Here is how it happened:
June 17th, 1985 is my birthday. A week and a half ago I turned twenty seven. We had just arrived in Seattle on Friday in two cars with all of our things. Needless to say, times have been a little crazy as we worked to figure out housing, last minute trip scheduling, starting work, studying...etc. Therefore, we had no official birthday plans for the day. Riley was fantastic birthday company, however, as his idea for a fun day was to go around the city and do anything and everything that I wanted to do. I thought that sounded like a great idea!
We started off with a delicious birthday breakfast with my parents at home. My mother rushed over to get PCC and the Hi Spot Cafe to get some goodies and freshies for an abundant breakfast spread. It was very nice to sit down together at the start of the day (Dad, Mom, Riley and I).
After we had eaten, Riley and I started our wanderings. We checked out the new climbing gym, The Seattle Bouldering Project. We spent a couple hours there playing around and very much enjoying the fun routes and laid back atmosphere. Afterwards, we made our way over toward The Guitar Center south of downtown. A quick lunch stop at Homegrown fueled our bodies for some more running around. We spent the next couple of hours in the Guitar Center looking for my first guitar (a very kind present from my parents for my birthday). We tested and played and held guitar after guitar, and Riley, the ever patient and always detailed shopper, handed them my way one after one. It paid off because we came out of there with a beautiful Martin.
Just a few more stops...CUPCAKE ROYALE, Recycled Cycles, The University Bookstore...before making our way home. We ate some tasty Mexican Food leftovers from dinner the night before and enjoyed having the time to spend on our own talking at the dinner table. After dinner, Riley went outside onto the brick patio that spans the length of the house, which looks out onto Lake Washington. I stayed inside. He came back in and propped open the door, which had closed and locked him out. Then he went back outside. I was feeling cozy inside and began to strum the new guitar. Eventually Riley came back in. I let him know that I was going to shower off since we had gone climbing earlier. He didn't seem very excited about that, but then decided that he would take one after as well. Once we were both cleaned up, he went back outside in front of the house. I thought that since it was a nice night, we might as well try out his new baseball mitt and throw the ball around for a little while. I took the mitts down and he agreed to play catch with me. After about a half hour or so we were done playing and I suggested that we go watch a movie.
Riley walked over to where I was and gave me a huge hug. I took off my mitt and placed it off to the side next to his. We talked for a little bit about the day while we continued to hug. We talked about what a great birthday it had been and how nice it was to spend the day together. After a few minutes of this sort of thing, Riley said, "I don't want to spend another birthday as just your boyfriend." Then I saw him reach into the pocket of his shorts and as he slowly pulled away to get down on one knee, he asked me to marry him.
He was back up in a flash because along with replying, "YES!" I was jumping into his arms. There was a lot of whooping and jumping and hugging that followed...mostly from me. Riley kept smiling at me and saying that his reaction was more subdued because it wasn't a surprise for him. But we were both grinning ear to ear - excited to tell our families the good news!
From here on out we will be moving our things over to Bainbridge and working with NOLS for the rest of the summer until Riley starts school in late August. At that point, we will begin making plans for the wedding!
Until then, may your days be filled with smiles and new adventures where ever you go!
Cait
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