Karen and I were going on an epic road trip down the west coast and back up through Montana this summer. We started by visiting her sister on Vancouver island. I had been saving for a while for the ring, had it in my pocket, and was ready to go. I thought it would be cool for Karen to get to celebrate with her sister, so I was thinking I might pop the question on Vancouver Island.

No luck... there just weren't any moments that worked (proposing right after she bungee jumped would have been funny, but maybe not the best way to keep the memory.

All down the coast I had the ring burning a hole in my pocket as I waited for the perfect moment. I chickened out several times, but in the end it worked out.

We were in San Diego (at the zoo), trying to figure out what to do that night, and I jumped at the chance to try and get an evening tour on the ocean somehow. I had found a stand up paddle company in Oceanside, and we tried and tried to get a hold of them, but no luck. We had kind of given up and were ready to go into San Diego to try and find some sea kayaking when they called back. In an hour we had it set up, grabbed dinner and were down on the dock ready to go.

I had the ring with me, in a buttoned down shirt pocket, but I was still a bit sketchy about that. When Karen was parking the car I told the guide and she helped me set up a little plan. After an hour of paddling around the harbour playing with the seals we headed out to sea. We got about a mile out in the 6 - 8 foot swells. Of course, by this point I had fallen in about 15 times. My gut reaction every time I fell was terror that I'd lose the ring, so my hand would go straight to my pocket.

Finally, we got out and sat on our boards to watch the sunset, and the guides gave us some privacy. Karen and I had little jokes we'd been playing around with the whole time we were on the road (while at Disneyland 'you know what would be awesome? What? Disneyland!' So I said 'You know what would be awesome?'. She replied 'paddleboarding!'
'No, not paddleboarding... getting married!'

She replied 'yeah that would be awesome', but didn't really connect that I was proposing, so I did it properly and asked her to marry me. She said yes, then asked 'you don't have the ring out here do you?'

After gingerly and carefully showing her the ring, she made me take it back and put it away. We sat for a bit, posed for some pictures then paddled back in, except now everytime I fell in, she got to worry about the ring!

We finished the evening walking the pier in Oceanside and going for milkshakes at an old 50s diner at the end of the pier, then with Champagne to celebrate.

For the first few months Ryan and I dated, my answer to the "how we met" question was "in a coffee shop". Technically, that is true - the first time we actually MET each other (in person) was at Kaffa in Marda Loop. However, we'd had lots of correspondence before then. Eventually, I wanted him to meet a few of my friends. He was happy to, but he warned me that he wouldn't be lying for me. DARN IT. He values honesty, so I had to 'fess up.

So, here it is: I'm telling the world. WE MET ONLINE - Lavalife to be specific.

Jen (my roomie at the time) and I felt that we weren't meeting a lot of new people, so we signed up for LavaLife, and began the wonderful, and scary, world of online dating. I met a few people, one of them being Ryan.

At the time, Ryan travelled a lot for work (he used to be an engineer), meaning the "online" portion of our dating was pretty long. We met a few times for coffee, and one horrible game of frisbee on Princess Island Park.
Our coffee dates weren't really dates though - more just hanging out. I thought for sure we weren't going to work out.

To my surprise, Ryan did ask me out on a real date. He was soooo cute - complete with two-tone shoes. We went to an italian restaurant on 17th ave, then off to Murietta's for drinks and dancing.

A few things worth mentioning from our first date that made me smitten for Ryan:
1 - at Muriettas, Ryan asked me to dance. So sweet, right? hehehe. I said I would if he would dance FOR me for one minute first. He did. Solo Charleston if I remember correctly. That's one of my favorite memories of Ryan. I think a lot of guys would have laughed at the request, but Ryan pulled it off with STYLE.

2. Another evil trick - on the walk, Ryan decided to hold my hand. Now, I know this is pure evil, but when he reached for my hand I freaked out, yelling included. I am soooo mean. But remember, back in elementary school, don't they teach children that the kids who tease them, probably have a crush on them? Of course, after the freakout I let him know I was just joking, and on we walked, hand in hand.

3. To end the night, yes, Ryan did go in for the good night kiss. So sweet. It's awkward though, when you have the goodnight kiss, then walk into your building, then have to run back outside to your date. But that's what I had to do, because a drunken homeless person followed me into the building, and I didn't want him coming to my floor. A little hanging out, a second good night kiss, and I was on my way.

A great date, a guy with a good sense of humor, and a wonderful start to the rest of the story...