The Setup
October 21st was a stunning Sunday, perhaps the most beautiful day of 2007. Fiya and I decided to go for a hike in the forests in Northern Virginia . The Potomac river was quite low, allowing us to hop-scotch from rock to rock until we were standing in the middle of the river. I suggested we take some photos of the scenery and setup the camera. As I fiddled with the tripod, she was enjoying the cloudless cerulean sky, the music of the flowing water, and the onset of autumn colors. Fiya had no idea what was about to happen.

The Moment

She was enjoying the scenery, unaware of my scheming. I set the auto-timer on the camera and teetered over to her. "What are you doing?" she asked puzzled by the box I pulled from my backpack. Trying to remain composed while balancing on the small rocks and racing the camera’s shutter timer, I knelt down on one knee....

"Fiya Lee, will you spend the rest of your life with me?" I proposed. From the expression on her face, it was clear that the moment was a successful surprise. However, her response almost had me laughing into the water.

"Are you kidding me?!?" she gasped. *click* went the camera.

The first photo is priceless. She was obviously in shock. I tried rephrasing my question.

"Will you marry me?" I asked while slowly sliding down the steep rock toward the water’s edge.

There were a series of high pitched whimpering noises and what seemed to be an eternity's wait.

"YES!"

The Beginning

We were engaged on the most beautiful day of the year, lost amongst the woods, standing on a tiny island of rocks, seemingly miles away from everything. She laughed when she realized that I had been setting her up for months. The first picture shows her reaction. The second picture shows the engagement ring looking stunning on her hand. The final picture is us, the happy couple.