we're engaged

on saturday, august 2 erin and i flew out to san francisco where i proposed to her at the old dutch windmill in golden gate park. here is our story...

a: 4:45am my alarm clock goes off and i pry myself out of bed. we were out the night before at dinner and a movie with erin's mom and our friends david and jess. we didn't get back until late, so that did nothing to help my early wakeup. i woke up early on the pretenses that i was going on a bike ride with one of my co-workers. erin had plans to go the lake that day so we had already planned on not seeing each other for much of the day. i was trying to get everything in order before i left which caused me to run late that morning. by the time i made it to the airport there was only an hour til my flight. after taking the shuttle to the airport and then standing in line to check my bag i made it to the counter with only 42 minutes before my flight was to leave. unfortunately when i tried to check in i was told i was unable to do so because i had to have luggage checked no later than 45 minutes until the flight. i was able to track down a ticket agent and explain my situation. he let me slide and i was on my way. crisis averted.

e: I woke up at 8:00am thinking I had an hour and half before my friends were suppose to meet me at our place to go to my parents lake house for the day. I had just taken a shower and was toweling off when I heard a knock on our door. I threw on my robe and went to look out the eye hole of the door to see who it was so early in the morning since I was not expecting anyone. I noticed it was my three girlfriends who were supposed to meet me at 9:30. I let them in and asked why they were early and said I thought we decided 9:30. They preceded to tell me that there was a change in plans and that I had 30 minutes to pack a bag. I argued with them for a few minutes to try and get something out of them but with no luck. They handed me a packing list and a clue from Adam that told me I was going on a trip and to listen to my friends. I don't pack well to begin with so 30 minutes was not a very long time when I had no clue where I was going. My friends ended up packing for me so I could get dress and we ended up leaving out half of the packing list Adam gave me as I was completely disheveled and nervous. My three friends, Summer, Meredith and Amanda who I worked with at Cottingham-Chalk dropped me off at the airport with two hours before my flight, the earliest I had been in a long time. I found out later I was suppose to have an hour and half to pack. At the airport they gave me the weather report that they had forgotten to give me when packing and I found out where I was going which was San Fransisco! I was completely surprised and could not believe I was flying to California. I said goodbye to my friends and was off to my flight. I was so confused and was not sure what to think at this point.

a: it was little over a five hour flight from charlotte to san francisco. i passed the time by watching a couple of movies and planning out what i was going to say to erin once i saw her. i was also going over in my head what still needed to be done when i landed. i would check my watch every so often and think to myself i wonder what erin is doing right now. i wish i could have been there to see the chaos that was ensuing. my flight was on time landing in san francisco just after 9:30am pacific time. i was able to take the bart train all the way into union square and then walk the five blocks to the hotel. we stayed at the warwick hotel in the theater district of san francisco. it was a smaller boutique hotel in a perfect location for sight seeing and walking around town. i was able to get an early check-in which was a huge time saver. after checking in and showering i took a cab down to the cliff house where erin and i were going to have dinner and then walked a few blocks down to the windmill where i saw for the first time (in person) where i was going to propose.

e: I landed in Phoenix after my first leg of the trip and was able to open another clue. In the clue Adam had said he was sorry for rushing me around but that I was halfway done and gave me some money if I got hungry which was very cute.

a: i grabbed a bite to eat down by the water and then made my way back to a bus stop where i took the number 38 all the way back to the hotel. once back at the hotel i made a quick call to my friend dave who was picking up erin from the airport just to go over our plans for the rest of the day. after the call i went out in search of some flowers and found a stand near union square and picked up a bouquet to leave in the room upon erin's arrival. i also made a feudal attempt at picking up a jacket for erin (after landing in san francisco i received an email from erin's mom informing me that erin had left in such a hurry that she forgot to pack her shoes and a jacket. it turns out she did remember her shoes, but the jacket she still forgot. she made due without it though). once back at the hotel i wrote down the last remaining clues i had for her and took at quick 20 minute power nap.

