Long Awaited News
News FLASH IMPORTANT UPDATE!
VR no longer has a girlfriend, yes, so sad, but true. :-( On Wednesday, June 8th, the fateful day, Karysha the girlfriend was replaced by Lady Karysha the fiancée. ;-D
Details you ask? Well, sit back and relax and allow us to tell the tale:
VR- Well, Karysha and I have been going out for over a year now... and somewhere along the way we sorta came to an understanding that we'd like to get married to each other someday, although I never "officially" proposed... until Wednesday, June 8.
Karysha- Well, it's about time! :-D I've been wondering how long it would take and I was hoping that my move out here might speed things up a bit. O:-)
VR- Hehe, indeed! I had planned a day-trip to Yosemite National Park, Karysha's first time there. I had purchased the ring back in March, a lovely heart-shaped ruby with diamond accents on the sides, which is the type of ring she had indicated she liked. ;-)
Karysha- Yup yup yup. I know, I'm weird. Just never really liked diamonds much.
VR- I decided that the Yosemite trip would be a good time and place to officially propose. She had no idea that I had purchased the ring.
Karysha- Yeah, in fact, day before the trip, I took him to the jewelry counter AGAIN, to show him which ones I liked, I had no idea.
VR- In planning the trip, I wasn't sure whether to visit just the main valley, or drive up to see the giant sequoia redwoods, or take her to Glacier Point, which overlooks the whole valley. In the end, we wound up just staying in the main valley. It is spectacular right now with all of the waterfalls flowing strong. The first of the falls I took her to see was "Bridalveil"... I had considered proposing there, thinking it would be poetic, but at the time I thought we'd still have time to make it up to Glacier Point, where I originally planned on asking her.
Karysha- As we were standing there by the falls, I was thinking to myself, WOW! This would be a great place for a proposal. But I didn't want to say anything because I didn't think he had even bought the ring yet.
VR- From Bridalveil we drove a short ways up the hill to a place that has a great vista of the west end of the valley (I have a picture on my digital camera of us at that location.) From there we drove down to the valley and visited the old church building of Yosemite, which still functions. It's a tiny chapel with an office adjacent to it for pastoral use.
Karysha- When he had first mentioned the church, I thought that might be something cute to get married in. But then we were thinking about all the people…expensive, too small, yadda yadda. But totally a cozy little church, with a magnificent view.
VR- We had lunch next to the Merced River, which was flowing swiftly. The day was somewhat overcast, with clouds resting atop many of the famous mountains, including Half Dome. We wandered over the bridge that spans the river, and it was so beautiful... the view from the valley floor, looking up at the mountains, the green meadows, and it would have been a perfect time to give her the ring... but... I had left it in its hiding place in the car. ^_^;
Karysha- Meanwhile back at lovers ranch, hehehehe, I was enjoying the view, the company, and thinking how awesome it would be if he would ever propose in Yosemite. Amazing how many times it crossed my mind, but I never said anything. I really had no idea.
VR- So we just enjoyed the walk and the scenery, and made our way back to the car. Next we drove over to the Awahnee Hotel, one of the "touristy" spots in the valley. We visited the gift shop, wherein I noticed Karysha admiring a "Faberge" style glass hummingbird. I purchased the hummingbird and made a gift of it to Karysha, which she loved.
Karysha- I can't help it. Pretty sparkly things with lots of color always catch my attention. And the fact it was a hummingbird. OoLaLa. He was such a sweetheart to get it for me.
VR- Aww, it was my pleasure, Love! Anyway, we wandered around the hotel for a little, and then Karysha mentioned she was getting a bit tired, and wanted to get back to Sonora in time to drive back to Stockton (a 1:30 drive). I realized that Glacier Point was out, at least for this trip... so we made our final stop of the day at another waterfall... Yosemite Falls, to be specific. This is the highest waterfall in North America. It was spectacular. The falls were going so strong that there was a 40mph wind at the base of them, due to all the cooled air descending along with the water. We stood on the bridge at the base of the falls, wearing our raincoats, and it was so cold and noisy (from the wind and also from the crowd of people) that I didn't want to propose on the bridge. (Oh, and I remembered to put the ring box in my pocket this time.) ;-)
Karysha- And since I knew this was our last stop, I was about to tell him these would have all been lovely places to propose. But as I started to tell him, he gently pulled me away and started talking. So I let it go.
