The Proposal
Bride's version: "He proposed on a power point presentation." To clarify "It was a very creative and romantic power point presentation".
Groom's version: The proposal story begins on December 16, 2009 but to get the full meaning of all the events we need to start with some background. Most unmarried couples celebrate the anniversary of their relationship each year on the day of their first date. Bu and I, however, celebrate each month - an event we call the "monthery", and our year anniversaries are called a "Bunniversary".
December 16, 2009 was our three and a half year anniversary, or the 42nd monthery. This particular week was very hectic for us. December 18 we were flying out to Scotland for 2 weeks to visit Dania's family. Aside from packing, and finishing our holiday shopping we had to make arrangements for a friend to take care of our dog and were both really busy at our jobs. This worked well for my plan since I knew that Dania would be very distracted and not thinking about nor expecting a proposal.
To make her expect the proposal even less, for several months prior, anytime a topic relating to marriage, rings, engagements, etc. came up, I played dumb leading Dania to believe that this was the last thing on my mind.
One thing that was not stressful that week was the gifts we had gotten for each other. We decided to pick those out together in the weeks prior to avoid the stress of having to deal with it that last week. Dania really needed a laptop for school so we picked one out together and I told her I had ordered it but that it would not arrive until after we came back from our trip. Enough with the background though, let's get back to the main story.
On this particular monthery, just like on most of the ones preceding it, Dania and I put our lives aside for a few hours and went to spend some together time over dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - a Swiss place in homage to her Swiss roots. Before dinner I gave Dania a single rose. She thought it a bit odd being that I usually give her a bouquet when I give her flowers, but she didn't dwell long on this. Dinner was great, we got to drink wine, eat fondue, and spend some quality time with each other. No talk of the engagement or the single rose at the dinner. Things were going according to plan.
The next day I intentionally came home from work late. Upon coming home I gave Bu another single rose. She wondered why I was giving her a flower again, so I explained that it was because I felt bad for coming home so late from work and leaving her with a ton of chores to do on her own in my absence. She thanked me for being considerate and didn't dwell long on this either. The plan was still on track.
The next day was the day we were flying out to Scotland. Our flight wasn't until late that afternoon and I told Dania that I had to go into work for a few hours in the morning. Instead of going to work though, I went to the jeweler to pick up the ring, to the florist to buy another rose, and to a coffee shop to make some final tweaks to the proposal speech and movie. Yes! That's right! A proposal movie!!! Sure it was made in PowerPoint but it was a fully animated production with timed transitions between scenes and a soundtrack that changed with each scene. A true work of art. But, I digress.
Back to the story. Everything was now set except...I still needed to set-up a few things in the house and I had no idea how to do that with Dania being there. I called her from the coffee shop and told her I was heading home. I told her that I'd be home in about an hour. Here's where fortune smiled upon me -- she said she was going out to walk the dog. Since I was only a few blocks from our apartment I knew that this was my chance to finish the part of the plan that required set-up at home. I waited in the staircase for her to leave and quickly ran into the house right after she had gone. The plan was now complete. Nothing could go wrong - or so I thought.
Once in the house I quickly finished what I had to do and hid in the bathroom waiting for Dania to come home. She didn't go on a particularly long walk that day but it seemed like hours as I sat there and waited, going over what I was going to say over and over in my head. When Dania finally came home she found an envelope with her name stuck to the door. Perplexed she opened it to find a holiday greeting card from my boss. Realizing that I had come home faster than anticipated she called my name and I came out of the bathroom, pretending to have just gotten home a few minutes before her.
I explained that my boss wanted to send her the card but realized that it wouldn't reach her before the holidays since we were going away so he had me just bring it home instead. But what Dania was more confused about was not how the card had gotten home or why my boss was sending her a card in the first place but rather why it said that there was a very special gift waiting for her at home. I told her I was the special gift. She didn't believe me. Then it dawned on her.
I saw the "Eureka!" look creep across her face and a smile begin to stretch from ear to ear.
"The laptop!" she exclaimed. "It's the laptop. This is your way of surprising me about the laptop being here already."
"I dunno, maybe" I answered. "Why don't you check the desk?"
She ran over to the desk and, sure enough, there was her new laptop. "Guess, It got here early" I said. She was so excited and so busy saying thank you that I had to remind her to open it and turn it on to give it a test run.
As soon as she opened the screen the movie that I had spent weeks making came on. The movie opened by reminding her that two days ago she got a rose. It then explained that the rose symbolized our past and proceeded to show pictures of places and things that were meaningful in our relationship. All along songs that were meaningful to us played in the background. Next, she was reminded of the rose she received the day before. She was told that that rose symbolized our present and pictures of our apartment, us and our dog followed. The movie then asked her to consider if our dog might also signify something aside from our present. "You know where this is going...." was now written on the screen. I looked over at her....she had no clue.
At this point I got down on bended knee and pulled out the third rose. Her favorite Radiohead song came on in the background as the movie explained that this, third and final, rose symbolized our future. As I encouraged her to smell the rose she discovered a shiny object hidden inside. She pulled it out, speechless and as the music faded I asked for her hand in marriage.
You all know what happens next...
Well, actually, that's not what happened. As the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. So did this, perfect plan. Just as I had gotten Dania's present early, she had got my present early as well. In a stroke of misfortune, however, the mailman decided to deliver the said present at this precise moment.
He rang the bell.
Jaxson started barking.
I tried to ignore it and go on with my proposal.
He kept ringing the bell.
Jaxson started barking louder.
Things were getting chaotic.
I had to stop, go downstairs, and pick up the package. You can be sure I gave the mailman a very heartfelt thank you.
My brief absence gave Dania the time she needed to process what was happening. I came back upstairs, got back down on one knee, and calmly finished my proposal. To which she of course said...
YES!!!