Her side of the story...
On June 30, 2008, Danny and I flew out to Las Vegas for a small vacation. I had an awful sinus infection, which had worsened during the flight. When we arrived to our hotel we were informed that our room was not ready. Since I was sick, I was not very happy about having to wait. So, we walked around, trying to kill time, while waiting on our room to be ready. Danny had never been to Las Vegas, so I tried showing him as much as I could, while we waited.
Finally, we were informed our room was ready. I was exhausted, miserable, and I just wanted to sleep. But, I felt bad for Danny; I knew he would want to explore more of the city that he’d never seen before. However, to my surprise, he said he was tired and just wanted to watch TV. I, of course, did not object and tried to take a nap.
Then, there was a knock at the door. Danny answered the door and came back into the room holding a bouquet of flowers. He said to me, "Go ahead. Open the card." So, I opened the card and read the words, Will you...
When I looked back at Danny, he was holding a ring. Then, he asked me, "Will you marry me?”
I said, "Yes!" Of course. And I cried. And cried. And cried.
His side of the story...
At the end of March, Dana and I went to Osterman Jewelers, to casually look at rings. One of the jewelers took Dana to one side of the store to look at rings, while another jeweler took me to look at even better rings. As soon as I saw the ring, I knew it was the one I wanted to buy. Without Dana even knowing that it was the ring I was going to buy for her, we had her try it on. She liked it. So, a week later, I went back and bought it. I was so excited about buying the ring, that I called everyone I could think of and told them about it.
The following weekend we went to Dana’s parents' house for a visit. Dana's dad, Rick, her uncle, David, and I, were looking at some things on my truck, when I told Rick that I wanted to show him something. I pulled the ring from behind the truck seat, where I had it hidden, and asked him, "So, what do you think?" His response was, "About time!" I was on cloud nine. Now that I had his approval, I had to figure out the perfect way to propose.
After thinking on it, for what felt like years, I realized that our upcoming trip to Las Vegas would be the perfect time to propose. She would never guess that I was going to propose to her while on that trip.
As the days crept by, I got more and more excited. Weeks leading up to our arrival, I was in constant contact with the hotel and the florist, trying to get everything planned out for the proposal. The plan was that when we checked into the hotel, they would delay us a bit, so that the flowers could be delivered and set up in our room. That way, when we walked into our room, the flowers would be there waiting.
But, of course, it didn’t happen that way.
When we arrived to the hotel, we did have to wait; we had to wait for quite awhile, because our room was not even ready. So, we decided to take in some sights, to pass the time. That meant that I had to leave my bag, with my beautiful laptop AND the hidden ring, with perfect strangers.
I was freaking out. But, I tried to keep calm because I couldn’t let Dana know that I was freaking out.
When our room was finally ready, we went to get our bags at the luggage desk. I could tell that my laptop was still in there, but I just had to open up the bag to make sure the ring was still there! Dana saw me looking through the bag, of course, thinking it was just me being overly concerned about my precious laptop. She sort of gave me a weird look, but then she didn't give it much more thought; she knows just how much I love my laptop.
As we headed up to our room, I secretly began getting the ring ready for when we would walk in the door and she would see the flowers. Well, when we got to the room, I looked around to see...that there were no flowers!
So, I began to freak out, again!
Not knowing what to do, I quickly hid the ring box back in my pocket and I began to have a hard time hiding the fact that...I was freaking out! Dana, thought I was just overly happy about being in Las Vegas, and she started to laugh at me.
Still not knowing what to do, I suggested that we take a nap, which sounded like a great idea to her because she was sick. I, of course, couldn't sleep, so I kept watching the clock, wondering what was going on with the flowers. Needing to find out what was going on, I decided that we needed water. So, I left the room to get some water and to call the florist. The florist informed me that the flowers were on their way to the hotel. I returned to the room and an hour went by.
I had to think of another excuse to leave the room. Ice. We needed some ice. So, I left the room to get some ice and, of course, to call the florist, again. The florist then tells me that the flowers are in the hotel. So, I made my way back to the room and I'm sure, at that point, it was apparent that I was acting a little strange.
Finally, there was a knock on the door. Dana told me to go to the door because she didn't feel like answering it. So, I answered the door, brought the flowers into the room and said to her, "I think these are for you."
She took the card and read the words written on it: Will you
As the words sank in, she turned to me with tears streaming from her beautiful eyes, her face was beet red, and she asked, “What are you doing?”
With the ring in my hand, I asked her, "Will you marry me?”
She couldn’t hear me over her crying! Luckily, I could tell it was happy crying. And she said, "Yes!"
Then...we went gambling.
She's the best!