e: My flight to San Francisco was a shorter flight then my last and I made some friends on the airplane that tried to get me to open up all the rest of the clues. My seat on the second flight put me next to a friendly women and her husband who I talked with the whole flight. She asked me what I was doing in San Fransisco and I told her about the clues and how I had no idea where I was going. She was so impressed with the story and fell in love with Adam right there. She told the flight attendant as well as her best friend that was in first class who later came back with a glass of wine for me. It was a fun flight and she asked me to open all the other clues because she wanted to know what was happening but I was a good girl and only opened the next clue that said I could once I had landed. I read it aloud to the women and the flight attendant which told me that Dave, Adam's friend from Atlanta, was going to be picking me up at baggage claim.

a: dave's phone call woke me up. he was calling to let me know he had just talked to erin. her flight got in early and was waiting for him at the airport. that gave me about 30 minutes to shower and get out of the hotel. after double checking the room to make sure i had not missed anything i grabbed the camera and the ring and headed out the door. i went up the street a few blocks to a cafe and had a drink and waited until dave had dropped erin off at the hotel. from the hotel dave drove up the street and picked me up and we were on our way to the proposal site. the windmill is about a 15 minute drive down geary st, so it wasn't long before we found ourselves down there wondering what to do for the next 2 hours. i asked dave to drive by the windmill so he could take a look at it and we circled the nearby streets a few times trying to find a spot for us to park and relax. we wound up at a thai restaurant right across the street from the ocean. it seemed odd to me, but all we really needed was a place to sit for a while. dave did a good job keeping my focus off the proposal mostly trying to talk me into moving out to california with him (he's still got me thinking about it). it's a paradise for anyone into the outdoors.

e: Once my flight landed I headed to the baggage claim area where Dave was going to be picking me up. My flight landed early only I did not realize that because I did not know when it was suppose to be arriving so I called Dave (Adam had given me his number in the clue) and he did not answer. I was told not to call Adam but to call my girls that dropped me off at the airport. I gave them a call as well, but the didn't answer either. I started to get nervous because I had been down for 15 minutes and was not sure what to do next because I had no idea where to go. Dave ended up calling me back shortly thereafter and I waited for him outside in the cool San Francisco weather. Dave picked me up and I tried to get some information out of him but he said he did not know anything, so instead I talked to him about San Fransisco and his girlfriend which I later found out was his fiance. It was nice to take my mind off of the craziness for a few minutes as I was getting more and more nervous as I got closer to the hotel. However, I really was hoping Adam was at the hotel as I just wanted to see him.

a: 6:45 rolled around and we made the short car ride over to the windmill. dave was with me to take a couple of pictures of the engagement, so i rehearsed with him where i would meet erin and then take her into the center of the garden to propose. when we got there there were a few people hanging out and playing with their children and yes, i was hoping they would leave, but that didn't happen. 7:00pm rolls around and erin has not made it to the windmill yet. i'm starting to wonder where they're at. dave gives me a call from just up the street and asks me if i want him to call the car company, which i do. after a few minutes dave comes back down the street and gives me the thumbs up, which i assume meant that everything was good to go. it's 7:15 and i'm starting to wonder where they could be and before i could really finish my thought erin, looking as beautiful, as ever comes walking out from behind a tree. i see her and my face instantly lights up as i'm so excited to see her and know that she's made it here safely.

e: I get to the hotel and walk up to the front desk and ask if there is a key for me. They give me a key to 201 and I walk up hoping Adam might be there. I walk in and see gorgeous flowers on the bed along with another clue that says Adam will be taking me to dinner and for me to wear something nice. The car was set to arrive at 6:45 to pick me up. The clue also read that the driver should know where to go and I will have to open another clue once I get into the car. I was surprised by all of this and immediately took a shower and got dressed. It was cold in San Francisco and in my rush I did not pack a jacket or sweater to go over my dress. I contemplated going outside to one of the stores to pick something up but later decided to forget about it. I was ready within 45 minutes and still had an hour left before the car was to pick me up. I just sat on the bed and did not turn on the TV as I was just feeling excited and nervous at the same time. I watched the clock hit 6:40 and headed down to the lobby to get into the car. Once I got in the car the driver was a little confused and asked me where Adam was. I told him I had no clue and that I thought he was suppose to take me to him as that is what my clue said. It turns out that he was a new driver and new to the area so he did not know where to go. Adam had left me a clue to take in the car, so I opened it and inside was a map of where to go and told me where he was and that I should hurry up and come and get him. I told the driver and we stopped and asked a police officer how to get to the windmill that I was suppose to find Adam at and it turned out to be a straight shot from the hotel. The driver was really nice and I told him about my trip so far and he seemed excited for us and told me he was having a baby and he was 56 years old but was very happy. We talked all the way to the windmill and he pulled to the side of the road and let me out of the car and was going to wait for us.

