Yesterday during the Super Bowl, I asked Katie to marry me and (after a long but unintended delay) she said "yes"! Her mom (June) and dad (Tom) and sister (Laura) came over to watch the Super Bowl with my mom (Cherie) and siblings (Missy, Tina, Jeremiah). It was the first time that our families had met, so it seemed like a good time to make a spectacle. Here's the video (it's 7 minutes long, so beware) followed by a brief play-by-play explaining some of the jokes and filling in bits that might have been hard to hear:
Jeremiah was nice enough to agree to take the video. Before the video started, I told Katie (and everyone else in attendance) that she had to sit in front of everyone because I wanted to play a prank on her. That explains (I hope) her expressions of horror at the start. Jeremiah starts out at what turned out to be a non-optimal angle but catches me taking a knee before he gets up and runs to the other side of the room. You can hear Katie's mother say "I think we'd better pay attention" while my mother repeatedly says "Oh my goodness!"
My proposal: "Katie, you're the most amazing woman I've ever met and I love you a lot and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. In front of both of our families, I want to ask if you will do me the great honor of becoming my wife." (After I said "in front of both of our families," Tina pointed out that the dogs were there, too, so I had to add "and the dogs.")
Katie's first straight-from-the-gut response: "That's a really big ring!"
Here is the controversy. After the comment about the ring, she gave me a kiss, after which she claims she said "yes." No one else (other than her sister) heard her say that. You can hear her mother say "That's not the answer he was looking for!" and me suggesting it was sad that she was essentially telling me "It's a nice ring. I'll think about it."
After a "goodness!" from Katie and some talk about the ring (my sisters helped me pick it out), I somewhat sadly tell her, "You can . . . You can take some time and think about it." I'm already sad and dejected that she hasn't immediately accepted. Then she tells me "I've already said yes!" Flabbergasted, I ask for confirmation: "You did?" She confirms, "Yes!" And finally I felt I could put the ring on her finger.
Laura asked if she was the only one who figured out in advance what was likely to happen. Tina explained one plan we discussed where I would put the ring in a pinata for Katie to find amidst the candy. (June didn't fancy that as much.)
Then I start to explain about the ring, which I say is only a "starter ring." That's the description that Katie attached to the ring she gave me for Christmas, a small chunk of cubic zirconia in a gold-plated band. I thought turnabout was fair play, so I explained how I got her a ring on clearance at Wal-mart. Rather than the traditional 2-months salary spending suggestion, I paid about 12-minutes salary for hers.
Missy (in green) and Tina (in red) came with during the ring shopping and took a video. (I'll try to get that and post it later, along with close-ups of the two rings.)
After being initially flustered (for a very brief time, she thought the massive piece of cubic zirconia was a real diamond, which might justify her initial reaction to my proposal), Katie suddenly became self-aware and comments "I wish I'd put on lipstick."
Missy then shows Katie the video on her phone of us shopping for the ring on Saturday. Katie shares that she was asking me for a play-by-play account of everything I did on Saturday. I had to omit the part about the ring shopping to keep the surprise. We had stopped at a Goodwill store first to see if we could find something appropriately gaudy, but we eventually had to go to Wal-mart. Laura comments that she's found real gold or real silver jewelry at Goodwill. I say that the 12-minute-salary ring from Wal-mart is neither.
Tina tells a story about a small bracelet we found at Goodwill that we thought about using, but decided in the end not to get. During the story, Jeremiah pans to the people in attendance: Tom, June, and Laura on the couch, Missy and Tina on the loveseat, and our mom sitting behind the loveseat. Jeremiah stays invisible behind the camera, but is greatly appreciated for his camera work.
Tina explains my reason for shopping at Wal-mart: I thought Katie would be rather particular about her ring, and so she might want to be included in choosing it. Katie thought for a minute and said, "Yeah."
June is grateful that Katie didn't react the way her mother did to her father's initial proposal. Apparently Katie's grandfather made a ring himself by melting down a spoon. I think that's a sweet and romantic thing, but apparently Katie's grandmother was so disgusted that she threw it on the ground.
Katie concludes the video by telling (for the first time) what she paid for the ring she got me. She actually paid only $0.01 for my ring on eBay, with $10.00 shipping and handling. She got me a beautiful leather jacket in addition to the ring (for Christmas), but she was embarrassed that I actually liked the ring and started wearing it.
