The Engagement Story

If you haven't heard, Julie and I got engaged on October 22nd, 2005! This was very exciting for the both of us, and we're also very excited to plan the wedding (although she'll probably do more planning than me:)).

It's been amazing how many people have asked to hear the story of the proposal (that seems to be *the* question to ask someone who has just got engaged), so I wanted to record it here for public record and posterity:).

Leading up to the proposal, there were a great many feelings going through my head. I was relaxed yet nervous, impatient yet unhurried, worried yet self assured. All in all, it was a really fun time!

Oh, and before I forget, here's Julie's write up of the event.

And now, the story...


Late on Friday, October 21st, we arrived in Athen's for OU's homecoming. All of Julie's immediate family was in town for the fun: her parents (Tom and Elaine), brother (Jeff), and new sister-in-law (Cindy). Home Coming at OU truly is an event to be experienced, and so we decided to start our experience Saturday morning by watching the annual Home Coming parade march by.

After the parade (and some hot chocolate - it was a cold, rainy, fall morning, after all), we marched ourselves over to the tailgating area of campus for some hot food, which Julie, with her OU connections, was able to provide for us. I recalled that it was during OU's homecoming a couple of years ago that Jeff and Cindy got into what you might call a bit of an altercation. That was also the same homecoming that I had a bit of an accident. I digress...

After our quick lunch, we all headed over to the football game and watched OU thoroughly beat the opposition.

Once the game let out, I announced that Julie and I were going to go on a picnic - which, in retrospect didn't make much sense since it was generally gloomy and cold out. But I packed a few essentials up (like an engagement ring) and Julie and I went up to Radar Hill (her pick) and relaxed in the rays of the setting sun for a while.

Without going into too many details (the guys never want to hear the details), that was where I proposed to Julie! I had brought a few presents for her - some of the same flavored ice cream that we had had on our first date, a journal that I had kept, and some other goodies too (did I mention an engagement ring?). It had turned out to be a beautiful evening - the sun was setting and the hills were covered with trees that were all in their fall colors. We had a great time talking and drinking champagne, but finally needed to leave as it was getting dark and COLD.


When we arrived back at Jeff and Cindy's place, we thought it would be funny to try to hide the ring and see how long it took everyone to notice. Well, it took Julie's mom all of ten seconds to sniff out the ring - you know what they say - "A mother knows."

We celebrated by toasting with the champagne I had brought for the occasion and having a great dinner as well (thanks, Cindy!).

And that, dear readers, is the story of our engagement.

Here are my two photo albums from that weekend:
* Homecoming
* Engagement