On this page: Quick history of engagement plans On the beach in Fuerteventura The engagement conversation Gran Canaria & Raquel's

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It was late summer 2001 in Houston, and I had been living with Cecilia for a little more than a year - since June 2000.  We had been "going out" for almost three years - since October 1998.  I could not have been happier with the way things were going, and for the first time in my life I was entertaining the thought of engagement.  At the same time we had decided to transfer to Paris, and Cecilia's departure was scheduled for mid-September (I was not scheduled to leave until completion of my MBA in December).  The transfer would certainly be a big transition for us both.  In early September we climbed Mount Baker in Washington state, and various friends, suspecting my intentions, suggested that I propose on the summit.  Luckily I did not, as we were involved in a severe accident on the mountain that ultimately brought us both together even more.  See the Mount Baker trip report for the full story.  After Cecilia's departure in mid-September (just after September 11th), I further contemplated the possibility of getting engaged before I left for Paris in late-December.  But as the end of the year approached I was unable to decide what I wanted to do for both the ring and the proposal.  Based on previous discussions and jokes, I suspected that Cecilia did not really want an engagement ring - I know it sounds strange, but it appeared to me to be true.

I transferred to Paris at the end of December, without having proposed, and without any good idea on how to propose in the near future.  For the first few months in Paris we were both extremely busy, and I did not take the time to further pursue my proposal or ring options.  When summer 2002 arrived I knew that I had to act, and that I had to do it quickly.  But, I still had the same original dilemma about the ring!  To make matters worse, I consulted all of my friends throughout the United Stages, and they all agreed that Cecilia would indeed like to have an engagement ring, and that she was "faking" her dislike of rings.  My instincts told me to do something aside from a ring, but everyone around me, including my parents, agreed that I should buy at least some sort of ring.

Swayed by my friends and family, I started to research and shop for rings in summer 2002.  Deep down, I still could not picture a large diamond or anything remotely fancy on Cecilia's finger.  It just did not fit!  I considered proposing with an elegant band, but I did not want to replace the wedding band!  It seemed that a diamond ring was the only appropriate solution.  We had planned a trip to the Canary Islands in November - our first relaxing trip together in several years.  It was really the first trip ever that we had dedicated to rest and relaxation - no mountains, no adventures, nothing!  It appeared to be the perfect engagement scenario, but was too obvious and "easy" of a situation, and therefore I had not planned to do propose during the trip.  I had been looking at rings, but had not yet purchased anything.  The events that unfolded in the Canaries did surprise me, but revealed answers to all of the questions that I had contemplated for over a year.  To jump to the actual event, click here.  To read the entire weekend story, continue as follows....

We arrived to Raquel's apartment around 4am.  Luckily she was not due to start work until 1pm the following day, and was able to wait up for our arrival.  We went to bed shortly thereafter - we had to get up at 8:30am to catch a boat to Fuerteventura, our final Canary destination.

We took a taxi from Raquel's apartment in San Augustin to the Gran Canaria port, and boarded a "Jetfoil" boat headed to Fuerteventura.  The traditional ferry does the 80km trip in ~4 hours, but the Jetfoil cruises the trip in just over an hour.  We opted for speed over price.  We had reserved a room at the Riu Calypso resort, adjacent to the town of Morro Jable on the southern tip of the island.  The town and resort were situated on the southwestern tip of the Playa de Jandia, which stretched northeast for over 7km of wide white beach.  The coastline was only semi-developed, with a select number of resorts, and unlimited beach available.

We arrived in the Morro Jable port, took a taxi for about 1km to the hotel, and checked into our room.  We were on the beach minutes after dropping our bags in the room.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon basking in the sun, under clear skies and temperatures in the low-80's.  There were no commercial distractions, such as jetskis or "spring break" drinking contests.  But, we did see more than a handful of naked German tourists, all over age 60, who were staying in our hotel as part of large "package" group vacations.  We enjoyed a few drinks at a small cafe along the beach as the sun was setting, then returned to the hotel for dinner.  The room rate included both breakfast and dinner, and meals were served buffet-style in the hotel restaurant.  This is the only part of the weekend that had a "packaged tour" or Vegas-like entertainment feel, but we were not disturbed by the additional comfort.

We were pretty tired from the lack of sleep the previous night, travel, sun, and overeating at the buffet, and were in our room and asleep by 11am.  Images from the day:
 

Schlumberger Geco boat parked in the Jetfoil dock	View from our balcony
Cecilia and Morro Jable from our balcony	Sunset on a beachside cafe
Barechested at the cafe	The only distractions on the beach

The magnificent sunset over the empty horizon inspired talk of bigger things, including work, family, and future plans.  During the conversation I mentioned that I had achieved most of my personal objectives for the year.  At the beginning of each year I create a list of approximately ten personal objectives - I focus on measurable and specific tasks that I hope to achieve within the year.  My objectives might include running two marathons, playing my viola, visiting three new countries, or getting engaged!

I spent the previous New Years in Salamanca Spain with two friends from Houston - Steve and Luis.  Luis is from Salamanca, and he had invited Steve and I home over the holidays.  One day we drove to a restaurant in the countryside outside Salamanca - Luis' family had been going there for years, and it had become a family traditional.  Steve and I sat in the backseat for the 90 minute drive, and I explained my annual objectives theory to Steve.  He concluded that it was a great idea, and we together created our respective objective lists for 2002.  I updated my list a bit over the next few days, and reached the final version before returning home to Paris.  One of my 2002 objectives was to purchase a ring, and propose marriage to Cecilia.

Cecilia had inquired several times about one particular  "secret" objective that I had not yet achieved, and she had been very intrigued by my unwillingness to reveal the objective to her.  That, combined with several other subtle hints and conversations, led her to suspect (correctly) that my secret objective was in fact to get engaged.  As we sat on the balcony of our room discussing my personal objectives, Cecilia suggested outright that she knew the details of my secret objective.  Without any plan or intention to get engaged at that moment, I conceded that she might know what it is, but that it was not a problem for her to know....and that there was nothing more to discuss about it.  We had still not actually specified what the actual objective might be.  Willing to drop the discussion, I moved on to other topics.  Cecilia, still focused on the conversation, suggested that maybe we should try to "fulfill my final objective".  Confused, I asked her what exactly she meant....this led to more direct conversation (including my admittance of the details of my objective) and discussion of marriage.  Cecilia revealed that she did not really want a ring, suspected that I was about to buy one, and wanted to stop me before I made the purchase.  I was surprised at first, but then happy that she had confirmed all of my original suspicions.  Once my surprise had worn off, we were able to discuss our options more seriously.  Together, we decided that we would get married at some point in the (near) future.  I guess this means that we are engaged!

We had dinner again at the hotel buffet, and again were unable to resist the desire to overeat from the dessert bar.  Images from the day:
 

Sunset on the balcony

Just before the engagement moment

We decided to eat our final dinner in a restaurant on the beach, and gave up our free meal at the hotel.  We spent the remainder of the evening enjoying a bit of entertainment in the hotel bar.  More images from the day:
 

Announcement alternative #1	Announcement alternative #2
Moments after the real photo	Aaron on the beach

Breakfast in Raquel's courtyard

Aaron & Raquel

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