The story of our proposal, June 9, 2011:
On Monday or Tuesday that week Charles mentioned he wanted to go to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday night, before going to our friend Lee and Betsy's going away party. There was a new Titian exhibit that had just opened and he said he wanted to go check it out. The museum is open late on Thursday nights and we have often gone to the museum to walk around on Thursday evenings, so I didn't think much of it.
I went over to Charles' condo after work on Thursday evening and he was finishing getting ready. He seemed a little flustered, but said he had been running errands all day, so I didn't think much of it. We arrived at the museum and made our way upstairs to the Titian exhibit. Once inside we started admiring the paintings and reading about the collection that was visiting from Edinburgh, Scotland. After a few minutes one of Charles former students walked in with his father, so we went over and said hello. As we made our way through the rest of the exhibit I noticed that Charles was going very quickly and seemed in a hurry. I figured he was ready to get to dinner and the going away party. As we arrived at the end of the exhibit Charles asked me to wait a minute while he went back to say something to his former student. Then we walked out of the exhibit and towards the escalator. I got on, Charles didn't. I turned around and he was standing at the top of the escalator and he told me there was a clue in my purse, but not to look at it until I got to the bottom of the escalator.
As I stepped off the escalator I looked in my purse, there was a piece of paper that instructed me to go up the stairs and once I reach the top I was to "look inside." Call me clueless, but I still had no idea that a proposal was in the works. I walked to the top of the stairs wondering what in the world I was going to look inside of to find out what was going on. As I got to the top of the stairs, Charles' former student appeared and handed me one of Lola's dog toys. This particular toy is actually a finger puppet that we picked up for Lola while in Richmond, VA and so it has a little pouch so it can be used as a puppet. So, I looked inside and found another clue. The next clue instructed me to walk to the room with the large window that has Renoir and Monet paintings. I wandered through the exhibits until I reached this room.
I walked in and Charles was standing in front of the window, still confused I asked him what he was doing, he replied by asking me if I had ever looked out this particular window.... I was so confused! I said no, then he began telling me how much he loved me and that he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. He then got on one knee, and finally I realized what was happening! He asked me to marry him and pulled a ring from his pocket. I of course answered yes with a huge smile and tears. We had a few spectators and the kind security guard offered to take a picture for us.
After the museum we went to dinner at Raven Grill and had some champagne and appetizers, although we hardly ate a thing. Little did I know there was another surprise after dinner. Charles had been sporting a rather extravagant mustache for a few months (notice it in the picture). I had been asking him to shave it for a few weeks, especially since we were planning a trip to Hawaii and I couldn't imagine him on the beach with his mustache. So, as the final surprise he shaved it off, right there in the parking lot at Raven Grill!
Next we went to Lee and Betsy's going away party and surprised our friends with the engagement news. Friday was a whirlwind day of calling friends and family and overall just being happy and in love. Saturday morning we left for Hawaii and spent a week just enjoying each other. Overall, it was a perfect engagement story! And the ring is beautiful, Charles did an amazing job picking it out!
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