The Proposal

Elizabeth's Version

Well before this vacation, we had talked about getting married and starting a family. A few months before, Michael began receiving strange phone calls and had to randomly go out on errands...without me. Naturally, of course, I became suspiscious and assumed he was ring shopping. Besides, he's not that great at keeping secrets. He told me he what jewelers he wanted to check out.

As May approached, I wondered when he would pop the question. I imagined it would be on our trip, but had no idea. I wasn't even sure that he had the ring! Leading up to the trip, we made a few arrangements for touristy things to do while in Vegas and Flagstaff. I began to have my doubts about the proposal since Michael never really participated in the planning process of the trip. He mostly left the planning activities to me...the Planner. (While I'm a City Planner and not a party planner, I still like to have a pseudo agenda for activities, even though we may not get to them all.)

Well, packing for the trip was upon us and while I restrained myself from snooping around the house, it was not above me to snoop through his belongings in the suitcase. But, to be fair, all I did was pat down his pants and shorts for bulges in the pockets. Oh, and I repacked his toiletries bag but that was mostly because he had way too many things in there. Lo and behold, I came up empty handed and did not find what I was looking for and thought for sure he did not have the ring, or was going to wait until we got back. Perhaps he feared losing it while on the trip??

Our trip started in Las Vegas and while there, every now and then he would quiz me on wedding details, i.e. would I ever want to get engaged/married in Vegas; did I think it was corny or romantic to get engaged at "Paris"... Vegas came and went and no ring and then I had a feeling that if he was going to do it, he would most likely do it at the Grand Canyon. The outdoors is definitely our thing (or maybe it's just mine and I drag him along) and you couldn't really ask for better scenery. However, I did not dwell on that too much and decided just to enjoy our trip.

Our plan for the day we left Las Vegas was to drive to the Hoover Dam and then to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a short day hike. We got held up in Vegas longer than we expected and did not leave when we wanted. We did make it to the Hoover Dam but the Grand Canyon was out of the question for that day. He seemed a bit agitated that day, but I had no idea why. We arrived in Flagstaff just in time to eat at Salsa Brava, a "Triple D" location before we checked in to our resort. We slept in the next day and went for a walk in the neighborhood before heading out that day. I should at this point note that every day on our trip, my mom called me to ask how things were going, how I was, and how Michael was, which I began to think was quite strange because she has never done that before. She called me EVERY day...I haven't received that kind of attention since I went off to college! But still...I had no idea why...

We spent the day in Sedona and decided to go for a day hike in Red Rock State Park. Michael was driving and I, of course, was agitated (and if anyone knows Michael, you know why). We arrived at the park and drove to the Visitor's Center where they had an amazing view from the overlook located at the top of the building. Michael said he wanted to just stand there for a little to take in the view and I was in a hurry because I had to use the restroom. It was then that I noticed he seemed to be getting a little nervous over something. He began saying to me, "I love you with all my heart and if you let me, I always will," and before I knew it, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! I immediately said "Of course!" and that was the beginning of the rest of our lives together.

Michael's Version

First and foremost, everyone who has been on this website or ever will be on this website (including total strangers who stumble upon it by accident) know that I had purchased the ring for Liz months ago.  I purchased the ring two months before we even went on vacation.  Not only did I keep this a secret from Liz, but I'm also keeping other secrets from her that she has no clue about.  She still doesn't even know that I am the Batman.

I've always heard that Arizona was beautiful and I wanted to see it for myself.  Liz and I had talked about getting married and starting a family for a little while, and I figured the Grand Canyon would have been a memorable spot to start that road together.  I wanted to propose to Liz in a place that would not change with time.  I didn't want to propose to her at some fancy restuarant only for it to turn into a 7-11 a year or two later.  Liz is a big fan of nature and the outdoors, so I figured that the Grand Canyon would have been perfect. 

In order to hide the ring from Liz until we got to Arizona, I would have to get through airport security and Las Vegas.  I asked family, friends, coworkers and that scary looking hobo who hangs out by the overpass close to my office building how to hide the ring in a way that Liz (and TSA at the airport) wouldn't find it so the surprise wouldn't be ruined.  Fortunately, Liz brought a backpack in anticipation of hiking in Arizona, which served as a great hiding place.  I didn't want Liz to find the ring while we were packing, so I waited until right before we left to stash the ring underneath a bunch of earplugs in the backpack.

Over the next four to five days, the backpack and I were inseperable.  Liz and I did lots of things in Vegas, but overall I was shocked at how she had no clue that she was carrying around her own engagement ring for a good portion of each day.  I tried not to tip her off, but at some point, I figured Liz would notice that I was too preoccupied with checking the contents of the backpack.  To avoid this, I started going to the bathroom to check to make sure that the ring was still in the backpack.  Either Liz was going to catch on, or she'd think that I was rotting from the inside.  She didn't catch on.  However, I started to get worried about the proposal the day we left for Arizona.

We had planned to drive from Vegas to Arizona to stop off and see the Hoover Dam and then see the Grand Canyon before we got to the room.  I had planned all along to give her the ring when we stopped off in the Grand Canyon before we got into the room to start our stay in Arizona.  We got so held up in Vegas the last day that we only made it to Hoover Dam.  I was a little agitated because I had to come up with another spot to propose.  We were also supposed to go to the Grand Canyon later in the week, but it was for a rafting trip.  I wasn't about to lose the ring in the Colorado River, end of story. 

I constantly searched for a perfect place to propose.  While Arizona had a bunch of beautiful views, none of them felt right.  One day we decided to go hiking in Red Rock State Park.  Once we walked into the park, the view was beautiful and no one else was around.  I instantly knew this was the place to propose and the rest of the story pretty much goes the way that Liz claimed it did; except she was practically runnning off to the bathroom and I had to physically hold her in front of the viewpoint to propose to her. 

P.S.  In case anyone is still in suspense over it, Liz did finally go to the bathroom.