Written by Ryan

It was mid-April when we decided to start looking at rings.  This meant that Diana knew it could come at anytime so I had to be devious.  It was a Saturday and we wanted to go to downtown Des Moines to look at “Iowa Diamond” and “Joseph’s.”  Oddly, these are about the only two businesses in this area that are open on the weekends, which made finding a place for lunch exceedingly difficult, and finding a bathroom even more frustrating…but I digress.  “Adam” at Iowa Diamond was very patient with us as Diana and I went through literally hundreds of different bands.  This was Diana’s favorite part.  I was just biding my time until I could look at the diamonds.  Four hours later we were done with the bands and were on to the diamonds.  After an hour of this we decided it was time to head home.  Diana had some ideas of the bands she liked, and I had an idea of what I could afford, making it a successful day.  Unbeknownst to Diana, I had plans of returning rather soon, the following Wednesday night to be specific.  I made the trip with my dad so that I could have a second opinion which was wonderfully helpful (thanks, Dad).  We left around 4:00 P.M. and got back a little after 10:00 P.M.  For those who know their geography, I know what you’re thinking “Ryan, it’s only a 1.5 hour drive!”  It took me 2.5 hours to make up my mind between two bands and two diamonds…still beating Diana’s four hour marathon.  In fact, I didn’t choose any of the bands they had; I had to have one tweaked to get it just right.

I was on a bit of a time crunch to get the ring since I wanted to propose before she graduated from Iowa State University.  This was made quite difficult since the band I ordered had to be cast in Toronto and shipped, and they said the earliest it might be done would be late the following week…the week I wanted to propose.  Needless to say, I was on pins and needles all week long.  I didn’t know if it was going to make it in time so I called them almost every day that week to keep track of the progress.  The band finally came in Friday morning, May 2^nd.  I was ecstatic, but crushed when they said I wouldn’t be able to pick it up until the next day.  Some friendly conversation and one small bribe later allowed me to get the ring that night (an hour and a half after closing).  Keep in mind I had to hide all of this activity from Diana because it just felt wrong to lie and say that I was at home while in reality I was on my way to the jeweler…but I knew it was worth it.

I had this planned so well I even had to kill time at Sam’s Club so that I would appear to arrive in Ames,  at the “usual time.”  One minor set-back was in my excitement, I managed to lock the keys in my car…my mind was everywhere but on mundane things like car keys.  Diana had no idea what I had been up to, but she knew that “the proposal” could come at any time.  While she didn’t really expect it until at least Memorial Day, she would get jumpy every time I reached into my pocket.  To take advantage of this, I told her I had something for her in my pocket.  She got a little anxious until I showed her what it was - a gold dollar that I had received as change from the parking garage where I parked to get the ring just an hour before.  This successfully put her mind off of the subject and allowed me to carry out the plan. 

While she was upstairs talking with her roommates, I went downstairs and hid the ring where I could get to it easily.  There it sat for the next couple of hours, until the time was right.  The right time was while we were watching “Everybody Loves Raymond.”  To understand why this was the right time you have to realize that the last several weekends had been quite hectic and we had not spent a lot of time together. We decided that we would spend that weekend just with each other, so we just stayed in to relax and watch TV.  After a few episodes I started: 

Me:      “Are you having a good night?”

Diana:   “Yes”

Me:      “Would you like to do this the rest of your life?”

Diana:   “Yes”

Me:      “Well then, I have a question for you”

(I get down on a knee and pull out the ring)

Me:      “Diana, will you marry me?”

Diana:   “……..(a big grin forms on her face)……”

(It seemed like half an hour, but was probably more like two seconds.)

Me:      “Soooo…..?”

Diana:   “YES!!!”

(Cue tears as I put it on her finger.)    

At this point she more or less executed a form tackle and we both ended up on the floor where it all sunk in.  This was a good night…arguably the best night.