VR- So as we walked on the trail back to the car, I looked this way and that for a secluded spot where I could propose to her with a modicum of privacy... and I noticed some rock formations off the side of the trail, about 30 or 40 feet away, that would do nicely. I told Karysha that those rocks reminded me of some near Columbia where I lived as a child (which was true) and that I felt an urge to explore them a little. ^_^ She said ok, and was going to wait on the trail for me to satisfy my "urge". However, I beckoned her to join me, which perplexed her a bit. :-P
Karysha- Like totally. I'm thinking, "I'm tired, I don't like hiking, my shoes are wet from the falls and you want me to do what? Climb some rocks?" Ugh. Well, ok. Fine. I could feel a little bit of attitude creeping up, but decided I had better squash it. No one likes a whiny tired girl.
VR- I found a nice out-of-the-way spot where the rocks formed what I hoped would be a comfortable place to sit, and invited her to sit down in front of me, and noticed that she was looking a little more bemused now. I hoped that what I was going to say next would make up for it.
Karysha- By now I'm really getting upset. You want me to sit down on wet rocks, when we have a 2 hour drive back home? I already told you I was tired. I didn't understand but figured there had to be a reason. Seeing as it could NOT possibly be proposal…we were leaving, and you had missed every good opportunity beforehand. ROFL
VR- As I knelt down and reached into my pocket, her face took on a stunned expression of realization (ornamented with tears of joy). ^_^
Karysha- I was like …… speechless. I was so stupid. It was a good thing I didn't get all whiny. I knew as soon as I saw him reach into his pocket. There was something there that hadn't been before, box shaped. ;-)
VR- My statement of love was simple, as was the question to which I already knew the answer...
Karysha- I started crying, and hugging him and kissing him. I was so happy and felt so bad for being so selfish about wanting to go home. Especially when he was so nervous about this. Lesson learned. ;-) BTW- I said yes.
VR- I slipped the ring on her finger. I had never seen her so happy :-) We hugged for a time, and then walked arm in arm back to the car, and headed home. As soon as we got to a place that could get cell phone reception (Yosemite Valley has none) she called her folks. ^_^ My folks already knew what I had been planning. Somewhere along the way we got LD's and Kaelan's numbers and she called them to tell them the news. ^_^
Karysha- As for setting a date we're looking at June of next year... so we'll keep ya's updated!
And that's a Rap-tor. The End of the New Beginning.
VR no longer has a girlfriend, yes, so sad, but true. :-( On Wednesday, June 8th, the fateful day, Karysha the girlfriend was replaced by Lady Karysha the fiancée. ;-D
Details you ask? Well, sit back and relax and allow us to tell the tale:
VR- Well, Karysha and I have been going out for over a year now... and somewhere along the way we sorta came to an understanding that we'd like to get married to each other someday, although I never "officially" proposed... until Wednesday, June 8.
Karysha- Well, it's about time! :-D I've been wondering how long it would take and I was hoping that my move out here might speed things up a bit. O:-)
VR- Hehe, indeed! I had planned a day-trip to Yosemite National Park, Karysha's first time there. I had purchased the ring back in March, a lovely heart-shaped ruby with diamond accents on the sides, which is the type of ring she had indicated she liked. ;-)
Karysha- Yup yup yup. I know, I'm weird. Just never really liked diamonds much.
VR- I decided that the Yosemite trip would be a good time and place to officially propose. She had no idea that I had purchased the ring.
Karysha- Yeah, in fact, day before the trip, I took him to the jewelry counter AGAIN, to show him which ones I liked, I had no idea.
VR- In planning the trip, I wasn't sure whether to visit just the main valley, or drive up to see the giant sequoia redwoods, or take her to Glacier Point, which overlooks the whole valley. In the end, we wound up just staying in the main valley. It is spectacular right now with all of the waterfalls flowing strong. The first of the falls I took her to see was "Bridalveil"... I had considered proposing there, thinking it would be poetic, but at the time I thought we'd still have time to make it up to Glacier Point, where I originally planned on asking her.
Karysha- As we were standing there by the falls, I was thinking to myself, WOW! This would be a great place for a proposal. But I didn't want to say anything because I didn't think he had even bought the ring yet.
VR- From Bridalveil we drove a short ways up the hill to a place that has a great vista of the west end of the valley (I have a picture on my digital camera of us at that location.) From there we drove down to the valley and visited the old church building of Yosemite, which still functions. It's a tiny chapel with an office adjacent to it for pastoral use.
Karysha- When he had first mentioned the church, I thought that might be something cute to get married in. But then we were thinking about all the people…expensive, too small, yadda yadda. But totally a cozy little church, with a magnificent view.
