So it's been awhile since I've posted in here ... surprise surprise.
In July Travis and I got engaged and I literally couldn't be happier! July was a rollercoaster of vacations and plans. Thank God it had 5 weekends, 4 of the 5 were booked solid.
The first weekend was our trip to Havasu for the 4th. It was amazing, we got to stay with his cousin Pepi (Joe) and his wife Lisa and also got to visit with Rhys and Leslie which was awesome. I think we got to see him every day we were out there, I miss them. Got to go out on the boat all day which was an adventure! I got so sunburnt and Travis had little baby leeches stuck to his feet - gross! Since I got seriously sunburnt we cut our trip back a day and left the morning of the 4th which meant smooth traffic for us (there and back, we had headed out there Friday night and hit absolutely no traffic) since we left the morning of the 4th that also meant we happened to miss the start of a monsoon, what luck! lol. We made sure to have brunch at In and Out with Rhys before he started work and to stop by Petsmart to see Leslie before we left.
The next weekend Travis had planned a surprise trip for me much like when he surprised me with the trip to San Francisco to see the Kings of Leon. The entire week leading up to this day trip he had been giving me clues as to where we were going, on the last day he showed me a picture of a Dell lapton and Bill Mahr = Del Mar.
I was excited since I had never been to Del Mar and was just happy for the getaway - yet there was still a surprise within the surprise and I wasn't allowed to know yet. We get to the hotel, which was the Marriott by the race track and since the races weren't going to start until I believe the following weekend I was still oblivious as to what we were planning on doing. Since he was able to keep his surprise Travis was thrilled I hadn't guessed what we were about to do. He tells me dress as if we're going hiking and bring your sunglasses, hat and a camera. Uh ... ok? We start driving and this place is less than a mile from where we were staying and he tells me start looking for an Albertson's. We're meeting behind the Petco in that parking lot. Uh again ... ok? and what? Who are we meeting and why are we meeting them there? Well, we're going for a ride. A horse back ride? a canoe ride? a bike ride? - Nope, hot air balloon ride!
EeeeeeeeEeEEEEEE!OMG I couldn't believe that after 2.5 years he still remembered that I had always wanted to do one of these! So of course my natural girl instinct was - he's going to propose to me!! But he hadn't been acting nervous or strange and was calm cool and collected, well .... a girl can dream can't she? So the whole "experience" lasted about 3 hours, we were shoved in a basket with 9 other people that we did not know and were getting briefed on what could possibly happen to us and different landing scenarios which were as smooth as touching down and that being that to tipping over once we landed and being drug for 1,000 feet (fingers secretly crossed for that one, would have made for an amazing story). Even though there was hardly any moving room since we were sharing with 9 others and the random blasts of propane to heat the balloon so it would stay afloat it was as romantic as it could have been and as thrilling as a 4 mph ride could be. And here we are coming to the time for the balloon to start its decent and no proposal, I do have to say my dreams were not crushed because the pure thought of Travis taking the time to plan this knowing it was something I had always wanted to do was enough.
So here we about to land and the bottom of our basket skims the top of this tree, OMG, then all of a sudden we're falling a little faster to the ground - thud! tipping toward the ground (mind you, I'm in the "front" of the basket and my face is about to meet dirt) the ground crew that met us in this open field pulled the basket back down from behind evening it out we lifted again slightly to then hit again -thud! and this thud my knee hit a propane tank and my hand that was holding on for dear life slid a little and my knuckle got scraped (yes it is scared and I will have this faint scar forever) and again the crew evened us out and the "pilot" told me and someone else to get out so without even looking behind me I hurdled the side of this basket and ran off. While I'm running I notice it was Travis behind me (I was glad since we could at least stand off to the side safe together). While my heart is racing from the adreneline rush I just got and watching the rest of the people in the basket trying to land smoothly he starts talking to me, I turn to him to acknowledge his talking, look back at the field and then realize what he's saying.
Liane, you know that I love you and want to spend (insert me turning to face him again with a stunned look on my face) the rest of life with you. (insert Travis getting down on one knee and opening the ring box) Will you marry me? (insert me in stunned silence gawking and noticing the box lights up!) YES! Yes! That IS the ring I wanted! Oh my gosh. (Travis puts on the ring we kiss and hug) Then from the distance one of the other balloon riders yells, HEY! They just got engaged! I totally went all movie scene and forgot we were in a field full of people and was put back down on my feet realizing it wasn't just us two. My intuition was correct but I'm glad that I was still taken by surprise that it happened.
The balloon company offers some snacks and champagne after each ride so that was really wonderful that we were able to make a toast right away in between my hands still shaking not sure if it was from the excitement or the adreneline - could be both to tell you the truth, and our making phone calls to our parents. Turns out he had asked Rhys' permission that morning before we left Havasu while we were at In and Out - me being clueless of course. We also after we got back to our hotel room and finished up the phone calls went out to a restaurant called Jake's Del Mar. Absolutely fabulous. Wonderful views even at night, it is literally right on the sand down in Del Mar and has floor to ceiling glass panes so the entire restaurant has a view of the ocean and at night (which is when we went, our hot air balloon ride was a sunset ride) they turn on a bunch of flood lights so you can still enjoy the view. The place comes highly recommended from us.
Weekend three though you think can't top that weekend (which it didn't but was amazing in it's own way) was our trip up to Napa for Travis' birthday. We got to go to most of our favorite Napa vineyards and also the Jelly Belly Factory! Chateau Montelena was just as perfect as we were picturing and the wines were amazing, so delicious. Sterling was fun we had done a private tasting with that winery and it was worth it. Artesa was gorgeous and had a lot of unique art which I wasn't expecting. Raymont winery was eclectic to say the least a very Willy Wonka feel to the whole place. BV and Franciscan were also a great place to go. A nice long weekend just the two of us to celebrate our engagement and his 26th birthday, turns out he of course planned to propose before Napa so we could do just that - enjoy being engaged. He thinks of everything when it comes to that kind of stuff which is exactly why I have placed him in charge of planning our honeymoon!
Weekend four was our weekend off which was so needed! The last weekend of the month was to be his birthday party his parents were throwing him which we combined to be a slash engagement party for our friends, it was wonderful. That Sunday we had our engagement party at my mom's house for both of our families, a lot of people came and it was wonderful to see everyone!
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