North Berwick Engagement April 6th, 2012

So, I am now officially engaged to Kristen as of yesterday!!!!!! VERY EXCITED!!!!!! As most of you knew, I had planned on proposing to Kristen for a while, buying the engagement ring back in October of 2011. I called Shane Co from Edinburgh using Magicjack and made the purchase over the phone. I had originally picked out a ring that Kristen really liked. The engagement ring had a slot in it so that the wedding band that came with it would fit right in. After a couple of months of making the payments on the ring, we happened to be looking at some more rings, as I was trying to distract Kristen from suspecting anything about me purchasing a ring. I thought I would keep on showing her rings as my strategy...and it worked! So, there I was talking to Kristen on Skype as usual and I showed her this ring from Shane Co. We both really liked it and I sent her a picture of the ring I had already begun paying on and the new one that she really liked. I told her to tell me which out of the two she liked the most...well, guess which one she liked? Yep, the one that I had not started paying on. So, I had to call Shane Co back and change the ring, which was very easy and took all of 5 minutes to do. I arrived in Arizona for Christmas and waited for the ring to arrive. I received an email with the shipping confirmation and noticed that on the order, only the diamond was being described as being sent. There was no mention of a setting. So I called Shane Co back and asked if they had actually set the diamond in the setting and not JUST the diamond. Guess what they did? Yep, they were sending me the diamond that had not yet been set in the setting. So they had to cancel the order and set the diamond in the setting then resend it. I finally received a delivery card at my mom's house for the ring. I had to go down to Fed Ex to pick up the ring. Let me tell you, the ring was absolutely gorgeous and more sparkly than it was in the photo! I was so glad I changed the order when I did. So, after showing everyone in Arizona the ring, I had to fly back to Edinburgh and hold on to it for about 4 months until Kristen was to arrive. I planned on proposing to her in North Berwick, as it was the site of our very first picnic on the beach there together. On our second picnic there, we had purchased a wine called "Caire no Mohr" Strawberry wine. Well, I happened to be at the farmer's market below Edinburgh castle in Castle Terrace (where the farmer's market is every Saturday) and came across the "Caire no Mohr" wine stand. The happened to be selling the bubbly version of the strawberry wine!!!! I thought to myself that it would be absolutely perfect for the engagement day on the beach! So, I bought the bubbly wine and found a good hiding spot for it in my room so Kristen wouldn't see it when she arrived. I then booked a room at a bed and breakfast in North Berwick called "Seaholm Bed and Breakfast". I spoke with Lorena over the phone and told her that I would be coming by that week to drop off rose pedals and the strawberry wine. I told her that I wanted the rose pedals spread out on the bed and the floor and she was quite happy to oblige to my requests. She was a very nice lady and I would recommend that anyone ever going to North Berwick book a room at this place. After talking to her and booking the room, the next step of the plan was to visit North Berwick to drop off the wine and rose petals and find the perfect proposal location on the beach. Ideally, I wanted a view of Bass Rock and the sea. I went to North Berwick with a buddy of mine and found the perfect spot on the beach. It was difficult to see that day because of the fog and the tide was in, however, I knew where I wanted to propose to Kristen. We dropped off the goods at Seaholm and headed back to Edinburgh. April 6th rolls around and it is day 2 of Kristen being in Edinburgh. We wake up late and we eventually get out of the flat around 3pm and catch the train to North Berwick and get there just before high tide. Was a VERY close call since the tide comes in around 5pm or so! I had the ring in my jacket pocket as we were walking down a path to the beach. I had also secretly stashed special wine glasses and overnight stuff. Once we were at the spot on the beach, I took a few photos of us to make it seem as if we were just taking pictures and having a good time. I was about to ask her and then people showed up! Bah! I wanted it to be just the two of us and no one else! So we waited for the people to leave, which was luckily about 10 min or so. Once they left, I told Kristen that I loved her so much and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Then I got down on one knee in the wet sand with a view of Bass Rock in the background and proposed to her. At first, all I got from her was, "oh my god! oh my god! Dan! Oh my god! Really?! What?!!!! Oh my god Dan!", to which my reply was, "and your answer is???" and she said "Yes of course!". So, after celebrating with wine and jumping off a giant boulder because we were so excited, I told her I had booked a place to stay the night in North Berwick. We went to the place and Lorena had set up the room with the rose petals and champagne in a bucket of ice. It was PERFECT! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day/night. We had dinner at The Grange and had burgers that were amazing! After dinner, we called it a night. On Saturday, we walked around North Berwick and took lots of photos of us. We went home late afternoon and continued to celebrate our engagement to one another. What an amazing break and I am so glad that everything went as planned!