IT HAPPENED!
A little background: Valentines Day is celebrated in 2 parts in Korea. On what we consider Valentines Day (February 14th) the girls buy for the guys ...typically chocolate or cookies. Wayne & I went out for steak and a club sandwich, both with french fries. And then a month later (March 14th) is White Day. White Day is for the girls, and is now officially my favourite day in the entire year.
More background: About 3 weeks ago Wayne & I went to Seoul with a colleague of ours, who has a friend that is a Professional Jeweler to pick out a ring. I thought it would be a lot like Sweet Home Alabama and I would just be surrounded with sparkling jewels and have my pick, not completely the case. It was a lot more back alley, with crowded stores, jam packed with jewelry of all kinds. But we chose a setting and then then we had decided on a stone awhile ago.
We decided to go with an amethyst for a few reasons. Not on the bottom of the list is that is super, super pretty and purple. But on the more reasonable side, it's extremely expensive to buy diamonds in Korea and I would have to walk around (and go backpacking) with it for the near year, uninsured. Not practical ...and to be honest, I have never loved anything more than my ring. It's pretty, it's unique and it's totally me. Wayne is set on replacing the stone with a diamond when we get home, but we will see.
Anyways, back to my story ...which takes place on White Day (Sunday March 14th) and started extremely early for me. At 6:30am Wayne flipped on the switch in our bedroom and walked out the front door. When I eventually rolled over in bed I was faced with a brown piece of paper, a pen and riddle that told me I would be traveling to the 3rd baseline. After stumbling around the apartment for a good 20 minutes, I finally made it downstairs and outside and realized that I had absolutely no idea what a baseline was. I will blame this on sleep deprivation and excitement because I have played baseball for most of my life ...but it literally took me 10 minutes of standing in the cold not moving to come to the realization that the clue was leading me to the ball diamond that we walk past at least twice every single day.
Once there I was met with another clue that took me back to our mailbox and then across the street again to some trees and eventually back to the recycling area of our old apartment. Wayne & I have been watching season after season of Survivor for the past few months (10 seasons in less than 3 months) so we are obsessed and the challenges that he presented me with were sooo perfect and totally Survivor. Then came the Bachelor part of the plan.
My next clue led me up to a path in the woods. After debating for awhile about which path to take (there were 3 and I wasn't completely certain where the clue was directing me) I chose the one on the right and started the trek. Eventually (not quickly enough) I found him. He was standing at the end, and I felt exactly how those girls must feel when they walk down that long path to get to the bachelor, except that I was fairly certain he wasn't going to be sending me home.
After some very nice words (which I can't say I can completely remember, I think I was too giddy) he got down on one knee and made me the happiest girl in the world ...at the exact same second that a hiker passed us on the path. We should have gotten him to take a picture, but my brain was not focused.
So that's my story, and I have to say ...it was perfect.
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