Resilience712: August 2017

Good Afternoon!

Do you want to know how the proposal unfolded?

To all the faithful readers, I'll get straight to the point.

I will be getting married this summer to best friend :) In this post I only hope to encourage someone and as the saying goes, "A joy shared is doubled". By the goodness of God, I am marring a godly girl, kingdom minded, that works hard. I will have to do a post on the type of person you should look for. Anyway, as members of God's church, it is a time to rejoice. I look forward to the next wedding in our church, to rejoice with whoever it is. With that in mind......

I took Crystal on a date, we for the most part each live pretty busy lives. At the time, it was high stress for both of us. I hope this would play well into the element of surprise. I can recall telling her that we needed a date and time to just hang out. I reached out to our most faithful chaperone. Thank God for Mary Perez. lol (Name Drop) I did not tell Mary about our plans. I called some close friends of ours and family members.

Where did you propose at? I thought this would be the hardest thing to determine. I looked at many different places. I am not a "Cheesy" kind of guy. If you are and you're reading this, more power to you. lol I also don't believe in making something like this a public spectical. So it had to be breathtaking and peaceful. When Point Dume came across my search, I felt so at peace with it. I also became super anxious once I found the location.

Image result for point dume beach sunset

I went to the location days before and scouted the area. Took pictures and even stood in the exact location. I looked for a restaurant that was close by.

Interesting details of the planning:

1) Hiring photographers, a great team of guys that were referred to me by a close friend. They are the same group that shot the proposal, engagement, and will be doing the wedding. I will gladly forward you any information should you need it. They really captured the natural joy of each moment. Nothing felt scripted. I told them about my plans to propose and so they posed as guys simply taking pictures up at the top of the cliff.

2) Hiring a musician. A guitarist and vocalist all wrapped in one. I had him work directly with the photographers and they even pretended to take pictures of him up there. He would begin to play my request once she said yes.

3) The restaurant was a place I had taken her before, only further adding to the element of surprise. (Talk more about this shortly.)

4) I had to be very short with crystal and misleading in our conversations leading up to this. It was rough but I really wanted to surprise her.

5) I will never forgetting calling one of her best friends the day of the proposal. I called at 9am and basically said, "____ where are you?, it's happening today" She had no idea what I was talking about, took her a few more seconds...She said, "No way!" and screamed. I was very careful with all the planning. I didn't even tell our Chaperogne! lol

6) Buying the watch, it was the most difficult part! guys start your search early on that! know what she likes and start your search early. My coworkers were touched when I explained the reason for the no rings and how we really don't need a ring or watch to represent our commitment. It was about the way we conducted ourselves. There are those that where rings and don't act as if they are married. My coworker, even cried when I explained this to her. She was so deeply moved.

6) Working with my pastor through the whole process leading up to being able to propose. Just know that your pastor desires to work with you and is there to help.

There are many more points but those are just a few.

They day of

I had breakfast with her father that morning, she did not even know. Her father and I are both very early birds. I will never forget that breakfast and our discussions....

So the day of, I gave the impression that I was very busy that day. Even changing the time once I believe. We all rode to the restaurant together which was a very short drive from the location. I felt I was for the most part calm. My biggest fear was her finding out, I worked so hard at keeping everything under wraps. We made reservations but the place was very crowded. We had no choice on the seating location. Which was nice however seated right in front of the road that lead to the entrance of the proposal location. I feared she would recognize one of the cars of those that came to be a part. Girls, never underestimate them. They are very very keen. Almost like a 6th sense. So for me, the seating location really set me into a panic. I complained about being cold where I was sitting at our location and traded places with her. I felt like she was still looking at the outside, who could blame her, it was a coastal view. I didn't feel safe so I switched seats with her again. I will never forget Mary's look on her face at my actions. lol! I saw some of the cars cross by and got her attention each time with random statements. Once it was getting time I excessed myself and paid bill and sent a text to my main contact, that we were heading up!!. I had the watch I had purchased. I somehow fit in my back pocket. I drove us up to the point and we walked and walked. I pointed to the location and we started walking there. Somehow we ended up loosing our chaperone in the process!! I knew there were at least a dozen pair of eyes glued on us so we continued. I found this to be the weirdest part. I remember thinking, what is wrong with Mary?!! (I later found out that my main contact told her!!!) I will never forget once we reached the cliff.

I checked what time the sun would set. It was beautiful and windy. The photographers even found a way to hold down our spot, my heart was racing as I lead her to that point. I really can't explain the feeling. We got to the edge (some words were said, none of which I will share) lol I got on one knee and the rest of was history. We then heard a bunch of snapping and a lot of screaming from the distance where our family and friends were hiding. lol!

Pictures :)