a: i met erin half-way up the path and gave her a great big hug. i took her hand and walked her over into the garden. i was asking her how her trip went and seeing how her day had progressed. when we came to a stop in the garden (the middle was no longer an option. a family or two had taken over that area) i tried to speak but i couldn't. tears started down my face and i couldn't get the words out. luckily i had written down what i wanted to say to erin on the plane and was able to read the letter i had written to her. once i managed to make it though that (with a few more tears) i dropped to one knee where i took out the ring and asked erin to marry me. by this time erin was crying a little to, but said yes through the tears. i placed the ring on her finger and gave her another big hug.

e: I walked out of the car and was not sure where to go but walked towards the windmill. As soon as I turned the corner I saw Adam standing there looking very handsome at the bottom of the windmill. Apparently there were other people around but I did not notice them once I saw Adam I was so happy to see him. I walked up to him and told him he was crazy for flying me out to San Francisco and he just gave me a huge hug. He took me by the hand and walked me out towards the garden. There were some kids that were running around so we walked over to the side of the garden where Adam took out a piece of paper and started to read it. He was saying the most beautiful things and was crying as he said them that I started to wipe away his tears as he read. When he looked up at me I began to cry as well as I could tell how much he loves me in his face and in his words. When he finished we both were teary and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said "YES I will marry you" and went directly for a hug and didn't even look at the ring. He asked me if I was even going to look at the ring and I said "oh yeah" and saw such a beautiful ring that was just perfect. He put it on my finger and we just kissed and held each other for a few minutes. Adam's friend Dave was taking pictures of the whole thing and we stayed a took a few pictures before we left for dinner.

a: dave our paparazzi for the day was still snapping pictures and was able to capture the moment perfectly. we took a few more pictures of us around the gardens and at the windmill and then made our way to dinner. it was a quick trip up to the cliff house, only a 2 or 3 minute car ride. the car dropped us off for dinner and we made our way around to the back of the restaurant to take in the views of the pacific ocean. it was just about sunset when we were seated at our table near a window and we were able to watch a beautiful sunset over the ocean and enjoy a perfect dinner together. it was an incredible night and worked out just the way i had planned it. going into this weekend it was always on my mind that something could go wrong, any slight change in my plans or erin's would have thrown a wrench into the whole night, but it worked and it was perfect!

e: We got back in the car and the driver dropped us off at dinner at the Cliff House. We had an amazing table by the window so we could watch the sunset. It was the most perfect day in my life and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Adam planned everything out and I am so blessed to have him. All of my flights were early which never happens with me and it just goes on to show that with Adam my life is perfect and meant to be. I love him so much and will never forget this Amazing day!!!

we spent sunday sightseeing and made our to many of san francisco's landmarks. we traveled down to fisherman's wharf by cable car and then walked over to ghiradelli square where erin sampled the ice cream and i had an old fashioned root beer float. after desert we made the walk up to lombard square to see the "most crooked" street and grabbed a few photos. after that we made the trek to nearest bus stop to go over to the golden gate bridge where we stayed for a bit. from there it was back into town where we toured the union square area and headed into china town. my night's end we were beat and had a casual dinner at a grill down the street from the hotel.

monday we were on the plane again, this time together. we had a 9am flight to las vegas and from there back to charlotte. upon our return to charlotte i had another surprise waiting for erin. i managed to get our parents and friends in the area to have a surprise party to celebrate the engagement. when erin opened the door she was greeted by our families and closest friends which made it the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.