It wasn't too long ago that I proposed to Michelle and saw the tremendous amount of happiness in her eyes, but time is flying quick (already 7 months until the wedding)!
Anyways, for those of you that haven't heard how it all went down, this is the post to read:
Michelle and I had a camping trip planned at Huntington Lake, nothing out of the ordinary, just another regular camping trip we wanted to take like all of the others we love so much. I figured that that weekend would be the perfect opportunity to pop the question; us being in the mountains and surrounded by trees, it's everything we love.
So I decided that I would place the ring on top of the frosting on a cupcake since baking is her biggest passion (it's what she's basing her life around anyways!) But that wasn't easy, I had to sneak over to buy the cupcakes without her noticing or finding them in the fridge since I had bought them the night before. The next day came around and I was glad she hadn't found them yet, but now I had to sneak them into the car with all of our camping stuff and hope she wouldn't see them again, and thankfully it worked out... again.
As the night rolled on and we were all settled in at the campsite after a fun day, I got more and more nervous to get the cupcakes out, set the ring on top, and bring it out to her in a cute and romantic way. Eventually when the time was right, I walked over to the car and opened up the cupcake box and opened I up... they were both melted to the point of looking like hot fudge splattered all over the inside of the box. My heart was racing and I had NO CLUE what I was going to do now. The night was coming to an end and we sat inside the tent talking before bed like we usually do, but my mind was so pre-occupied I couldn't really concentrate and felt like she could see something was wrong.
The next day, after a lot of thought, I figured that I would just take her for a drive and see if I could find a cute, secluded and elevated area to pop the question. We drove around and eventually came to the Huntington Lake dam and decided we should walk down and just relax by the water. We found an area just past the damn with a secluded shoreline where we could just sit right by the water and hang out. I finally realized that this would be the perfect area to propose, but there was only one problem. The ring was still hidden in the car (from me thinking there would be nothing special by the dam). I needed a reason to go back to the car to get the ring, so I made up an excuse to head back to our camp a mile or two back to get my swimsuit, which I really didn't have and needed. After we got back to the dam I made sure to stuff the ring in my shoes in our tote bag.
The view from the dam
We hung out by the water for 30 mins or so and ate some snacks and tried to catch minnows with Ziploc bags (for Michelle, I swear she insisted we catch one). I eventually noticed that to the right of where we were sitting the shoreline stuck out a bit (to where you couldn't see what was around it) and then back again. So I tucked the ring box into my waist band of my swimsuit and walked across the rocky shoreline to the alcove (while almost dropping the ring in the water) and saw a perfect tiny log to place the ring on. So I set it down on top of it and tried calling Michelle over to me to sit where I was and hoped that as she came around the bend she would notice it and I would ask her those four words. But she didn't want to come over at the moment, so I walked back to her and sat for a few more minutes.
Proposal right around the corner!
Eventually I said we should go to where I was because there was shade and we didn't have sunscreen. She finally gave in and began walking over while I walked right behind her. She got about halfway over (right to the point where you could see around the bend) and stopped. I could tell she noticed something weird.
Turns out she was just pointing out some trees along the water that looked like they grew cotton on them... great, she didn't even notice the ring! A few second later after admiring the trees she asked me what the heck was over there and I told her I have no idea what you're talking about. She said, "Ty, I think there's a ring over there, OH MY GOD I think somebody was going to propose here!"
She had no idea!!!
Just as I came up right behind her to pretend to see what she was talking about, she turned around and saw me on one knee. I told her how much I loved her and asked if she would marry me, and I was only able to make it about halfway through before the tears started flowing (and she almost got me going too!).
And I don't know why so much nervousness had built up inside me all weekend from just the thought of me asking her, because of course she told me yes, albeit in the midst of her crying.
I swear we spent the rest of that weekend camping just looking at the new ring on her finger with huge smiles on both of our faces; we couldn't stop talking about it! But I guess that's what happens when you decide to spend the rest of your life with your best friend and the most amazing girl in the world.
