Hawaii: the engagement report

so, i guess the way to start this to to say:  "well, it turns out that the boy i like, is actually the boy i love."

post race was spent in the hotel, lounging while watching the Canucks game (right... ice hockey while in Hawaii!), and eating a ginormous meal for dinner.  The plan was to go to the Mauna Kea Observatory, but the drive up and back would take at least 4 hours, and it would (obviously) be at night.  Not necessarily the best idea for the evening/night after a 1/2 ironman!

so, we woke up on sunday after a lovely (surprizingly, for being in the same room as two boys who really like to snore) sleep, and went out for some coffee.  Then, of course went for second breakfast... at the buffet.  and, subsequently stuffed ourselves again.  then, it was a little lagoon lounging at the hotel, and off for the afternoon activities!    I have added pictures, but, I thought that i would leave the report up to the boy.  'Cause it was all him.

A little Planking Action at the Hilton

Kayak feet in the lagoon!

the boy i like love and I chasing Honu's in the lagoon!

The highlights of the weekend were, not surprisingly, getting to see Amelia race in her triathlon on Saturday and getting to ask her to marry me on Sunday. But besides that, I had almost no idea what the weekend would hold. Not having been there before, I couldn't say what kind of activities we'd be able to get up to, or how tired Amelia would be after the race, or what I'd be able to do myself. That said, it's not a bad idea to go there with an open mind and just make the most of the time, which worked out pretty well in the end. 

After we were good and stuffed, we wandered over to the hotel's lagoon (they don't actually have a pool, just a big lagoon which is partially open to the ocean) for the rest of the morning. Zach napped on the beach while Amelia and I rented a double kayak and paddled around for a half hour looking at the lagoon. It doesn't take long to see, but we found that there are a number of sea turtles that like hanging around in there, and chasing them while Amelia snaps enough photos for a National Geographic piece was fun. 

Which brings us to Sunday afternoon. At this point I still hadn't proposed to Amelia, and I was feeling a bit nervous that we weren't going to find a suitably impressive spot to do it, but Zach knew of a route that we could drive on with good scenic views, so we set out. Our plan up to that point had been to go with Christina and Dave and Luke, but they unfortunately came down with a bit of a stomach bug that sidelined them for the day. Amelia (who was driving, since Zach was still "recovering" in the back seat) found a recommendation for a spot called Pololu Valley not far from our original route, and would not be persuaded to do anything else.

Which was for the best, I'm sure, as that's the most beautiful part of the island I saw in the entire weekend. If I wanted a "memorable" spot to propose (and I did), I couldn't have done better. Which was the whole point, I'm sure. I spent my whole weekend up to that point thinking that I was responsible for coming up with something fun and creative to do for a proposal, without remembering that Amelia had just as much control over that as I did. So it's nice to know that it was a bit of a joint effort. And for the record, Amelia does like the ring, even if it has to get re-sized a bit once she's back here.

"Do you want to see the ring?"  "um... YES?!"

12 Blue sapphires in an 18c white gold band.  YES!  score a couple good-taste points for the boy!   

a post-engagement planking photo in the highlands of the big island.  perhaps this should be the "save the date" photo (despite the plank being a little... saggy...)

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so, three most common questions that i am getting:

Did you know he was going to propose!?!?

• yes.  Because the boy isn't a big secret holder.  And, i kinda guessed, anyway, when I saw him over easter.  we have been talking "if we get married" for months.  it was just kinda making something which was talked about, more official.  but, honestly... despite the fact that it was not a surprize that he was coming to Hawaii... it was the whole action that he did!  so amazing!  ESPECIALLY so amazing since the reason he gave was I am not just marrying you.. but, i am marrying your whole life.  your two best friends are going to be there, and i would rather include them in this as well, instead of you having to re-tell them the story.

do you have a date?

• no, not yet.   there are a lot of things that are goign to be happening in the next year.  like going to africa.  and sean transfering jobs.  and moving to vancouver.  and me graduating.    one thing for sure.  it will be after i graduate (so we can actually live together, once we are married, and not have me either a) in africa, or b) in montreal).  we will decide by the end of this summer, if it will be soon after i graduate, or if it will be a few months later.

what about dreaming over the ocean... what about Africa?

• as i support Sean and the things he wants to do with life, he supports me.  He loves my passions and my desires.  we know that we come from two very different backgrounds, and have two very different careers.  There is one thing i know for sure that I know right now:  after graduation, I have to spend a few years, working to pay off my student loans, and working to gain critical care nursing skills.  Anything regarding Africa will not happen for a few years...  and, honestly, when that time comes, we deal with it at that time.  And, honestly, we don't know how it will work out.  Because, the way i look at it... when you say "of course" to someone when they ask you to marry them, you make that decision following two simple questions:
• Do you like/love the person?  (YES!)
• are you willing to make the commitment to do what it takes to make the relationship work? (YES!)
• and, somehow, after that (especially with God's help), it is going to work out.  

so, here is to LOVE, actually.