We're thinking of a wedding this spring or summer! Watch this space for updates!
Jeremiah was nice enough to agree to take the video. Before the video started, I told Katie (and everyone else in attendance) that she had to sit in front of everyone because I wanted to play a prank on her. That explains (I hope) her expressions of horror at the start. Jeremiah starts out at what turned out to be a non-optimal angle but catches me taking a knee before he gets up and runs to the other side of the room. You can hear Katie's mother say "I think we'd better pay attention" while my mother repeatedly says "Oh my goodness!"
My proposal: "Katie, you're the most amazing woman I've ever met and I love you a lot and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. In front of both of our families, I want to ask if you will do me the great honor of becoming my wife." (After I said "in front of both of our families," Tina pointed out that the dogs were there, too, so I had to add "and the dogs.")
Katie's first straight-from-the-gut response: "That's a really big ring!"
Here is the controversy. After the comment about the ring, she gave me a kiss, after which she claims she said "yes." No one else (other than her sister) heard her say that. You can hear her mother say "That's not the answer he was looking for!" and me suggesting it was sad that she was essentially telling me "It's a nice ring. I'll think about it."
After a "goodness!" from Katie and some talk about the ring (my sisters helped me pick it out), I somewhat sadly tell her, "You can . . . You can take some time and think about it." I'm already sad and dejected that she hasn't immediately accepted. Then she tells me "I've already said yes!" Flabbergasted, I ask for confirmation: "You did?" She confirms, "Yes!" And finally I felt I could put the ring on her finger.
Laura asked if she was the only one who figured out in advance what was likely to happen. Tina explained one plan we discussed where I would put the ring in a pinata for Katie to find amidst the candy. (June didn't fancy that as much.)
Then I start to explain about the ring, which I say is only a "starter ring." That's the description that Katie attached to the ring she gave me for Christmas, a small chunk of cubic zirconia in a gold-plated band. I thought turnabout was fair play, so I explained how I got her a ring on clearance at Wal-mart. Rather than the traditional 2-months salary spending suggestion, I paid about 12-minutes salary for hers.
Missy (in green) and Tina (in red) came with during the ring shopping and took a video. (I'll try to get that and post it later, along with close-ups of the two rings.)
After being initially flustered (for a very brief time, she thought the massive piece of cubic zirconia was a real diamond, which might justify her initial reaction to my proposal), Katie suddenly became self-aware and comments "I wish I'd put on lipstick."
Missy then shows Katie the video on her phone of us shopping for the ring on Saturday. Katie shares that she was asking me for a play-by-play account of everything I did on Saturday. I had to omit the part about the ring shopping to keep the surprise. We had stopped at a Goodwill store first to see if we could find something appropriately gaudy, but we eventually had to go to Wal-mart. Laura comments that she's found real gold or real silver jewelry at Goodwill. I say that the 12-minute-salary ring from Wal-mart is neither.
Tina tells a story about a small bracelet we found at Goodwill that we thought about using, but decided in the end not to get. During the story, Jeremiah pans to the people in attendance: Tom, June, and Laura on the couch, Missy and Tina on the loveseat, and our mom sitting behind the loveseat. Jeremiah stays invisible behind the camera, but is greatly appreciated for his camera work.
Tina explains my reason for shopping at Wal-mart: I thought Katie would be rather particular about her ring, and so she might want to be included in choosing it. Katie thought for a minute and said, "Yeah."
June is grateful that Katie didn't react the way her mother did to her father's initial proposal. Apparently Katie's grandfather made a ring himself by melting down a spoon. I think that's a sweet and romantic thing, but apparently Katie's grandmother was so disgusted that she threw it on the ground.
Katie concludes the video by telling (for the first time) what she paid for the ring she got me. She actually paid only $0.01 for my ring on eBay, with $10.00 shipping and handling. She got me a beautiful leather jacket in addition to the ring (for Christmas), but she was embarrassed that I actually liked the ring and started wearing it.
We're thinking of a wedding this spring or summer! Watch this space for updates!
I heard you (Katie) say yes right away - right before you kissed him. -- Stacey Sandler.
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