VR- We had lunch next to the Merced River, which was flowing swiftly. The day was somewhat overcast, with clouds resting atop many of the famous mountains, including Half Dome. We wandered over the bridge that spans the river, and it was so beautiful... the view from the valley floor, looking up at the mountains, the green meadows, and it would have been a perfect time to give her the ring... but... I had left it in its hiding place in the car. ^_^;
Karysha- Meanwhile back at lovers ranch, hehehehe, I was enjoying the view, the company, and thinking how awesome it would be if he would ever propose in Yosemite. Amazing how many times it crossed my mind, but I never said anything. I really had no idea.
VR- So we just enjoyed the walk and the scenery, and made our way back to the car. Next we drove over to the Awahnee Hotel, one of the "touristy" spots in the valley. We visited the gift shop, wherein I noticed Karysha admiring a "Faberge" style glass hummingbird. I purchased the hummingbird and made a gift of it to Karysha, which she loved.
Karysha- I can't help it. Pretty sparkly things with lots of color always catch my attention. And the fact it was a hummingbird. OoLaLa. He was such a sweetheart to get it for me.
VR- Aww, it was my pleasure, Love! Anyway, we wandered around the hotel for a little, and then Karysha mentioned she was getting a bit tired, and wanted to get back to Sonora in time to drive back to Stockton (a 1:30 drive). I realized that Glacier Point was out, at least for this trip... so we made our final stop of the day at another waterfall... Yosemite Falls, to be specific. This is the highest waterfall in North America. It was spectacular. The falls were going so strong that there was a 40mph wind at the base of them, due to all the cooled air descending along with the water. We stood on the bridge at the base of the falls, wearing our raincoats, and it was so cold and noisy (from the wind and also from the crowd of people) that I didn't want to propose on the bridge. (Oh, and I remembered to put the ring box in my pocket this time.) ;-)
Karysha- And since I knew this was our last stop, I was about to tell him these would have all been lovely places to propose. But as I started to tell him, he gently pulled me away and started talking. So I let it go.
VR- So as we walked on the trail back to the car, I looked this way and that for a secluded spot where I could propose to her with a modicum of privacy... and I noticed some rock formations off the side of the trail, about 30 or 40 feet away, that would do nicely. I told Karysha that those rocks reminded me of some near Columbia where I lived as a child (which was true) and that I felt an urge to explore them a little. ^_^ She said ok, and was going to wait on the trail for me to satisfy my "urge". However, I beckoned her to join me, which perplexed her a bit. :-P
Karysha- Like totally. I'm thinking, "I'm tired, I don't like hiking, my shoes are wet from the falls and you want me to do what? Climb some rocks?" Ugh. Well, ok. Fine. I could feel a little bit of attitude creeping up, but decided I had better squash it. No one likes a whiny tired girl.
VR- I found a nice out-of-the-way spot where the rocks formed what I hoped would be a comfortable place to sit, and invited her to sit down in front of me, and noticed that she was looking a little more bemused now. I hoped that what I was going to say next would make up for it.
Karysha- By now I'm really getting upset. You want me to sit down on wet rocks, when we have a 2 hour drive back home? I already told you I was tired. I didn't understand but figured there had to be a reason. Seeing as it could NOT possibly be proposal…we were leaving, and you had missed every good opportunity beforehand. ROFL
VR- As I knelt down and reached into my pocket, her face took on a stunned expression of realization (ornamented with tears of joy). ^_^
Karysha- I was like …… speechless. I was so stupid. It was a good thing I didn't get all whiny. I knew as soon as I saw him reach into his pocket. There was something there that hadn't been before, box shaped. ;-)
VR- My statement of love was simple, as was the question to which I already knew the answer...
Karysha- I started crying, and hugging him and kissing him. I was so happy and felt so bad for being so selfish about wanting to go home. Especially when he was so nervous about this. Lesson learned. ;-) BTW- I said yes.
VR- I slipped the ring on her finger. I had never seen her so happy :-) We hugged for a time, and then walked arm in arm back to the car, and headed home. As soon as we got to a place that could get cell phone reception (Yosemite Valley has none) she called her folks. ^_^ My folks already knew what I had been planning. Somewhere along the way we got LD's and Kaelan's numbers and she called them to tell them the news. ^_^
Karysha- As for setting a date we're looking at June of next year... so we'll keep ya's updated!
And that's a Rap-tor. The End of the New Beginning.