Proposal: Part 4 of 8 - The Idea of how and when to propose

Posted Apr 19, 2008 by Herbie — Comments (0) — Filed under: Personal

On February 4th I contacted my friend Joel in Colorado for some specific information regarding Lego’s.  Yes, Lego’s .  You see, Joel proposed to his wife using Lego’s  and I always thought that was so cool and I always wanted to do something with Lego’s for my proposal.  I had found an idea online that involved a ring made of Lego’s and I asked Joel if he had any of these spare parts.  He didn’t but he directed me to Brick Link.  It is a wonderful site that allows people like myself who just need some exact specific pieces to buy them.  THANKS JOEL!  So on Tuesday, March 4th I purchased the pieces I needed and waited eagerly for them.  In the mean time, I began that night to construct my own ring - keeping in mind the ring that Lisa liked in Marshfield.

Also On Tuesday, March 4th I was pacing back and forth at home wanting to nail down an idea for a proposal (the Lego Ring I knew was not enough).  I had several ideas floating around my head (one even involving a state trooper I met in Spooner, WI) but as all guys do, we want to make it romantic and memorable as we can for our girl.  Then it hit me - why not use the entire staff of Camp Forest Springs…

You see, Lisa and I dated for about a month before the entire staff knew we were dating.  In my words “I was scared of how the staff would react - especially if both Lisa and I were not sure if this would work out between us.”  You see, well intended people can make singles really uncomfortable - especially in a Christian community.  We figured that it would also be fun to see how long we could keep it a secret.  Well, the fun was losing its’ fun-ness after about a month and so we began one-by-one telling as many staff personally as we could before I actually announced it in a staff meeting.  Yes… at a staff meeting.

OK, back to the original story… I thought, “You know, the staff have been such a large part of our lives that it would make it so special to involve them in the proposal.”  Then the ideas came flooding in.

On Wednesday, March 5th, I went to Dave Hopkins to see when could we pull this off.  We looked at the days off schedule to see what days would include the most of the staff as possible.  There were two, March 26th and 27th.  Then I began telling Jesse if he would be willing to be a waiter for the event.  Well, then I just went nuts and started to tell at least half the staff that day my idea and all were excited to be a part of it- and Obviously making it very clear not to tell anyone - I tried to make it as clear as I could “I WOULD TELL Everyone.” But, you know how well you can contain a wedding proposal secret - especially at the magnitude this was turning out to be.  I must say though - The Staff really did an amazing job pulling this off (even if there were a few loose lips ).  I confess, I told some people too that were outside our community (even one of my computer suppliers in Arizona ).  Lisa, by the way, was at work this entire week as I was explaining my plan one by one to everybody. I think by that Friday - everybody that had been working at camp knew the proposed plan (except one ).

This is a picture of the Lego ring on Lisa’s hand - um… yes, I do know now that it is on the wrong hand AND no, the gold ring on her finger is not the ring I proposed with.  I’m saving that picture for Proposal: Part 8 of 8 coming soon

Please feel free to comment on each of these blogs - they certainly are an encouragement to Lisa and I.

Proposal: Part 3 of 8 - Her date for me & the Deflating Question

Posted Apr 19, 2008 by Herbie — Comments (0) — Filed under: Personal

On Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Lisa had planned a date for the both of us.  The activities of the evening were to be a total surprise to me. (I could have used the “honesty” question but I didn’t )  As we left her place and headed to Rib Lake, then out of town to the south east I had a pretty good idea we were going to Wausau.  She asked, “Do you know where we are going?”  I said, “Hayward?” (For those of you who don’t know where this is - 2 hours in the completely opposite direction )  Out of confusion she asked, “Why would you say that?”  “Because we talked about going and seeing the Reisners”, I said. “But Hayward isn’t this way? Is it?”.  I said, “I thought you were just taking the long way” - - - I write all this as an example of my dry sense of humor…... yeah…....  don’t worry…....  she still doesn’t get my humor half the time either .  That’s OK   .

She pressed me even further to guess so I played along and took some more educated guesses.  I guessed possibly a movie (Not really a particular one in mind) and out to eat.  I found out I guessed right - but she asked me to guess even more specific.  So I started to name off different restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings, McDonald’s (again my weird sense of humor), Applebee’s, etc…  By this time (I think) she thought I was just toying with her and that I knew where we were going.  Honestly I didn’t.  So she then started humoring me in saying we were going to all the restaurants I was guessing.

