I had an idea of how I wanted to propose to keep it a surprise. It needed to be on a Tuesday, because that's $5 movie night at the Monaco. Dinner and a movie was a common date for us on Tuesday's, so that's what she would expect. The ring arrived on a Monday morning. After talking to Abby, it was decided that the time was "tomorrow". Better get to planning.

Tuesday evening. We went to dinner at Casa Blanca, a favorite of ours. Nothing super nice, just a place we love and where she wouldn't expect anything. I'd say I did pretty good at not being nervous and maintaining normal conversation. Our movie time was for 7pm, so I made sure we left early enough to "have time to walk around the lake". We have also done that before, so again, no suspicions. When we got out of the car at Bridge Street, I sneakily stuck the ring box in my sock. That's right, my sock. It was a tall sock that stretched enough to fit the behemoth in, and the pants were able to cover it up. I was betting she wouldn't focus on my lower left calf. We walked a lap of the pond behind the Westin and the carousel. Once we made it back to the wooden bridge by a small waterfall overlooking the lake, I said my magical words, and then bent down. She thought I was tying my shoe. I brought up a box, and she was speechless. I explained a little more how much I love her, and asked her to marry me. Success.

After a few minutes of smiles and hugs and laughter and diamonds, I hinted at the spies to come down. Emory and Abby had been hiding up on the Melting Pot balcony, watching and taking photos. Abby and Hannah made girl noises for a bit, and Emory shook my hand. Emory took some more photos, and then we walked up to the balcony to thank the owner for allowing us to use it. He ended up giving us free champagne and telling us about his own proposal some 50 years ago.

Next, we were going to "put the pictures on my computer". We drove over to my apartment, and I made Hannah walk in first. Surprise!! A small group of our friends and family were there waiting for us. All of Hannah's favorite foods were sitting there on the counter, music was playing, and balloons were flying. It was a fantastic time with lots of hugs and smiles and stories and food.

It took a few days for everything to sink in.

Photos