The Proposal: He Said

[as told by Jeremy]

Preparation Timeline:
(skip to JAN 27th Night for the proposal)

(12/2/06) After looking around for rings, I decided to get a ring custom made - Serena wanted a cushion cut rock.

(12/23/06) Picked up the ring on the Saturday before Christmas - went to a party at Ed Ie's house that night.

...Decided to propose on Saturday Jan 27th - It was about the 4th anniversary of our first date. For our "first date", Serena and I went to Orange County Performing Arts Center to see a Mozart Opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio. (I had counted our first date to be a Rolling Stones concert at Staples Center, but I'm the guy, what do I know...that's some of the reason for the "about the 4th anniversary")

(1/20/07) Took her parents out to Maki Sushi the week before to ask for their blessing - rushed up to Monrovia from surfing at 39th St w/ Henry and Karen.

(1/26/07 am) I got a call from Serena telling me that Stacy and Daniel got engaged the night before after hanging out with her church friends- Serena and Stacy always joked saying the other should get engaged first (apparently we won the race for second).

(1/26/07 pm) I picked out some pictures to make a photobook and saved them to an SD card.

(1/27/07, 9am) I took pictures of the ring and sent the pictures to print at Costco - Apparently, it's hard to take a good picture of a ring with a point and shoot camera. Good thing Serena bought a good macro lens.

(1/27/07, 11:30am-2:30pm) I hung out with Serena and FCBC peeps , bowling and playing Wii at Washington's house - Chili+Cream Cheese=YUM.

(1/27/07, 3:00pm-6pm) I made a stupid excuse so I could go finish up the photobook and finish preparing for the night.

**JAN 27TH NIGHT**:
We had talked previously about doing something for the anniversary of our first date, but I kinda left most of it as a surprise / spontaneous set of activities. Weeks before, I had asked her if she wanted to see Don Giovanni at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, but she didn't want to. I decided to take Serena down to Orange County anyways and perhaps go to a few places we had hung out when we first started dating.

We first went to Fashion Island to eat at Roy's. We ate at Fashion Island's Cheesecake Factory on our first date, but I decided to upgrade this part of the night.

Then, I took her to Cafe Blanc to pick up some desserts. Austin Szu recommended this place to me, and their desserts are incredible. They were just closing when we got there so we picked up a couple things to go.

After that, I took Serena to Orange County Performing Arts Center. I had told Serena to bring her camera and told her that I wanted to walk around and take some pictures of one of the new halls that they ahd just finished. So, as we got out of the car, I grabbed her camera stuff, and put the photobook and ring in her camera bag. After walking around for a bit and taking some pictures, we sat down on a bench by the main entrance of the performing art center.

I pulled out the photobook as an anniversary gift. We flipped through it and looked at pictures of some great memories that we've made through the years. I flipped to the last page, a picture of the ring and 4 words, "Will you marry me?"

I grabbed the ring, got down on one knee, and asked Serena to marry me.... now I'm engaged.