Susan Said YES

A week ago I was struggling to come up with an idea of how to propose to Susan. I know I didn't want to do the traditional dinner, and pop the engagement question then and there. I ran the first thing that came to mind by one of my friends, and with his approval my plan didn't seem as foolish as I first drew it up in my head. The next night, I stopped by the nearest Hobby Lobby to pick up some paint, a brush and some foam board.

My idea was to propose to Susan by sending the message through my camera LCD display with the final shot being of the ring. Nice a simple, and it was a way for me to say what I needed to say and not screw it up.

Painting was probably the most difficult part because I haven't done so in years. My first few posterboards looked horrific but legible. I tried to be very meticulous, but it turned out the faster I went, the better it looked. When I thought the paint had dried, I goofed up and smeared two of the boards and had to redo them. Doh. Down to my last posterboard, I made sure I was perfect.

On Thursday November 20th, I asked the same friend to help me take the pictures. Ideally, I wanted to go downtown Austin for my background. But I wasn't sure that was going to show up well. And the message was more important than the background. I researched some parks by his house, but he in turn suggested that we stop by the Austin Arboretum. Not knowing what I had planned for Susan, it seemed like a great backdrop and was close to his house as well. The pictures turned out as planned and they showed up well on the camera display too. From the 100 or so pictures we took, I narrowed down the best of multiple takes of each posterboard down to 18 pictures to deliver my message.

Now that I had the WHAT and HOW taken care of. I needed to figure out the WHEN and WHERE. I wanted to take her to Dallas Arboretum, as I've never been and I thought it would give me an opportunity to use my camera without her knowing what my intentions were. It was only by coincidence that I visited two Arboretums in 3 days. However, Susan had some initial plans to run errands and go early Christmas shopping for Saturday. After she made a delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch, I suggested if we could go to the Dallas Arboretum and go shopping later. She thought it was kind of an odd request only because I kept looking outside the window shades to check the weather for rain. And I knew it was going to be cold, at least cold for Texas. But she didn't question my request, and said, "Sounds like fun."

When I thought painting was the hard part, I was found that I was way wrong. Finding a quiet place where I could show her the proposal pictures proved to be more difficult. People were wandering all over the place, but the Arboretum wasn't extremely crowded because of the colder weather. So I knew I'd have my opportunity at some point.

I almost goofed at one point and spoiled my plan. When I tried to review some pictures we took of some flower, I accidentally skipped forward instead of going backwards. Susan caught a sneak peak of the proposal pictures, but not enough of a look to question it. Phew.

After an hour or so of walking and taking pictures, my nerves were building up. So naturally, I had to go No. 1. I excused myself from Susan and said I'd be right back. When I came out of the bathroom, I wondered where Susan was. She was about 100 yards away from me and signaled for me to follow her though this archway composed of high hedges.

When I caught up and walked through she was sitting near this wishing well-like fountain. The well was surrounded by more hedges and trees to give that isolated feeling. No one else was to be seen in sight. The moment couldn't have been more perfect. And that's when I handed her the camera and turned to the first picture. She did the rest as she slowly scrolled through the pictures. With a tear coming down her eye, I knew I must have done something good. And once she got to the last slide, I got down and one knee and formally proposed to her.

Susan said, "YES".

Couldn't have painted a better plan.