On February 11th (last blog), Kristina and I tackled what I thought was the most challenging feat of my life. On March 30th, 2012, at 5:12pm, I one upped myself….
I GOT ENGAGED!!!!
Sure you may be asking yourself, ‘Kraig, why do you lead in comparing Kristina to tackling a feat?’ Guys, anybody out there, when you get engaged, you will know. Here is why.
I didn’t have it fully planned, but the timing ended up working out perfectly. The process started roughly 5 months ago while I was sitting on the couch, as if I were typing a blog, and started researching rings online. Fast forward 4 months and I am buying a ring (not going to tell you how much), but I will admit that it was the largest check that I have ever personally written in my life. To be honest, some say that ring shopping is stressful and there are a lot of key decisions that need to be made. Well, that’s true, but it was a quite the ride – I enjoyed every second of it, design, diamond, cut, clarity, settings, you named it, I had a say in it…and so did the Kristina’s (Kristina B. and future Kristina Olson J and Kristina M. – the jeweler that I worked with).
So..how did it go? Well, my goal was to figure out a romantic thing to do within 24 for hours of receiving the ring. Originally I thought I was going to receive the ring on Friday, March 23rd or Saturday, March 24th. Kristina was out of town in Hawaii for work and expected to arrive back on Sunday. Good thing that I didn’t go through with my plan on Saturday and Sunday because 1) I didn’t receive the ring and 2) Kristina was asked to stay in Hawaii until Tuesday. No sweat (hah!), let’s try again next weekend, right?
I received confirmation from Kristina #2 that the ring turned out perfect (phew! You just never know…) and that the ring was set to arrive on Friday. Okay guys, get the brainstorming hats out… Kristina’s parents came into town on Wednesday night and after dinner on Thursday night, identifying what Kristina’s work schedule was on Friday, the plan was set…kind of.
Waking up Friday morning, the plan was set, the nerves were hidden, the calm, cool, collective guy that I am was apparent and all the while my senses were magnified. Sometimes I ask myself how people say that others can have super human powers…to be honest, I simply think that those individuals must figure out a way to put themselves in a perpetual state of proposing. Waking up early to do work, set the stage for the day, and kiss Kristina off to work, Pat, Rosie and I began talking about their plans for the day. Initially, I passively suggested that they do whatever they want, but to be back at 2pm to help set up the house (Kristina and I had been planning to complete the home by getting flowers and plants for some time now, but we have never gotten around to it). Rosie, however, is a hawk and pierced right through the high level BS – she knew what was happening. The best part of Rosie and Pat being here, well, was just that. What a special event as for them to be there. After talking through the plan (just created it the previous night before going to bed), I went back to doing work.
4 straight hours of phone calls later, noon stops by and I still don’t have ring. Not overly concerned, I kept going about the day. 1, 1:30 comes around and I make the split decision to run down the road and get a ton of plants and flowers on the fly. Here I am, anxious for the ring, and although I had told Pat and Rosie that I would wait for them…I just couldn’t shake the anxiety. Instead, I sprinted 7 blocks, bought $200+ worth of flowers and plants in 8 minutes, and sprinted back in time for a 2pm call. Mid call, the borans return from the Getty Art Museum, I let them back into the garage, and then simultaneously the flower guy shows up (still on the call), and the orchestration of flower and plant delivery began. Imagine a clown (me) with his headset in, Pat and Rosie and Flower Guy delivering plants and placing them throughout the apartment. I failed as an conductor, but thank goodness the orchestra performed to perfection.
3pm….We need more flowers, bright flowers, live flowers. And, 15 minutes later, Pat, Rosie, and I drove to Safeway only to buy several live plants (they have now since died, but it’s the ride that counts).
4pm….still no ring…. And then…Rosie get’s a call. “Oh Kristina, you are going to be back in 5-10 minutes. …yep…okay…wonderful…we are just sitting here waiting to go to a happy and grab drinks.”
My heart sinks….and then my mind begins running in all types of directions. Where is the ring? What could have happened? What is taking so long? And then it dawned on me…I bet it arrived and someone signed for me. Because Kristina and I have long distance numbers and no LAN line, the delivery guys need to call our cells or call the landlord. Hopping on my computer, I typed an email to my landlord at 199 WPM (remember…superhuman?) and waited.
