On Monday, December 14th, we were at home hanging out when I went upstairs and told Val to grab a bag, put on some water-resistant shoes, and hop in the car, without any other information! Val laughed a bit, thinking I was joking, but then she grabbed a bag and we headed out. We drove for about 30 minutes to a location only I knew, and I made jokes along the way--saying we were going to adopt another puppy, or maybe purchase a used dirigible. Finally we pulled in to an empty parking lot, and, after climbing down about 200 stairs, we arrived at a Marina! We headed down the dock until we met up with our ship-captain for the day, and got ready to make way on our own personal sailboat tour of Lake Travis! The lake was gorgeous--empty, the perfect temperature, and placid as can be. We sailed down the whole lake, sitting together on the bow, the waves just a few feet below us. It was picturesque. I went belowdecks and broke out some cheese and crackers I had smuggled aboard, to Val's delight! (She loves cheese and crackers more than most people love air) As we circled the lake and the sun dipped lower, the captain gave me a nod, and I went below again but this time came up with a surprise for Val. I had picked and printed out dozens of photos of our most cherished memories over the years and added them to a leatherbound journal entitled "Our Adventure Book." As the sun began to set, we looked through the memories together, laughing and remembering. As we drew to the end of the book, we arrived at a page labeled "Stand Up!" Val stood up, and I turned, bent down on one knee and proposed! After she said yes, we popped some champagne I had brought and sailed back, the sunset chasing us as we headed into our new adventure! Later that night we celebrated with Amy's Ice Cream on S Congress in Austin and called our families to share the happy news!