September 23 2006 A post worthy to ressurect my xanga for... It was pouring rain outside while I got ready for my date with my boyfriend John. Weeks ago I had gone shopping with my girlfriends to pick up a dress for the occasion. John had told me nothing about the date, except that I would want to wear something nice. So there I was, fixing my hair; putting on my new cream knee length dress; strapping on my matching heels; and smiling at the butterflies in my stomach. "You look perfect." sighed my friend Stephanie who had been visiting from my hometown. It was going to be a good night. When John came over to pick me up his reaction was what I had hoped for. "Wow," he said, "you look great!" I smiled.  I turned to say goodbye to my 3 girlfriends who had been helping my get ready, but before I could John interrupted, "Why don’t you girls see us off?" They crinkled their brows, but followed us down anyways. When we reached the bottom of the stairs John pointed his keys out the glass door and pressed a button. "Oh wow!!" the girls exclaimed. I wasn’t close enough to the door, "What? What? I don’t see it!" John pressed the button on his keys again, and the lights of one of the cars in the lot flickered. It was a black Lexis sport’s car, and that was our ride. 
John and I got into the car and drove out of the parking lot. We drove for a few minutes, reviewing our days, until we parked in front of his house. I had only seconds to unbuckle my seatbelt before my door was being opened by one of John’s house mates, Jon. I looked up and he was standing there, wearing a dress shirt and tie with another one of John’s house mates, Andy, similarly dressed. I opened my umbrella, stepped out of the car, and took Andy’s arm. He escorted me into the house. John followed behind with Stephanie who had been following us in her car. Andy and I got to the door and I stepped inside. The front room had been emptied and a table for two was neatly set with white tablecloth. The entire room was completely candle-lit. The fact that it had been pouring rain for about an hour by that time made the room even more inviting with its soft orange glow. I turned around to see John mounting the steps of the porch with Stephanie. He looked at me and smiled. "This is beautiful" I whispered. Stephanie hugged me, told me to have fun, and went around the back of the house. Inside, John and I took our seats. "Do you like it?" he asked. "I love it. 
After we sat down, Andy welcomed us to the "restaurant" and Christian, another one of John’s house mates, appeared to introduce himself as our waiter. Christian poured us a glass of white wine and brought out the appetizer, french bread covered in catalina beans and tomato. John and I dined, talked, and enjoyed each others company. Our main course was slightly delayed because the rain storm had progressed into a tornado watch, so our "chef", another house mate, Paul was having some troubled getting the grill going to cook out salmon dinner. It was worth the wait. The salmon was covered in onion and dill, and it melted in my mouth. We were all served asparagus which was equally delicious. For desert we enjoyed chocolate mocha frozen soy dessert with raspberries. 
After dinner, John and I got back into the Lexus and drove downtown. We parked in front of a museum and got out. Unknown to me, Jon and Andy had been following us the entire way, so they could take the Lexus back and pick us up again. John and I then took a walk though my beloved downtown Grand Rapids and enjoyed the now dry night. As we were walking over the Grand River we passed by an older couple holding hands; John looked at me and said, "I want you to know that I will make sure that we always hold hands, no matter how old we get." Eventually we reached City Hall. Behind City Hall is a giant tire swing sculpture. This tire swing is a special place for me and John, as we had shared some intimate moments there. We got up onto the tire swing and spend some time talking and laughing. After a while it was getting chilly so I jumped off, and picked up my umbrella to leave. John came up beside me, took the umbrella out of my hand, and put it back on the ground. He turned me so that I would be facing him and began a romantic speech. He told me how much he loved me and how happy I had made him. He promised that he would always love me and never let our romance die. And then he said, "And I talked to your dad about two weeks ago and I asked him for permission to marry you. He said yes." John got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes. 
We stood there for a while just crying and hugging and laughing and sharing the moment with each other. After a while we were both just bursting to tell someone, so we walked back out infront of city hall where Jon and Andy picked us up again. They both came running out of their cars grinning and hugged up both. I could hardly do anything but stand there smiling! John and I drove back to his house in the Lexus, laughing and exclaiming, "We’re engaged!" the entire way. Back at his house I discovered Stephanie and all of John’s best friends waiting with champagne. We were swarmed with hugs and congratulations and "I love you"s from them all! 
Stephanie and I shared an amazing moment together just wrapped in each others arms, sharing the joy. As the night went on we called more of our friends and enjoyed an amazing party until early morning. 
It was a very good date after all. 
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