Proposal
We planned a trip to Hawaii with the Good Times van (beep beep!) for Spring Break 2008. We decided to go through LA and stay a couple of days there, then continue on our journey to paradise. On our last evening in LA, we went to a pub for dinner and beer. It was Saturday night, the weekend before St. Patty's Day, so this place was packed! We managed to find a seat and order some food. Brandon decides to strike up a conversation about our future, and makes the argument that since we weren't sure what city I would be in for nursing school, we should probably wait to get engaged. I countered with the good ole, "When the time is right, it's just right." We agreed to disagree and turned in for the night. (I had no idea what plans Brandon had up his sleeve!)
Brandon here: Little did Marcia know at the time, but I had asked her Dad (and Mom) for her hand several weeks earlier. The pub conversation was my way of making sure Marcia didn't know what was coming.
The next day, we were off to Kauai! We got there in time to have a fantastic dinner with our pals and rest up for our 9 mile hike. The morning of St. Patty's Day, we got up early to hike the trails of the Nualolo Valley. 9 miles was the goal for most of us... one of us had an additional goal. We had hiked at least 3 miles (according to our trusty Garmin), when we reached one of many stunning views. After several pictures, everyone else wanted to keep hiking, but Brandon said he needed to rest a little longer, so we stayed behind to look at the beautiful Napali coast for a few more moments.
Brandon was sitting behind me, so I didn't notice when he got down on a knee. I felt him strugging with something, and so I started to turn around to see what was going on, when he pointed and said, "Look at that helicopter!" Sure enough, there was a helicopter coming in for a tour of the gorgeous valley below. I began to suspect something and turned back around to see him on one knee. With a small wooden ring box in his hands, He said, "Marcia, I love you so much, and you're my favorite person in the whole world. Will you marry me?"
The rest is history! Our friends had ventured to the next lookout point and actually captured the moments (click the picture on the right to see the cliff he proposed on!). We had about 6 more miles to hike after this, and all I could do the entire time was stare lovingly at my new fiance (who would stare lovingly back) and look down at my perfect shiny new diamond ring.
The rest of the 8 day trip was wonderful. I was still tired after our overnight flight back to Austin, so much so that I almost missed Brandon's second surprise. About half way down the escalator I finally looked up to see mine and Brandon's family standing at the bottom!
The entire week was great and the proposal day was the most romantic, spectacular day, and one that we will always remember.