| Engagement | Our History | Wedding Info | Message Board | Home |
Andy: Sally and I found her ring in Late March and we put it on layaway.
We both knew it would take a while to pay for the ring.
Sally:Sheesh, makes me sound like a glamour-girl or something.
Andy:Well, truth is, I went to pick up the ring a few weeks after that and started to put
all the pieces into
place.
I had Elise Robinson, a professor of Sally's and mine back at CSB, write Sally an e-mail
inviting her and I to speak at a panel discussion for incoming students in July.
Sally: Elise was sneaky. Silly me, I was so flattered
they thought of Andy and I for a fine arts panel. So I made sure I could get work off,
and I started to think of all the things I would say at this panel
(that, by the way, according to Elise's email,
the Presidents of the college would be attending)... silly, silly me.
Andy: Well, that took care of the first problem, preoccupying Sally!
Then I statrted to plan out the rest.
I wanted to catch Sally totally off guard. She told me somewhere in these months that
she had always wanted to be proposed to in front
of a crowd. Well, that's not quite my style, and I couldn't think of a way to do it anyway--
I mean what am I going to do--stop in the middle of a Comedy Sportz show and
propose--that's not funny!
Sally: YEAH!
Andy: Well, anyway . . .I figured a big part of Sally's crowd obsession is
that she wouldn't be able to wait to tell the world!! So I wanted to assemble a crowd of our close
family and friends to help us celebrate--but still maintain the surprise. Thus was born: Operation:SUNSPOT.
Sally: I just want to say that "obsession" is a bit strong.
Andy: I reserved a room at O'Gara's and sent out an invitation via this web page. You can
take a look at that page here.
The proposal itself did not happen in front of a crowd. That brings us back to
the Panel discussion at St. John's. You see, on our first anniversary, way back in 1997,
I gave Sally a time capsule. We buried it on Watab Island. Over the the past five years
we've visited it a couple times to add new momentos and vist the old ones.
About a week before our panel discussion, I suggested to Sally that we go visit the capsule
again, since we would be up at school anyway for the panel.
Sally: My response: a fairly unenthusiastic Sure.
Andy: The big day came, and Sally and I left a little early
so we would have time to go to the island before our presentation.
Sally: The whole way up, I was asking Andy for advice on what I should say.... Gullible?
I think so. I hadn't even thought about the time capsule. WHOOPS. So I started digging around for something
to put in the capsule.
For a few months before that, we had been joking around about how I felt like this
whole engagement
thing was NEVER going to happen. I was convinced it was at least six months away. My family was ensuring that
I wasn't suspecting a thing and had even told me that morning, and I quote, Sally, leave him alone about it. He's
very depressed he can't afford it. Sheesh! So in order to compensate, Andy had been reassuring me that it would
happen by September, 2003. (Thanks, honey, that's very reassuring!) So I decided to tear out a page in my planner:
September, 2003. I thought it
would be funny. I think the joke ended up being on me.
Andy: When we got to the island (Watab Island is on the SJU campus) it was hot and buggy.
I think Sally was ready to save the capsule for another more pleasant day.
Sally: It was HOT! I was sweating! The bugs were eating me alive! I was sure I was
going to look like crap for this big panel discussion that was only a short half-hour away...
Andy: You see, the day before, I had driven up to school, dug up our old capsule,
replaced it with a shiny new one,
complete with engagement ring inside. I left it there overnight, trusting
that it would stay safe.
Sally and I walked out to the spot, and dug up the capsule.
Sally: Wait, I have to add something. The grass on Watab hadn't been
cut in months. It was up to my waist! I was so not in the mood for this
whole time capsule thing that I almost asked if we
could do it another time. But Andy seemed so eager... I decided to just
hang in there and do it.
Andy: We dug up the capsule and I thought that Sally would start
to get an inkling as soon as she saw the brand new shiny capsule
(the old one was a PEANUT JAR!!)
Sally: He was making these strange, not at all Andy-like comments...
like, Where is it buried again? And
Hmmmm, do you think this is the spot? Well, who else would
hide a time capsule beneath THIS tree, underneath these three stones
that we had placed right at this exact spot?!
I knew something was strange... but it couldn't be what was in the back of
my head... he was depressed and couldn't afford
it, remember? Sally, don't get your hopes up, I kept telling myself.
The whole day -- the clean car, the extra snuggly Andy, the empty campus
during orientation, walking through
the woods all dressed up -- yes, it was all a little strange...
but then again, we're a strange couple.
Andy:Sally opened the capsule. On top was an old photo of us.
Sally pulled it out and there it was: The ring box.
Sally: Yep, there was a ring box all right. But it didn't make
sense. What on earth was
a ring box doing in our time capsule? Maybe he just bought one to
reassure me that someday he would propose.
He wouldn't be doing this NOW, would he? I mean, we have a panel
discussion in a half hour! I just sat there and stared at it while
my mind raced for an explanation.
I was very confused.
Andy: I said some things about memories, and us
(it doesn't matter too much 'cuz Sally didn't hear any of it).
And then I asked Sally to marry me.
Sally: Ok, now, for about a minute or two while Andy was talking,
I was still trying to figure out what on earth was going on. I honestly
didn't think he was going to propose... until I saw his hands
shaking a little bit... and then I realized that maybe, just maybe, he was
about to ask me (even though I was
still wondering how on earth this was going to work with a panel discussion;
I mean, were were going to get engaged
and then run off to a presentation?!). So I focused in on what he was saying
-- just in time for him to ask me.
I said yes, of course! (Don't worry: I made him repeat all the gushy
stuff I missed!)
Andy: But she was still obviously confused even after the YES and
after the ring was on her finger.
THERE'S NO PANEL DISCUSSION SALLY!!
Sally: I think that's when I finally figured it out! Yeee-haw!
But to be honest,
I was feeling a little disappointed that I couldn't be sharing this with
family and friends. I even
looked around a bit to see if anyone was hiding in the trees or something...
Andy: The first thing Sally did when we got back into the car was
grab my cell phone and ask, Who should we call?
I told her she had to wait until the story of our engagement was finished.
Sally: I realized then that this was all way beyond my control,
and I just sat
back to enjoy the ride!
Andy: We drove back to the Cities and had a nice dinner at the 510
in Minneapolis. Then I asked Sally to put on a blindfold.
I was hoping it would prevent her from knowing where the next stop would be,
but little miss walking GPS had it figured out even without her sight: O'Gara's!
Sally: I had had a few glasses of wine at dinner (yummy), and
yapped the whole ride over to
St. Paul about the latest good book I had read (Harry Potter 4) and I STILL
knew exactly where we
were headed. I assumed that because Andy had said the only people who
knew were our parents, they would be the ones awaiting us
there. I was wrong!
Andy:I walked Sally into the bar, blindfold and all, and when
I pulled it off, there must have been
50 of our family and friends. SURPRISE!!
Sally: I was thrilled and touched and so surprised! It meant the
world to me that so many people were there...and I was baffled that so
many people KNEW! (I usually manage to find out everything!)
Even my brothers and their wives made it -- and all three of them had
excuses as to where they would be that weekend, and none
of them were going to be in town.... it was wonderful.
The whole day far exceeded my expectations.
Andy: The evening was wonderful!! The rest went pretty much as you would expect: Great people, great beer, a great night.
We spent the rest of the weekend at Sally's cabin with family, and by Sunday, the planning had already begun.
OPERATION: SUNSPOT went off without a hitch.
It all happened July 6th, 2001.