The proposal

I woke up around 11 feeling very tired and hungover from the night before. I had rescue duty later on that evening so I wanted to get a few household chores (mostly laundry) done before rescue duty. The phone rings and it is Val wanting to go out for lunch since she was going to be in the area. I told her I already ate and wasn’t feeling very good so I declined. She texted me telling me she at least wants to do coffee because she got into a fight with her boyfriend and wanted to talk. I sighed and told her I already put on a pot of coffee so come on over and we will talk at he house. It ended up her telling me to get into the damn shower and get dressed. (At this point I am feeling like a bad friend).

I got out of the shower and went downstairs to get some coffee (I really needed it bad) and I looked through the window of my front door and thought I saw a white limo in front of my house. Did I mention I almost fell down the last stair on my staircase?? OUCH! I shrugged it off and went to get my cup of coffee. Once I returned with my coffee I noticed the limo was gone and I just shook my head and figured I hallucinated the whole thing.

So, it was 70 degrees outside so I felt confident that a tank top and jean shorts would be appropriate for a quick cup of coffee, right??? Not at all. Val came over and the limo driver came back (whew, I wasn’t hallucinating, thank goodness) Val stood outside of the limo with a sunflower (they are happy flowers) and told me to get in. I peered inside the limo to see what kind of trick was following next, but to no avail, nothing happened.

Our first stop was at Dunkin Donuts (for those of you that know the story of how we got together, this was very appropriate) Val handed me a letter that I was supposed to open inside and it told me to buy something to remember this moment (ummm…a diet pepsi and a blueberry muffin) The letter told me I was going to be making several stops along the way that would remind me of our relationship. So we drove from Chesapeake out to Virginia Beach where it all started.

The very first thing Andy ever bought me was a cup of coffee from Starbucks. We drove to the very Starbucks that we went to that night we were on rescue duty and I found a very special surprise inside. My friends Shannon and Joe were inside holding another individual sunflower (get it? We were playing a game here) and they handed me another letter. That letter instructed me to the next destination.

From that point we proceeded to the Oceanfront where Andy and I had our first date. Our first dinner date was at this sushi restaurant, Osaka. We went inside and we found another friend, Raj with the next sunflower and the next clue.

A little side note about the limo driver. He was this 81 year old man who has driven a limo for 15 years. (He actually tried to get us to “guess his age.” Sorry, not playing that game.) Everyone that saw him help us out of the limo thought he was going to code right there. Someone even asked if we knew the location of an AED. Anyway, this guy was a little uptight about making it to his next gig. I don’t care about someone else’s wedding, this is my dam proposal. This guy kept trying to hurry us through my little scavenger hunt.

Anyways, our next stop was at Hot Tuna where Andy and I finished up our first date with a night cap. There is a rock outside of Hot Tuna where he and I shared our first kiss. I had to stand on that rock to reach his lips due to my being vertically challenged. My friends, Heike and Tracey were waiting with a sunflower and our next clue. The clue led me to my first apartment where our date had ended.

When we drove up to the apartment at Chicks Beach, there was an actual fire alarm in progress so there were a few fire engines on scene. Val and I looked at each other like, “now he’s just showing off.” I thought my next flower was going to come from a fire fighter. Since we both work closely with the department it could have happened! Instead the limo pulls up and I see my brother Matt and his wife Virginia, his brother Daniel and his wife Jen sitting by the car holding the next flower. (At this point I’m definitely convinced something serious is about to happen) They give me my next clue and the instructions tell me to go for a walk on the beach.

It was very foggy at Chick’s Beach so I had to decide which way to go. Daniel said there was only one right way, so I went right. I walked a little ways down and found Andy dressed up in a suit (tank top and shorts????) with a bottle of champagne chilling. He had a half a dozen red roses in his hands. He took both of my hands and said, “these past two years have been the best years of my life. With the blessing of your father, will you marry me?” OF COURSE I SAID YES!!!! We all toasted to our engagement with the bubbly that accompanied Andy.

After the proposal, Andy suggested that we go get a drink to celebrate. We drove over to Chicks grill and of course I would not have known it but there were tons of people (friends and family alike) ready to celebrate our engagement! I don't think I had ever cried that much in my life! It was such an awesome day. One that I hope I will never forget!!