FINALLY!!!!!!

Zack had just moved into an amazing house in the hills of Santa Barbara. Courtney was enjoying another beautiful Santa Barbara day, tanning with her roommates on her Isla Vista lawn. A mutual friend happened to bike by and asked Courtney if she wanted to come to a housewarming party - and of course she said yes! After picking up a classy 12-pack from the gas station, Courtney walked through the front door and into the arms of the man of her dreams. **Just kidding - Zack poked fun at her wrist full of bangles (it was 2010-I promise bangles were very cool), and Courtney nervously ate too many carrots & ranch and left early. Luckily - Santa Barbara is the kind of small town where you run into just about everyone, so Zack and Courtney got a few second chances to hit it off. Their paths kept crossing, and eventually, they became friends and joined a kickball team together. The two were naturals, rising in the ranks as kickball stars and eventually going on to win---**Ha! Truthfully, Courtney and Zack were both absolutely awful at kickball, but grew to realize that they shared a strong mutual love for an after-kickball appetizer platter and a good Katy Perry dance off. They started to really look forward to seeing each other every Thursday night. Kickball nights lead to date nights, meeting each other's friends, and a move-in- and the rest is history! (Zack also had a motorcycle and Courtney thought that was really cool)

Every good proposal starts with a comedy of errors, and this one is no different. Courtney had coyly been dropping hints she wanted to get engaged (i.e. creating a Pinterest board of ideal diamond cuts and sharing it with me). I was thinking it would be nice to build a life together, so I thought it was time. Asking Courtney's Father Dan for his blessing was the most nervous I have ever been speaking to another human being. I decided to go for it at her Grandpa's 90th birthday party. At first I tried unsuccessfully to butter Dan up with some smalltalk (“hey uhh, baseball am I right? Do you like hitting baseballs?”). Terrible. In what I thought was an act of mercy, Dan turned the subject to Courtney and our future together. He was teeing me up! Now was my time. I slugged my IPA and hurried out the words “Dan I love your daughter very much and I would like to marry her”. Dan furrowed his brow, looked wistfully out the window, and launched into a monologue about his first condo, Jimmy Carter, and how high-interest rates were in the 70's. He didn't hear my question. I decided to ask again. Luckily, this time Dan heard me and graciously agreed. My plan was a casual evening walk to the SB mission lawn for a glass of wine and some backgammon. A friend of ours agreed to hide in the bushes across the street to take photos, and some teenagers were even playing acoustic guitar across the lawn ( I shit you not, they were playing wonderwall ). After two games (I won), I asked Courtney what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. “Oh, nothing” she said, “maybe a nice dinner”. I finished my wine, dropped to one knee, and asked the big question - telling her she wasn’t getting anything (else) for her birthday but I hoped she'd accept a ring. After some brief screaming (and some tearful applause from the neighbor lady whose yard our buddy was laying in), she said yes.