She actually said YES!

So on this date several years ago, the kindest, smartest, most awesome and beautiful girl agreed to marry me; Her name is Roni and this is my proposal story!

The story starts a few days before.....

October 13th, 2011:

Well I have known I wanted to marry this awesome girl for some time now, I just never knew when I would pop the question. I figured one step at a time… The RING! We were living in Victoria, TX so the selections were limited. Luckily I had been referred to a private jeweler; however, he was in Dallas. Roni and I had a trip planned to DFW to go to the state fair so I decided to call and make an appointment. I knew Roni would be busy for a few hours when she said she was going to get her hair done so I had the perfect window to go meet the jeweler. I invited my parents with me so the three of us loaded up in the car and headed to Dallas to look for a ring. I had no idea what I was getting into. As I am sure most of you know, picking out a ring is not as easy as I thought it would be. The questions starting coming in, what color, what size, what clarity, what cut, what setting, etc…. Fortunately for me the jeweler was very kind and went through what a diamond looked like in the rough and had examples to teach me everything I would ever need to know about diamonds. After about a forty minute lesson it was finally time to start looking at which diamond I would purchase and made my selection!

October 14th, 2011:

I had always wanted to propose with both Ronis and my family present. With everyones schedules being so chaotic this would take some planning and then there is always the risk of someone slipping up and her catching wind of my plot. Fate just so planned it that two days after I finally picked out a diamond, both our families would be going to the state fair together. I thought it over and decided this Saturday would be the day. I thought about different ways to propose and decided with an adventurous proposal! (For those that know me would you expect anything less?)

Friday night Roni, her mother Michelle, and her sister Joni and I all went out for drinks. While we were out I was able to find an opportunity to be alone with Michelle and began to tell her how much Roni meant to me and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and would like her permission to marry her. Michelle turns to me with tears in her eyes and says, "I have already been telling everyone that you are my future son in law" and gives me her blessing. I quickly told her my plan and to let Joni know later that night and make sure that no one slips up!

October 15th, 2011:

The day finally arrived and boy was I nervous. I don’t know why because I knew we were meant to be together, but still, I was nervous. I will first start off by telling you the plan and then what actually happened.

The Plan:

By now everyone that was there knew what lay ahead (Nancy(my mom), James(my dad), Michelle, and Joni). We would make our way around the fair grounds to the rides and games section. Here I would look over at the “Big Swing”, which is a ride that you are hoisted up 13 stories and dropped to swing back and forth like a pendulum. I would ask Roni to ride it with me and when we got to the top I would say something like, “Roni, I love you with all my heart. I love doing exciting crazy stuff like this and I want you to be there with me for all of them. Would you do me the honor or marrying me?”

Sadly, nothing ever goes as planned.

Reality:

As we make our way over to the rides, Roni begins to ask, “Why are we over here? No one wants to ride anything do they? Let’s go somewhere else!” The family steps in and says, well lets walk through and we can end up on the other side. (Disaster averted) I am leading the way and as we get closer to the Big Swing I look up and tell Roni that I would like to go ride that and want her to go with me. Roni responds that she is not feeling well and that I should ride it with my mom or dad instead. I tell her that I want her to go with me and the family steps in to help and says that they do not want to ride it. After I bat my eyes and make my puppy dog face she finally decides to go with me! (Disaster averted) While this was going on, unbeknownst to me, my father had gone over to the staff working the ride and told them of my plan to propose at the top and they agreed to give me some extra time. He also purchased the video option which would have someone on the ground filming and there would also be a camera/audio recorder strapped to my chest. (Props to the pops) After we get suited up and are explained what to do, we begin our trip up to the top climbing higher and higher! I don’t even realize we are so high, as my mind keeps playing my proposal over and over again in my head. When we finally get to the top I have the cord to pull in my hand and Roni tells me to pull it. I look over at her and the best i can come up with to say is, “Roni……(gulp)..... Will you marry me?” At first she thinks that it is a joke but after she says yes and we kiss I pull the string and we plummet towards the ground and begin to swing back and forth. During this time there are some hilarious conversations which you will have to watch the video to hear! After we get our feet back on the ground we walk off to the side where it is a little more private and I kneel down on one knee, pull out the ring, and ask her again for her hand in marriage!