Our Stories
Our Engagement Session
Getting Ticketed
Adam and I scheduled an engagement session with our wedding photographer (Jessica Shepard) so that we could have some nice pictures of us around Portland and so that we could "practice" being the center of the camera's attention.
We decided to meet at Saturday Market so that we could have some pictures under the cherry trees along the waterfront, along with a few pictures at Saturday Market with a more urban feeling.
After get all the pictures we wanted in that area, I suggested we take the Max to the Presbyterian Church on 12th and Morrison. It's a beautiful building and I thought it would be nice have some pictures taken there. We hopped on the Max in to head over and missed the stop we wanted since we were talking. Adam assured us that the next stop was the last stop in fareless square we could just get off there.
We got off at the next stop, which was PGE Park, which is the first stop outside fareless square. And of course it was our luck that Tri-Met fare inspectors were standing there waiting to check tickets. Oops.
Fortunately, Adam and I still have our CA driver's licenses and the Tri-Met fare inspector said that if our records were clean, she would let us off with a warning. She also took pity on our poor photographer. We all chatted a bit and we walked away with just a written warning (we learned that an actual ticket would have cost about $175!). Whew!
After recovering from the minor scare, we decided that it would be a great story and photo op to have our picture taken in front of the Max with our "tickets."
How He Proposed
Tiffani and I were moving to CA. She'd actually left for Hemet at the beginning of June 2007 and was coming back to get me in July. While she was in CA, my mom helped me pick out a ring. I also bought a matching necklace and my mom bought earrings to match as an engagement gift for Tiff (since we were pretty sure Tiff would say yes). Tiff being out of state was the only way she wouldn't find out what I was up to; Tiffani is very hard to surprise and I am not that sneaky.
On our drive from Portland to Southern California, we stayed at our favorite romantic bed & breakfast - the Sandlake Inn. I hadn't really planned out how I was going to ask her. On our second evening at the Inn, we decided to get dressed up to catch sunset at the beach in Oceanside, followed by a nice dinner. While at the beach, Tiff was climbing around on rocks and taking pictures. I wrote "I love you" in the sand below the rock she was standing on. She snapped a picture and began to climb down the other side. As she was walking around I quickly added, "Marry me?" before she walked to the side where I was standing. After a funny look from her, I pulled out the ring and asked her again. She started laughing and crying and said "Of course."
We stayed so long at the beach that all the restaurants in Oceanside closed. We had to drive back up to Tillamook before we could find anything that was open. We celebrated our engagement over a pineapple pizza at Pizza Hut.
How We Met
We actually met on the internet by random chance during my senior year of college. Adam sent me a message in August 2004; I didn't respond until that October. After chatting online and by phone for a few weeks, we decided to get together for lunch and a movie, just as friends. I took the Raz shuttle from Lewis & Clark College and met Adam in downtown Portland. We then took the Max to the Lloyd Center Mall. We had lunch and watched "The Grudge" (which we decided was awful) and decided to head back downtown. Next we had coffee at the Portland Coffee House and took a walk along the Waterfront and around downtown. It was getting late and we were getting hungry, so we took the Raz shuttle up to LC and ate a late dinner at Banning's Pie House before I drove Adam back to his car in Beaverton. The whole date lasted 12 hours! The rest is history.
