The Proposal....

MARK: I remember the day I was planning on asking Holly to marry me.  I was on the train from San Diego to Fullerton, looking at that engagement ring, planning out every detail of how I would ask her.  It was perfect, nothing was going to go wrong.  I was going to sweep her off her feet, and she would forever remember how confident, calm, cool, and amazing I was the day I asked her.  We'd get engaged in the very place it all began.  I'd ask her to marry me at Disneyland, and everything would go flawlessly.....so I thought.  Then after two hours of planning out every detail, my train arrived in Fullerton, where Holly awaited.

HOLLY:  Mark and I started to talk about getting married very early in our relationship (3 weeks into it).  But nothing became too serious till we had a "serious" talk in August.  We had a more serious talk about our futures and what we had planned for ourselves.  When I mentioned to him that I seriously fallen in love with him and wanted to marry him his face couldn't hold back the emotions.  I knew he was planning something.  So I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.  It was like waiting for him to ask me out all over again.  So on October 14th when Mark insisted on going to Disneyland after I pick him up, I knew something was up.

MARK: So before getting off the train, I had to check the buttoned pocket of my cargo shorts to make sure for the one millionth time in two hours, that the ring was still there (OCD, gotta love it).  I get off the train, feeling the nerves start to build up, when I saw Holly.  I gave her a hug, and the first words out of her mouth were," I was thinking maybe we should skip Disneyland today."  I, trying not to sound TOO obvious that I had something planned (but failing I later found out) said," No, let's go just for an hour.  I feel like riding Ghost Galaxy."  She said," Okay.  Anything for you."  And I was thinking," Oh I so have her fooled."  Us men can be so clueless sometimes.  lol.

HOLLY:  So we arrived at Disneyland.  As usual we skipped the tram ride and walked to Downtown Disney.  I had some kind of a clue that something was up but I didn't want to convince myself that today was the day to crush my hopes (again).  Anyways, I asked him if he wanted to go to the Grand Californian first.  We love to go up to the third floor balcany and it is a special place for us to go and enjoy piano music and the scenery.  To my surprise he said yes.

MARK: We entered the " elevator of no turning back " and pressed the button for level 3.  The doors slammed shut, and I swear they SLAMMED shut and the car immediately shot upward at a much faster rate than I remembered.  Holly was talking, and I was trying to pay attention, but all I could hear was the beating of my heart.  Bubum Bubum Bubum.  Level two BuBUM BuBUM BuBUM.  Approaching level three, BUBUM BUBUM BUBUM!!!!!  The door shot open and Holly leaves.  I walk out, my legs feeling weak.  I followed behind her approaching the balcony, making sure, once again, that the ring is still in the pocket.  I kept repeating in my head, among the drum solo of my heart, word for word what I was planning on telling the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

HOLLY:  I was so happy when we got to the balcony, the piano player was playing "A Whole New World".  I wanted to relax and enjoy the moment but Mark kept talking.

MARK: I stood behind her and put my arms around her, as I often did on that balcony, and realized that my heart was still beating a mile a minute.  So not wanting her to feel that and give away anything, I stepped back, and just placed my hands on her upper arms, rubbing them.  I start my preplanned proposal speech.  I said," Holly, I love you so much, and there's nothing I'd like more than to spend my life with you."  She turns around, faces me, looks into my eyes and said," Well, you know what you have to do for that to happen?"  The rest of my speech leaves my brain, and I said," Well....." I reach down to my cargo shorts pocket to retrieve the ring, to find that the pocket was still buttoned.  Part of my flawless proposal involved unbuttoning that pocket in the elevator.  So I try to unbutton it with my left hand, while looking into her eyes, and the thing wouldn't come unbuttoned.  So I looked down, and try again, with one hand.  Wouldn't unbutton.  So I use both hands, and finally get it open.  I pull out the ring box, look into her eyes.....

HOLLY:  All he is doing is staring at me with this closed box in his hands.  He wasn't opening the box.  I was just staring at this box thinking "if those are earings, I'm going to kill him". 

MARK: I said," I hope you like it," as I opened the box.  Now my heart is pounding so bad, because what I failed to tell you is that she had told me about two dreams she had had in the past month where I proposed to her and gave her the "ugliest ring I had ever seen."  I open the box, she sees the ring, and I said," Will you marry me?"

HOLLY:  I was in shock.  I took me a few seconds to realize what happened.  He opened the box with the ring and put it on the ledge of the balcony.  I couldn't stop staring at it.  I always felt that marriage was for the lucky and in the past I was never lucky.  He went out and got the exact ring that I described to him (not the wooden one from my dream, but one I always dreamed of).  I gave him a big hug and said "yes of course".  So I was still staring at the ring that was still in the box still sitting on the ledge of the balcony.  "So are you going to put that on my finger?" I asked.

MARK: I take the ring out of the box, and slowly moved to put it on her finger.  My hand was shaking so badly, I had to steady it with my other hand to get it on her finger.  She threw her arms around me, and said,"Yes."  So after a year of being  friends, ten months of dating, and 3 months of planning, I was finally engaged, even though nothing in my wedding proposal went as planned.  I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world, for getting the chance to marry someone who was so patient in waiting for me to first ask her out, secondly to give her that first kiss on our first date, and thirdly to ask her to marry him.  Nothing that day could get that cute smile off her face.  She was glowing as we walked out of the hotel.  First words out of her mouth were," This day is all about you.  Anything you want to do, I will do."  So the first words out of my mouth were," Awesome.  Let's go to Tower of Terror!!!"  lol.

MARK AND HOLLY: Now we just had to tell the family the news :)