We left the Academy around 4PM.  When we walked back to the car, he was walking a little faster than normal.  I thought it was just because it was chilly, but I found out later he was in a hurry to get to our next destination before the sun had set.  He asked me if I wanted to go to Sutro Park, where we had a preally nice picnic back on Labor Day weekend the year before.  I said I didn't mind going, and thought he was just trying to be sentimental since the Holidays are a bit of a sentimental time.  In my mind, I started to suspect a little more that he was going to propose, but I guess I didn't fully believe that he would.  When we got close to Sutro Park- he asked me if my perspective about my life- my goals, what I want in the next 5 or 10 years, etc. has changed since we started dating.  I told him that what I wanted hadn't changed, but that dating him has sorta helped me see a clearer picture of what the future holds.  I didn't say it in those words.. because I'm always a little ambiguous when talking about the future.  But, what was really on my mind was that 10 years from now, I see myself married, with kids and now that I had him in my life, I could now picture who that would be with. 

 

We walked up to the Park, and reminisced about the first time we had been there.  We went into a small white gazebo, and he asked me if I remember going in there.  I told him that we didn't go in there last time!  So, we walked out, and walked up further to a high point at the Park that overlooked the water.  It was a beautiful view, and he started to tell me that he had been looking through a bunch of pictures of us that I had given him, and in doing so, it got '"dusty in the room," which is his code for being emotional.  I asked why it got so "dusty", and he told me that it reminded him of all of the good times we shared together- all of the laughter and love we've shared the past 16 months.  He also told me that one thing he really loves about me is that I'm there to support him- through things like his bike races and his marathons.  He told me that he's been so happy since we've been together, and that he still gets goosebumps when I kiss him!  At that point, we stopped to admire the view for a bit- well at least I did.. I think he was more concerned with the next step he was going to take.  Then, he told me that he had something for me and told me to close my eyes.  When I opened them, he had placed an ipod touch in my hands.  I was confused at first- partly because I was I thought it would be a ring box, but also because the ipod touch wasn't the one that he had.  This one had speakers, and wasn't in the shiny case he has.  He told me to just watch the screen... so as I was watching it, clips of videos he had taken as well as pictures of us showed on the screen, while our song was playing.  At the end, he had a really sweet message typed out about how he feels about me. With my knees still shaking, I started to get a little bit emotional, and when the video ended, he looked around, a little nervously.  He then said, "so now I have a question to ask you" and proceeded to get on one knee as he asked "Will you marry me" while holding out the open ring box!

 

I was a speechless at first- I wanted him to stand up so that I could hug and kiss him.  Instead of "yes" I said- "Stand up- do you want to put it (the ring) on me?"  I guess there was no 'yes' in my reply, so he said "is that a yes?" At that point, he was standing up and I said "YES" and hugged him.  =D  After that, we went to dinner at Gary Danko!