We'll go ahead and stick with the day of for this one, because if I talked about the planning at all it would lead to rambling, and nobody wants to read that. So...
Sunday, February 14, 2010 - I had packed the car up the night before so I just had to bring down the flowers, place them elegantly in her seat, and pull up the car to wait to pick her up from the dorm. She saw the flowers and started smiling... and hadn't quit smiling when I left at 10 that night. We went to church - special music was a guy singing a love song to his wife... everyone else in the congregation felt like they were intruding on their own moment they were having together - then after church we headed off to caribou.
Up to this point the only thing I had told Brittany about our Valentine's Day was that we would go to church and go to Kobe Japanese Steak House and that the rest would be a surprise. She was so delightfully confused. We got pretty close before she figured it out...
If you've met Brittany, you know she's not exactly an "outdoors" person... she loves nature, but experiencing it first hand on Valentine's Day wouldn't be her first idea... so I was nervously confident in my decision. My secret weapon that kept me confident? Ducks.
My secret weapon. Adorable hungry ducks.
And I was right! As soon as we pulled into Lord's Park - and the ducks swarmed around our car - she was at least as smiley as she was when she got her flowers. So we ate the finger foods I'd brought... cheese, crackers, olives, and a big box of candy for dessert! Then we fed the ducks and deer and got back on the road... And ended up walking on the bridge we walked on when we first started dating and would walk and talk. So nostalgic!
Valentine's Day Dessert!
So now off to Kobe, even though we tried to eat light for lunch, we barely finished one plate of chicken and five pieces of sushi. We had our own private table practically - hidden behind a wall from the other guests eating and enjoying the live cooking shows.
Our sushi appetizer that arrived after our entré.
It seemed to me like our food vanished in an instant... so I got out "dessert"... a heart shaped chocolate box with my ipod in it. On the ipod was a video I had made using songs taken from Brittany's "Favorite Songs" playlist and pictures from our whole relationship... from modeling for Megan's picture book story when we had just started dating to our first Christmas pictures. If you want to see it, Brittany is willing to share her Valentine's Day Card with all of you!
Brittany watching the video.
So she starts watching the video, and the waitress comes with the bill while she's watching! So I tried to keep my cool and pay the bill and calculate the tip (I've never been so bad at mental math!) and get the ring out before the video ended. Luckily I made it in time! The whole world melted away and it was just me and the girly and I got on my knee and asked her to marry me... and the rest is history!
