyed.
Beyond annoyed.
Because my headache was really ramping up by now.
But he insisted.
And I sighed and agreed begrudingly.
Actually, I don’t think I agreed.
He just wouldn’t listen.
So, we drive over to the park…located in a ritzy-ish neighborhood.
Turns out, that during the day, they have a day use fee.
Who knew?
And, we were (and still are) very much ATM people.
Finding cash in our presence is incredibly rare.
I breathed relief from the passenger seat because this meant I could go lie down and not sit on a stupid park bench in the middle of a 104 degree day.
But noooooo….
Andy was determined.
I whined.
I complained.
But he wouldn’t let it go.
So, he parked in the neighborhood…
…and we JUMPED A FENCE
HIKED UP THE BACKSIDE OF THE HILL
IN 104 DEGREE HEAT
WEARING FLIP FLOPS
By the time we got to the top of the *stupid* hill, I was sweating like a hog, my head was pounding, I felt like I was going to vomit from the pain, I can’t imagine what I smelled like, my hair was plastered to my forehead…
…and my feet were all gross and dusty.
We got to the top, I plopped down on the hot bench, burning the back of my legs, and promptly asked if we could just go home because this was the stupidest idea I had ever heard of.
And I didn’t stop there.
I just kept right on.
Complaining.
So angry.
My brain felt like it was about to burst right out of my skull.
I was getting shaky.
And my feet were all dusty and dirty.
And that’s just a gross feeling.
He tried to cozy up to me, and I snapped:
“Get away. It is WAY too hot to be hanging on me.”
And I scootched over and sat in my stinky, sweaty, dusty glory and glared over at a kids baseball game going on in the distance.
I swore to myself that I would give this 10 more minutes and then I was going to trudge back down this stupid hill whether he followed me or not.
Besides, the only view we had?
A disgusting layer of Los Angeles smog hanging over the city.
Adorned with little ripples of heat.
You know it’s hot when you can SEE it.
“Jeannett….?”
I ignored him.
Seething.
He tapped my knee.
“Jeannett…”
“WHAT?!”
I reeled around.
Furious.
And he wasn’t sitting next to me.
I was confused.
But only for a split second.
Until I realized he was on his knee.
Crap.
I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
DIE.
To this day, I cannot believe he went through with it.
I was hideous.
In fact, probably more hideous than I had ever been to him.
Ever.
I couldn’t belive that HE wanted to marry ME.
After all of my theatrics!
I stared at my dusty dirty feet.
I could feel the sweat dripping down my back.
But my head didn’t hurt anymore.
I cried.
Both for joy and embarassment.
I said yes.
He laughed at me.
Chided me for ruining our Moment.
Teased me about my nasty feet.
And then took me home for some ibuprofen.
Later he told me that he had plans at a fancy restaurant and was going to propose over dinner.
But his mom’s gall stones ruined that idea.
But he was too anxious and didn’t want to have to wait three more weeks until we would see eachother again.
So, Our Bench in the middle of a 104 day in August was his only option.
***
9 years later, I can honestly say that I **LOVE** our proposal story.
It.is.so.US.
Had he proposed at a fancy restaurant…
it would have been an anomoly in our otherwise crazy life.
We aren’t serious, romantic types.
We are a goofy, unscripted, water fight loving, random text messaging, teasing kind of couple.
Having a proposal that went horribly sideways…
is just too perfect.
To this day, we laugh about it.
How even then, God was preparing us to be unprepared.
How we should have taken that as an Omen for our future together.
Where nothing would go according to plan…
but it would all work out in the end…
and it would be a fantastic story.
I WANT TO HEAR YOUR PROPOSAL STORY!
If you have a blog, do a proposal post and link back up here!
If you don’t, post a comment telling me!
FUN!
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…
Latest posts by jeannett (see all)
- Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
- Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
- How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015
Oh Jeannett, this was just TOO funny! I would be so mortified…and I think it’s really sweet that he didn’t want to wait the 3 weeks. Bummer of a day for a migraine, huh?
I have not been proposed to {yet}, but I’m just waiting on my sweetheart. I’ll be sure to tell you about it when it happens. :)
Ah, that’s so fantastic. Love it! It’s the quirkiness that makes things so memorable! Erick was going to propose to me at the top of a mountain but I was too worn out to make it all the way; instead we stopped *before the trail even officially began* (gates were locked, we had to walk up to the trail when normally you would drive to get to the beginning of the hike. And I’m a wienie!) After I accepted he was so pumped (or scared!) that he RAN the rest of the way to the top while I sat and gazed at my ring and pondered this totally unexpected proposal (we had only known each other for 3 months!)
That was 11 years ago. Wow. Time flies when you are having fun!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Mercy Me, I’m a Happy Momma! =-.
