The public proposal

Very early on in our relationship Allyson and I started talking about getting married.  We have so much in common that it can disgust people sometimes, but we just laugh it off and are so thankful for how we've been blessed.  

I was going to pull the surprise thing with Allyson so I wanted to get an idea of what kind of ring she liked.  We would look in jewelry stores quite often and by the time we were on vacation in Maui this past February, I had a pretty good concept of what the ring I would eventually buy her would look like.

We took a day trip to Lahaina, Allyson's favorite town in Maui, to look for a bracelet or necklace for Allyson's birthday.  When we walked into the first jewelry store on Front Street we saw the perfect ring.  I didn't have the money to buy it right then and there, but payday was only a few days away and my direct deposit would hit the day before we left Maui.

Allyson didn't think there was any way I would be able to buy it for her, but I knew we were going to take another trip to Lahaina with Allyson's mother on our last day in Maui.  The morning before, while we were in bed, I asked Allyson to marry me and told her that I was going to buy the ring the next day in Maui if it was still there.  She said yes, but I had to keep her quiet about it for a day until we went back to Lahaina and thankfully the ring was still there.

Allyson did a great job in keeping it quiet and her mother Jeanne didn't know what was going on as she wandered around the shops.  I called Byron, Allyson's father, and told him I had just bought a ring and asked Allyson to marry me.  Once we got the ring and just before we were leaving Lahaina I asked Allyson to marry me publicly, right there on the boardwalk and in front of her mother (who snapped the picture above) and a little crowd that gathered and clapped for us.  It was the most magical ride back to Wailea where we celebrated on the beach on that last day in Maui.