As we got into Wausau, through, a back road, we were driving close to Kryshak Jewelers.  I noticed but didn’t say anything (thinking that would be a great place to look for a ring)  She also noticed as we were passing by and said, “Oh, a jewelery store!”  I said, “yeah… look at that.”  Hoping to not draw too much excitement.

We pulled up to the parking lot of Texas Road House. I never knew it even existed.  Somehow, I’ve never noticed this place before. (Great food BTW)  As we went in you see all these huge steaks and ribs and such and peanuts on the floor - It was a lot of fun.  She knows me really well.  We ordered our meals and joined in signing with a couple birthdays and anniversaries around our table and just enjoyed ourselves.

During the end of the meal, I don’t know why I asked the question, I knew Lisa was going to be going to Ohio for a deputation trip (read part 5 of 8 coming soon) and that I was going to join her the following week out there.  I asked her, “Are you expecting to be proposed to by the time you are in Ohio?”  I kind of saw her heart just sink because the question implies that she will not be proposed to by that time.  She said, “Well, it would have made it easier to talk to my supporters about a fiancé than a boy-friend.”  My answer to her was that time was against me and funds were not there for a ring yet.[technically true - earlier that week she helped me write out a deposit slip into my checking account while I was driving.  She saw that my support was really low that month.  However, she didn’t know the amount that was in the savings bond at the time]  Well, the details of our conversation are fuzzy for me after that because I could see that she was a bit sad because of the news.  It was killing ME inside because I was already thinking of ideas of how I was going to propose.

After supper she took me out to a movie “Vantage Point” a great action and suspense flick.  Again, still a great time together.  Then we headed home.  Found out something new about Lisa that night in the car.  Nearly impossible to carry on a conversation with her driving because her hearing ear is towards the window and it also helps her if she can read lips.  Long story boring - it was a quit ride home - I thought I was in trouble - It really was just too difficult to understand what I was saying instead .

During the day of the proposal (See Proposal Part 8 of 8 coming soon)
The staff were involved in setting up the dining hall for us.
I didn’t realize they were even praying for us as they were setting up.  WE HAVE A WONDERFUL STAFF!!!  Thank you everyone!

Please feel free to comment on each of these blogs - they certainly are an encouragement to Lisa and I.

Proposal: Part 2 of 8 - Ring Shopping

Posted Apr 19, 2008 by Herbie — Comments (1) — Filed under: Personal

Part 2
Looking at rings
Sorry, no exact dates on this particular event - maybe someday we’ll narrow it down.

On a whim, I asked Lisa if she wanted to go out to eat.  She said “Where?”, I said, “Marshfield?”, she said, “Sure!”, I said, “OK!”  I guess you do strange things when you are in Love .  Well we got in the truck and headed down to Marshfield.  Along the way our conversation was going so well I felt compelled to ask, “Would it be weird to look at rings?”  Both Lisa and I will tell you that neither one of us really knows/knew how to date - so no question is really out of the ordinary.  We both agreed that it would be fun to see some rings and see what is available.  Again, I must mention, this wasn’t pre-planned, it just sort of happened.

We looked around Marshfield and finally found Wikersham Jewelers.  As we walked in the salesperson greeted us and asked the basic question, “Can I help you?”  We looked at each other somewhat sheepish and bashful and then told her, “I guess we are looking for rings!?!?”  She lead us to the counter and we began pouring over the selection of rings.  We got an education; types of gold, diamond clarity, color, carats, and cut.  The only thing both of us actually knew going into the store is that the diamond had to be round   .It was fun to watch Lisa.  She had such a sparkle in her eyes and youthful expression on her face.  Lisa then found a style ring that she liked (I didn’t even bother looking at the price ) and I took a mental picture of what it was like for future reference.

After that we headed on over to “our restruant” (I say that because we like it so much) Applebee’s.

This picture was taken just minutes before I proposed - see Proposal Part 8 of 8 (coming soon )

Please feel free to comment on each of these blogs - they certainly are an encouragement to Lisa and I.