Check it!
http://katieandgregberger.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-proposal.html
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Our Proposal =-.
love it! and totally agree that the perfectly executed romantic dinner wouldn’t have been so you guys. love the details of the dirty feet.
Here’s mine too. Don’t know if that linky thing worked.
http://thelifeofmegananne.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-official.html
Loved reading your fun story.
.-= MeganAnne´s last blog ..tethered threads::may =-.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one with a less than romantic story! Isn’t it sweet that he embodied the whole “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health” thing in just by making it through the proposal?
darn it. I did this all wrong. Here’s the link to my story
http://musicmomie.blogspot.com/2010/05/propose.html
.-= jacquelyn´s last blog ..A propose =-.
Oh that is too funny! I loved reading it, thanks for sharing. I kept nagging my husband about when he was going to propose, and whining that it was never going to happen. Even the morning he finally did propose, i was still complaining. Not sure what the big rush was! we were only 21/22 and still in our last year of college. But no, I had to get engaged NOW! haha, so silly looking back. but here we are 11 years later and still going strong :) he still likes to tease me though that I nagged him into marrying me!
.-= Andrea Howe´s last blog ..Bits of Randomness on This Tuesday Morning =-.
Love it! Nasty feet! You. Will. NEVER. Live. That. Down.
Hubster and I were vacationing in Maui with the family; I decided to take him to Oahu for a day trip. We went to the USS Arizona memorial, took a bus and ended up at the mall where we found … California Pizza Kitchen … cuz we don’t have that here in California, right? … We order the usual, pizza and beer. I noticed hubster chugging his Guinness. Now, Guinness is good food, and you just don’t chug good food. So I was wondering, what is up with this guy? while scarfing my pizza. Next thing I know, he slams a ring box on the table and says, Let’s get married. Dude. The ring was in the box. The unopened box. LOL So. I got engaged in the middle of California Pizza Kitchen on Oahu. It figures it was pizza and beer, some of his most favorite things =)
You are a fabulous storyteller!
Too funny! Dh and I went out to dinner and he wanted to stop on “our” beach on the way home. I was tired and wanted to go to sleep and there wasn’t much of a moon, so it would be dark, so I whined. But, I went. Good thing! LOL
Thanks for visiting my blog on my SITS day!
.-= Shell´s last blog ..Pour Your Heart Out =-.
i’ll be joining you soon – our anniversary is on the 20th. i love this idea!
.-= lindsey – the pleated poppy´s last blog ..what i wore wednesday =-.
because who knows when i’ll post again on my own blog, i’ll tell you my story here.
it involved some mind games–me thinking it wouldn’t happen for five more months, and me also thinking i planned our evening when really he’d made me think it was all my idea. and it involved a beach (montana de oro), some more mind games, and a few friends and a brother to pull it off. it ended with mike dressed like a prince, on a horse, with another horse for me, a sand castle wall lit up with candles, a dinner on the beach, dancing to music, and, of course, getting a bit lost in the dark. it was absolutely perfect.
.-= Kristen Borland´s last blog .. =-.
oh and he told me the night before that he was going to propose the next day. and i didn’t believe him. in fact, i so didn’t believe him that he had to remind me after he proposed that he’d told me when he was going to do it. mind games, i tell ya.
.-= Kristen Borland´s last blog .. =-.
What a great story! I had been living with my husband for a little over a year and had seriously almost given up on his ever proposing to me when we took a vacation to NYC. We went to see Chicago on Broadway that Saturday night – this was in Feb 2003 right after that huge snowstorm so there was still snow piled up everywhere – so we took a cab to the theater but he insisted on walking back to the hotel after the show. We stopped in Times Square and I was looking up at the lights like a starstruck redneck when he suddenly got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was wonderful and completely unexpected!
Jen´s last blog post ..I’m a Catholic mother!
What a fun story. I want a good story. You know he really loves you since he went through with all of that.
Tara´s last blog post ..Religion-Politics and Drugs- Day 19 and Day 20
Jeannett, I’m a new reader and am catching up on your life story. Amazingly enough I did blog about my proposal story. And as I went to look for the link, I realized that I blogged about it exactly 2 years ago today! Here it is: http://rmfo-blogs.com/heatherirene/2009/02/17/once-upon-a-time/
Heather Irene´s last blog post ..Holly!
hi jeannett,
i just ‘found’ your blog and i loved this series. so fun to read!
Jeanette! I just found your blog and read over your falling in love and your proposal. I love how angry you were with him!!
While I’m not engaged myself, I did help my cousin propose to his girlfriend (also my best friend) about a week ago. Their engagement involved a bench too!
You can read about it here: http://www.livelylittlemiss.blogspot.com/2012/02/proposal.html
xo. Little Miss
Little Miss´s last blog post ..Answers – Part Seven – {end}
love your story! My husband totally caught me off guard as well! Here’s our story. http://lettersfromlala.com/happy-birthday-to-my-love/