Maria and I had previously visited Sedona and fell in love with the scenic views and great atmosphere. I decided it would be a great place to propose. I felt very little nerves as I would be proposing to my best friend and couldn’t possibly feel nervous around her. On the contrary, I only felt anxious because I couldn’t share my ring shopping and proposal planning experience with her. We share everything (If you’ve ever asked me to keep a secret, I probably told Maria as soon as I saw her. The secret is all of ours now.) We took off to Sedona on 1.1.2021 on an ordinary trip along with my sister Saray aka “Harry Potter” and her little friend. We planned on doing a hike to a small cave like formation off of Soldiers Pass Trail. We had visited that cave two years prior in 2019 and I thought it would be a perfect spot. We made the hike up there and all along the way Harry Potter is giving me looks trying to affirm that we are both on board with the plan. We make it to the cave and unlike last time we were there, it was FULL of people. I was thrown off my game and after a while i couldnt find how I could do this in such a crowded place. As we are leaving the cave I see a nice area on the side of that cave. I decide that would be the spot. I ask Maria if she would like to take a picture there with me and she says yes. As we are walking over to the area, nerviousness takes over my body. PANIC takes over my body. My mouth is dry and i feel like bambi learning to walk. Im standing there next to Maria ready to have our picture taken. My hand is in my pocket holding the ring. I look over and Harry, who’s ready to take the picture but is actually recording video. Harry gives me a nod and i nod back. I drop down to a knee and say some smooth shit to Maria. I asked her to marry me, but before she says yes, she asks me (tears and boogers coming down her face) if i had spoken to her dad about marrying her. I assured her i had and she said YES.