Doorknob turns, opens, and “Hey Kristina! Welcome home honey”. She walks through the house and notices the plants, flowers, and wonders what is going on. For this questioning, we had this covered and a message crafted. “Well Kristina, you mentioned that you wanted us to get flowers if we had time and that you wanted the home completed. Here you go! What do you think?” She looked around, performed the tour, and we all went into the living room to relax and have a glass of wine…..still no ring.
Sitting in the living room talking about our upcoming plans, Kristina decided to take my computer to search online (i.e., check facebook), and she was doing so, an email notification popped up from my landlord: Yes! I received the package this morning at 10:30am and threw it in my apartment on the way out. Feel free to come down and get it anytime.
I…..was……livid. Well, to be honest, I wasn’t that mad, but I was feeling something (frustration, relief, excitement, nerves…you name it, and within that 10 second period of reading that email notification, I felt. Remember…pre-proposal superhuman powers). Now the challenge…“Kraig, what package were you expecting to get today?” Kristina probed. I like to think that I was quick to respond on this one (which I was), but internally, I was shaking. She had me, caught me, and the plan is ruined. “I ordered a painting too.” This was the first joke and since K-gal previously ordered a painting from Hawaii, it did have some relevance. “To be honest, I don’t know. I am guessing my mom sent an easter package to us since its just next week.”
She bought it and I was in the clear. “Well guys, it’s about 5pm, let’s head down to the pier for a quick happy hour before dinner. Kristina, can you get ready?” She left to the room and bathroom to get ready. It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. “Pat and Rosie, can you guys take off early to the restaurant?” They didn’t hesitate to jump at that opportunity and in that moment, I left to go downstairs. Knocking on Collette’s door, she handed me the package, we small talked about delivery and the weekend, and I went back upstairs.
Pat and Rosie were just on their way out when I got in, but I didn’t even notice as my focus was 100% centered on the package. Ripping, clawing, and tearing it open, I now had a ring box (starting to sweat now) in my hand. I looked at it for no more than 2 seconds, noticed that it had tilted a little during the delivery and in going to move it back to the center, all I could remember was Kristina #2’s warning (Kraig, whatever you do, don’t touch the ring. It is going to be perfectly polished and in its top condition). Phew, thanks for that warning Kristina. I covered my hand and used my shirt to center it. Meanwhile, Kristina is still getting ready (thank goodness it takes her anywhere from 27-32 minutes to get ready). I still had 3 minutes to spare.
The stage is set: I grabbed the letter that I had written to Kristina entitled “Welcome Home”, tucked the ring box to the side in my pants (but not too far down that it was difficult to grab), and sat on the chair waiting….and then she came out. First, she was a little upset that her parents left without her.
“Kristina, it’s okay, they wanted to take a walk along the beach down to the pier and catch the sunset”.
“Kraig, the sunset isn’t for another half an hour”.
“Eh, it’s sooner than you think.” But, then, I handed her the card telling her that must have misplaced this and it belonged with the flowers. As she was nearing the end of the card and finished it, I moved around to be right next to her. The last line on the card said something to the tunes of “and I hope these flowers are one of your favorite homecoming gifts…”
On that note, I got down on one knee, grabbed Kristina’s hand, and voiced “Well Kristina, I actually hope that this is your favorite housewarming gift. Will you marry me?” (Phew, I made it. Proposal was set and then…)
“Is this for real?! What are you doing?! Is this a joke?”
“No, no Kristina, it’s real. Will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I slid the ring on to her finger, we hugged, kissed, hugged some more, kissed some more, and then we stopped. She looked at me and said, “I don’t know what we do next.” I had no idea either and just grabbed her one more time for a hug. From that moment on we proceeded to take pictures by every single flower in the home, with us together, and even more random candid shots in the apartment. “Kraig, why didn’t you give me some warning? I would have gotten my nails done” Kristina joked in partial seriousness.
Perhaps my favorite moment came about 5 minutes later (it seemed like 20), when Kristina was in the bathroom re-readying herself. All of a sudden I hear a partial scream, and I jump over to the bathroom. “Kraig, I don’t even know what date it is!!!”
She finished getting ready, and we walked hand in hand to Santa Monica pier to meet up with Pat and Rosie for a fun night of celebration. What a day. What a night. What a perfect start to a picturesque engagement.
