Keely and Dominic met one fine summer's (well almost summer) afternoon at a small Memorial Day BBQ . Dominic had just started attending Living Stones Church and was learning to overcome his exhausting nature of 'awkward' by (forcibly) hanging out with a bunch of people from the church, all of whom were mostly strangers. Keely had recently returned from a trip abroad that consumed both her thoughts and conversations (it was New Zealand! How could it not?!).

Dominic had found his way inside to a circle of people, speckled with familiar faces, sitting on the floor, playing a card game. He began to engage a friend he had met not too terribly long before, when Keely came into the room and ninja'd her way into the conversation (because that is what she is good at). Immediately, Dominic was taken aback by what could only be described as indescribable beauty. Even though she had completely robbed the conversation, and Dominic was sweating profusely (because that's what he does) in the corner, her beauty in that white (also known as cream) headband was etched into his mind.

Though Keely at first was intrigued by his wit and rapid form of speech, she eventually chalked this experience up to that which Dominic was all too familiar with; awkwardness.

Not even this uncomfortably brief encounter, however terrifying, would discourage him. For the next two seasons (summer and fall to be exact), he kept an eye out for her each Sunday at church. She was sneaky, arguably non-existent (also known as serving in the Kids Ministry). He began to wonder if this girl was but a fragment of his imagination, when one day, she appeared. Just as beautiful as he remembered, though, in a hurry (she was more interested in, well, anything but the commitment coming from guys). If he was going to talk to her, even to say 'hello', he'd have to act now. But, as I'm sure you've guessed, he froze. As he stood off to the side, out of sight and certainly out of her mind, he watched her walk by, leaving only a missed chance and a bruised covered body maintained by the continuous kicking of himself over the next few months.

Thoughts of her began to fade and lives continued to roll on, when finally a college/young adult retreat reared its beautiful face the following January. Along with the company of two good friends, Dominic wandered all night into a wooded area (Wood Leaf is the official name) in Northern California. Morning was just arriving and he and his gang were in hot pursuit of a shower and a bed. They were able to find the cabins and settle in, just in time for breakfast. They decided to substitute the sleep with coffee and the shower with filth.

Upon walking into the cafeteria, they were greeted by a few friendly faces and escorted to a table with a few open seats. Dominic was relieved to not have to scour the place for a seat, but was soon quite surprised by the beautiful face waiting at the table (not for him of course, for the coming breakfast.) There she was! With a couple of friends, enjoying her morning, well rested from the night before (beauty sleep is a real thing), and anxious for the food that was surely on its way; and he sat right next to her.

Unfortunately, close proximity and a shared breakfast weren't enough. He indeed had not won her over with his display of eating skills and the smell of his all night journey. He had to put in some work. He did not, however, alleviate himself from his natural awkwardness and this new mission posed as 'difficult.'

Aside from the borderline stalking and the feeble attempts to sit near her, his greatest attempt at making himself known to her was about as romantic as a small boy kicking a piece of ice at a girl he would otherwise assume had cooties . As a matter of fact, that's exactly what happened. And though it didn't woo her, it did capture her attention (not many people play footies with ice blocks). He now existed in her eyes.

His first successful attempt to converse with her occurred at a small diner in Grass Valley over lunch on the drive home. He performed his mating dance of sarcasm and joke-telling and she found herself impressed by his ability to banter (the guy had wits).

Over the next few weeks he felt himself slip back into the once miserable distance. Soon after, he was encouraged by a leader in the church to pursue her, and he began to act. He started putting in effort to talk to her, and was even lucky enough to be in a class at the church together (where he purposefully sat next to her every time). He asked her for her number, she kindly turned him down only to give it to him later via facebook (it's the 21^st century).

Texting began and quickly evolved to phone calls. After only a few months (they were actually long months), Dominic was sure that this was the girl; though she would need much more to be convinced... time.

