Renee and Stefan: August 2005

26 August 2005

One last engagement note

Renee and I have some really great friends. But at this time of engagement, there are two friends that deserve special mention - because they brought us together!

The first is Marie, who arranged for us to meet...twice!

The second is Gio, who encouraged me to get over my nervousness and actually call Renee.

Thanks you two!

posted by Stefan Pharies at 20:09

Engagement story (Stefan's additional details)

After reading Renee's post, I want to add just a couple more details so everyone gets the whole picture.

What you can't tell from Renee's story is that preparing to get engaged is not an easy thing - if you're a man. I had to buy a ring, find a place to stay, talk to Renee's dad, and plan out the weekend...all without Renee ever suspecting anything.

I was constantly nervous Renee would find out what I was up to, and there were a few close calls. On the night of the Pink Martini concert I found myself completely unable to relax, because the very expensive engagement ring was in my backpack in the trunk of Renee's car - parked in the vast, unsecured parking lot at the concert. I kept worrying that someone would break into her car (it's already been broken into once), take my backpack, and discover the ring inside. And it wouldn't have been covered by insurance! These thoughts made it hard to concentrate on the admittedly great music.

One of the close calls happened one morning when Renee and I were carpooling to work. My cell phone rang, and I didn't recognize the number. I was expecting a salesperson from one of the jewelry stores to call me, and I instantly thought it must be them. I didn't want to answer, but Renee wanted me to. I managed to hem and haw long enough to miss the call, but when I got voicemail, Renee insisted that I listen to it. It turned out to be a Google relocation person, which was a good thing, because I would have had a hard time coming up with a good story to explain why someone from Tiffany & Co was calling.

After two nerve-wracking weeks of planning, I felt like getting engaged was actually pushing the two of us apart. What irony. But I was determined to have a fun engagement weekend with Renee. That meant I had to be able to relax - and that meant I had to get the big question "over with" early. So I was happy when I finally came up with the idea of proposing at Deception Pass relatively early on Saturday. Sure enough, it was impossible not to have a fantastic weekend after I heard the woman I love so much say "Yes."

posted by Stefan Pharies at 19:51

Engagement Story (Renee's long version)

With the exciting move to Switzerland arriving quickly, Stefan and I set aside a weekend to spend some time together in order to make sure we didn't stress out too much. I bought tickets to the Pink Martini concert at Chateau St. Michelle, and we headed there on Friday afternoon to get a spot on the grass and kick the weekend off right!

A week prior I had asked him if we could go to a friend's housewarming party on Saturday night (the same gal that introduced us - thank you Marie!) but he said that "we have plans" and left it at that. So I guess you could say I knew he was up to something. However, he was acting quite normal and didn't give me any details until Friday night at the concert - the extent of it was: plan for a hike, a casual dinner out, bring a flashlight and pack a bag for Jake. Very mysterious!

Saturday morning rolled around and I found myself very angst ridden about packing my bag. What girl can pack a bag for an unknown trip? I had to ask for more details, and he gave me a few like...it won't be a strenuous hike...and...you probably won't need hiking sock liners...basically very unhelpful information.

After I got over my fear of not packing the perfect outfit we headed north in the car with Jake in the back seat. When we neared the first destination he asked me if I had figured anything out yet. I wasn't too concerned but was pleasantly surprised to hear that we were going hiking around Deception Pass. So we started our hike around the east loop and Jake led the way.

Well, I was genuinely in the mood for a hike. And Stefan was being normal, albeit slightly quiet, but overall very normal and enthusiastic for the hike. We searched for and found access to the beach that faced Mt. Baker and were just exploring when Stefan said "We have some important things to talk about." I won't give you all the details, but he DID ask me to marry him and I said "YES!" (Crying) I was surprised and overjoyed!!! Then...he pulled out a grocery bag from the backpack and low and behold there was a Tiffany box inside! He had disguised it so I wouldn't get suspicious. Hilarious!

And then he asked if he could put the ring on my finger, and what a stunning ring it is! The best part is that he picked it out all by himself!! Stefan has great taste :)

The weekend went by so fast and I was very sad that we had to head home. But we called our parents on the ride home from Orcas Island and with their blessings we both remarked about how happy we were that it's only the beginning of spending the rest of our lives together!

posted by Renee at 03:40

25 August 2005

Engagement story (Stefan's version)

We got engaged on Saturday, August 20th, 2005. Here's what happened that weekend:

Without telling Renee where we were going Saturday morning, I told her to pack an overnight bag for herself and for Jake, and to wear her hiking boots. We drove to Deception Pass, hiked through the beautiful park, and found a secluded beach. I asked Renee to marry me. She said yes. We cried and kissed and hugged, and we only began to be aware of our surroundings again after several minutes. (Luckily we were still alone, although Jake was beginning to feel left out.)

We hiked some more at Deception Pass State Park, and then we took the ferry to Orcas Island. We had a wonderful dinner, and then we stayed the night in a cabin at Doe Bay. The entire weekend was wonderful, and we'll never forget it.

posted by Stefan Pharies at 20:56

Blog is now working!

The blog is now up and running, with an RSS feed and everything. It's powered by blogger.com. Expect to see postings from both of us in the future.

posted by Stefan Pharies at 20:27

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