The Engagement

I love birthdays (bekah). However, there was nothing really special about this one. Last year I celebrated the milestone 30th birthday and this year I kind of had the birthday blues. As far as I knew turning 31 was pretty un-momentous. Little did I know how memorable it would turn out to be.

Back in April, I told some of my girlfriends that I thought he would propose on my birthday. That was my hope at least, but then I found out my day would be filled with school events...graduation in the morning and an awards ceremony at night, leaving only a 4 hour gap in the middle to spend time together. I also wasn't sure if Jason had a ring, although I assured him it wasn't necessary, or if he had asked my dad, which was definitely necessary. Over Easter break my parents came down to San Diego and I kept my eye on Jason to see if he ever was alone with my dad to have "the talk" but to my knowledge it never happened. Jason also tried to throw me off by making birthday dinner plans for Friday night (the day after my birthday). So all this to say, I had doubts, but was hopeful it could happen in the near future. 

By the time I made it home after graduation, I was exhausted, missing family and consequently, crawled into bed. Jason came over to hang out for the few hours in between school events and I told him I just needed to relax. No matter what he or Kukui (my roommate) suggested we do, I just wanted to stay wrapped up in blankets on my bed. Finally, I call my mom to chat and express my birthday blues and she rightly said, "Let Jason be your family right now. If he wants to take you for a walk on the beach, go for a walk on the beach." So we did just that. We packed up a blanket and a frisbee and headed to OB to relax in the sun. 

The sun seemed to do the trick and Bekah was back to her usual self (Jason) after sitting and talking on the beach. I even remember asking her when she thought I would propose in order to throw her off that much more. Since the days events were so uncoordinated and just off the cuff, she had no idea what was in store for her. I had her right where I wanted her. After a bit of tossing the frisbee back and forth, Bekah decided I was too dry and began throwing the frisbee in the water, probably hoping I would dive head first into the ocean in an attempt to catch it. On any other given day I would have, considering I have many of the same qualities of a golden retriever when I'm at the beach. Only this time, I had something extraordinarily valuable in my pocket that I preferred not to lose to the waves. After a while of chasing the frisbee in the water, Bekah finally got overconfident and hurled the frisbee past chest level, far further than I wanted to go. We both stood hands above our foreheads, trying to see past the glare into an ocean that just swallowed our frisbee. Finally Bekah spotted it and I began undressing knowing I'd be the one to go get it. Since I had the ring in my pocket, I thought to myself, well, now's as good a time as any. So in preparing to get wet, I took the box out of my pocket and casually plopped it in Bekah's hand saying "here, hold this real quick". At that very moment, I swear time stood still, and I could tell it hadn't quite sunk in yet. Bekah just stood there frozen in time, unhindered by the onrush of waves that were crashing against us as she gaped at the treasure I had just placed in her hand. A few seconds later, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Tears raced down her face as she looked up at me in a sort of bewildered amazement. It was the most adorable face I've ever seen and I'll never forget it as I took the ring from the case in her hand (still unopened) and opened it to reveal my mothers family heirloom she had insisted Bekah should have. A whirlwind of emotions hit us both as we laughed, hugged, and yep, made out.

Made out might be a tad of an exaggeration...so Jason says next, "we gotta go!" and I'm thinking what? why? Apparently we had to be at the house at 4pm. I started getting suspicious and thought my family might be in town. So we get to the car and Jason realizes we still have about 20 minutes to wait. We sit and talk and then I have the idea to FaceTime my parents, all the while thinking they may already be in San Diego. I call my dad first and he is in the car but picks up and after hearing the good news declares he is 10 minutes from home...fishy. I exclaim, "you're in San Diego!" and even though he denies it I hang up to call my mom next. She is a little suspicious too. The video doesn't come on right away, but when it does I see she is in my kitchen! Aaaah! My birthday blues had turned right around into the best day of my life. 

I walk home into our engagement party. Kukui had decorated the house and their was food and drink. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were on their way over to celebrate and I ran upstairs to freshen up. As I came out of the bathroom, who did I see walking up the stairs, but my brother, Kendra, Owen and Beckett!!! I literally screamed at the top of my lungs....so much so that Beckett was scared into Kendra's arms for like the next 20 minutes. I couldn't believe it! I had been missing my family a few short hours earlier. Little did I know they were in San Diego the whole time. 

I didn't end up going back to school for the awards ceremony, but instead we celebrated, ordered in pizza port and spent time enjoying the best day of my life together. What a perfect day. Best fiancé ever.