The Prelude

It had been some time now, that Dominic had known he wanted to ask Keely to marry him. He had already picked out the ring with her sister, and picked up a second job to save the money. He bought the ring in April, and immediately began to have nightmares consisting mainly of a particular conversation with Keely's father. After receiving coaching from friends, family, Keely's sister, and oddly enough, Keely herself, Dominic took the plunge and asked Keely's father for his daughter's hand... victory!

Not really... He told Dominic "no"... twice. Dominic was defeated, and yet oddly determined. His advisors were shocked, even Dominic found himself stunned. He wasn't sure what to do. So, upon further counsel and prayer, Dominic divulged the stickiness of the situation to Keely, and began to work with her towards a solution.

In the end, all it took was his daughter's beautiful batting eyelashes, and time, for Keely's father to offer his blessing. When he did, the planning began and Dominic's gears began to turn.

The Plan

Dominic had many plans, and plans to make plans, in regard to how he was going to ask Keely to steer the rest of her life in the same direction as his. He thought maybe a hike. Maybe he would have her parents there. He thought maybe he'd throw in a couple close calls to throw her off... he had built this up in his mind over the prior few months as something that HAD to impress her.

He began to draw up plans with her sister, in secret, and found this to be the most beneficial of routes to take in the endeavor. Shanelle, Keely's sister, had much insight as to the little things Keely wanted her proposal to include. Whether or not she'd want her family there... would she want people around... or would she prefer just the two of them. All of these details were crucial.

As the plan took shape, it was clear that they'd be disguising the proposal as a "surprise" trip to visit Shanelle sown in LA. Dominic proposed the idea of a road trip to Keely, and she began to basically plan the trip herself. Shanelle organized a photographer, a location, a note, and some flowers... she even scouted out the place to decide when might be the best time of day. All of the pieces were in place, all that was left to do was execute.

The Play-by-Play

The day had come. Keely had planned out what she believed to be a completely real trip to LA to surprise her sister. Both Dominic and Keely were ecstatic for the trip. They made their way over to Rocklin and stayed with some family there. The next day they made their way to Santa Cruz to check out the boardwalk and have lunch. Keely had adventurous plans that Dominic was ill equipped to fulfill. A burger and a few wrong turns later, they found themselves in sour moods as they left Santa Cruz toward the most anticipated moment in their relationship.

As they made their way to LA, Keely gave a solid effort to direct the grumpy and tired Dominic, but to no avail... Dominic eventually snapped and decided to be a jerk, and Keely spent the rest of the trip with her eyes closed, either sleeping or pretending to. Meanwhile, Dominic was trying to figure out how to remove the foot from his mouth to apologize.

Just outside the gigantic city, they made an effort to reconcile. Thank goodness they did, because Dominic was beginning to think he'd ruined the whole plan. They made their way to the Observatory, which is where Shanelle was supposedly meeting her friend, only they were a bit early. So they stopped and checked out a few stops until the time was right. As they got to the car and began to make their way to the observatory, Dominic began to silently panic about the traffic. They were moving so slowly and he was concerned about beating the sunset.

As traffic inched along, and they continued to not find a spot, Keely decided to add to the problem by insisting that she get a few photos of the sunset. As they made it to the parking lot, and the sun was almost gone, Dominic parked the car in a spot that was not a spot, and ushered Keely toward the observatory disguising his angst as excitement to surprise Shanelle. They made their way to a fence overlooking a solid chunk of LA and Dominic put on his hood signaling the rest of the crew to start the play.

Just then, a friend of Shanelle's handed some flowers and a note to a confused Keely, and spun her around for better photo angling. After the initial surprise of a stranger inquiring her name and maneuvering her about, she opened the note that read," Love, I love you..." She looked up to a terrified and sweaty Dominic stammering on about fights, and love, and decisions, and then watched him get down on one knee as he asked her, "Keely, will you marry me?" Of course, as you probably guessed given the nature of this story, she said yes, and they spent the rest of the night in an elated state with semi permanent smiles, celebrating the most life-changing decision either of them have ever made.