Most of you already know the answer, but in case you don’t know – Jenn said “Yes” to my marriage proposal.

What I want to share with you is how this all went down, which I am going to discuss in three sections: 1) The Ring, 2) The Father, 3) The Proposal. As you will read, the journey was not always a smooth ride, but in the end it was a success.

The Ring.

This was my first step in the journey. To be honest, initially I knew nothing about diamonds and it showed. There were a few miscommunications and mismatched expectations that led to some epic fails ie. ring shopping for the first time at one of the oldest establishments in San Francisco that also looked like a dirty, old pawn shop. That led to an immediate fight right after.

We both had to readjust our expectations to get on the same page and I did tons of research on diamonds. I scouted the next place on my own. And it was night and day compared to the previous experience. After that positive outing, I worked with my consultant to set up a meeting for Jenn. The plan was the consultant would show multiple diamonds that met my quality and size standards, while also fitting into my new budget. Then the consultant and I would discuss to figure out what the best option, given Jenn’s likes/dislikes and my budget. After all that, I finalized my decision but held off the purchase because I needed to get permission.

The Father

Jenn’s father is old school, so out of respect I wanted to ask him for his permission to marry his daughter. I called him up to set dinner at “The House of Prime Rib.” Not even a day passed before he called his wife asking what this dinner was and eventually called Jenn to see if this was a family dinner. Jenn was very confused and then very excited once she figured out what the dinner was for.

Granted I did not tell him to keep this secret since I expected Jenn would find out, so I was not too surprised he spilled the beans early. Dinner was easy, especially when her father told me he was worried that I invited him to dinner to tell him I was leaving his daughter. However, he did say I was lucky, which I wholeheartedly agree with.  In the end, I got the permission and so I was good to go to purchase the diamond.

The Proposal

Originally, I had this awesome plan to propose on a sailboat at sunset under the Golden Gate Bridge. That was ruined when my mother told Jenn “I think he is waiting to get his captain’s license.” With a previous vague hint I gave Jenn, she put my mother’s new bit of information and the hint together and acutally guessed what I was trying to do. So that was out.

Also, since she knew I had permission from her dad, I knew that she would expect the big question any time we had a significant event. My goal was to make sure she was surprised. So I threw in a little misdirection by scheduling multiple secret date nights to keep her on her toes. Then, I would pop the big one when she least expected it. Originally, I was going to wait and do it later in the quarter. But after I bought the ring and hid it in my secret hiding spot for a few days, I felt like Gollum. I kept taking it out and looking at it when Jenn was asleep or working on homework or taking a shower. It was just compelling me to get it done.

This past Saturday we were going to Fleet Week as part of a Google VetNet event. I knew that was a great cover to do the deed. So I packed the ring in my backpack and planned to use it at the right moment. I didn’t let the backpack out of my sight. Jenn actually thought about leaving halfway through the air show because she was getting bored, but she decided to stay, which turned out to be a good decision on her part.

After the event, I went to  the bathroom and placed the ring in my pocket. Few minutes later, Jenn wanted to put a water bottle in my bag. I told her no and put it in myself because I was worried she would see the box. The downside – it turned her radar on that something was up. So then we walked around until I found a beautiful and secluded spot, where I got on one knee and proposed.

That “Yes” was the best moment of my life.

Strength and Honor,

M