I got up the nerve to buy the ring in the middle of July 2003, and was waiting for the right opportunity to make the proposal. Laurie was going out of town the week
of August 4th, and wasn't going to get home until that Thursday. Before that, we'd went and bought a new kitchen furniture set that was going to be ready for delivery that same day. To 'celebrate' the fact that we actually had a real place to sit down and eat, I told Laurie that I was going to make a nice dinner
when she got back into town. Also, I told her that I had a little surprise waiting for her.
To cloud what the actual surprise was, I also went
out and purchased a new dinner plate set that Laurie had really wanted. So, after we sat down, I whipped out the new plates, and tada - there was her surprise (at least that's what she thought). I told her I was going to serve her a 4 course meal, including cooked shrimp for an appetizer, and a nice salad and
steak for dinner, then dessert, all prepared before she got back to the house.
So the time comes for dessert, and I got out the new bowls that I had just
bought, wrapped in tin foil - one for me, one for her. I opened mine first, and it contained some crunch brownie treates that Laurie had made prior to going out of town. Then I unwrapped hers (she's thinking she's getting the same thing), only to unveil a little wooden box. I asked Laurie to marry me and
the rest is history.
I had just been on an extremely dull sales trip to Cleveland, and was discouraged because I couldn't get an early flight home. I was looking forward to a shower,
the couch, and the 'special' dinner Todd was going to fix to celebrate our new table.
I can assure you I had NO idea he was going to propose. I mean, we
had been on a cruise to the Bahamas - no proposal. We had just spent a wonderful weekend in Key West - no proposal. We stayed on the beach at Marco Island the weekend before I was out of town - no proposal.
So when I came to dinner in boxers, a t-shirt and a towel on my head, I thought nothing of it. Little did I know it would be a turning point in my life. PS - now you know why there aren't many pictures to document the
engagement :)
