Sean's First Guest Post In A Long Time

I've been telling Summer to upload this video for more than a year now, and she hasn't done it, so I decided to take matters into my own hands:

Sorry if the formatting is all messed up.

This video has a funny little story to go with it. The year was 2008, and I was working in Southern California for the summer. Of course, I spent most of my days pining for my sweetheart back in Provo. Finally the separation was too much for me to bear, and I got her a plane ticket to come out and visit (or maybe she bought it. But if she did, she dipped into her student loans, which I am now paying off... so my revisionist history says I bought it. So there). Unbeknownst to her, I also bought her a sweet engagement ring! Maybe the thought of a permanent separation was the kick in the pants I needed to get the ball rolling on the whole "eternal companion" thing. I decided it was time to pop The Question.

So I took a day off from work and we spent the morning tooling around Orange County. We went shopping, saw a matinee (Kung Fu Panda!), had some tall, frosty Starbucks drinks, and got a bite to eat at a local taqueria. In the late afternoon we headed over to Newport Beach to relax, to soak up some sun, and to give me a chance to catch my breath a little bit before taking the ultimate plunge.

Now, I had the ring in my pocket the whole time (although you can see in the video that I briefly forgot where exactly my pocket was when it was time to produce the goods). I also had a camera with a sweet video function to capture the moment. What I did not have was a videographer. But a plan had begun to form in my head. The time? Sunset. The place? Newport Pier. The videographer? Still to be determined. 

Before I knew it, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. We booked it to the pier. Summer said I was being cryptic or something, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. I was too focused on locating the lucky stranger who would be filming my epic proposal.

We stopped about halfway down the pier. I put my arm around my sweetie and we looked out over the water, seeing our whole future stretched out before us, and some seagulls. Secretly I was setting up the shot in my head. The sun was in position. The angle was right. I pretty much looked like a million bucks. Summer looked like a trillion bucks. But where was my videographer?! I did not trust any of the old farts around us to work my newfangled digital camera with the sweet video function.

But wait! There, about a hundred yards down the pier, was a young lady who looked like she knew a thing or two about technology. She was wearing glasses, for one thing, and looking at her iPhone, for another. And she was alone. A perfect victim!

I told Summer I was going to get someone to take a picture of us, and quickly sprinted away, leaving my sweetheart agape behind me. I caught up to the technophile girl, all out of breath, and explained my situation. She looked skeptical. I demonstrated how the sweet video function worked (it was such a sweet function that I felt the need to show it off a little). She reluctantly took the camera and followed me back to where Summer stood waiting.

I put my arm around my sweetie and we posed for the picture. On my impromptu camerawoman's signal ("say cheese!"), I dropped to one knee... and the rest is history. History on video, in fact! The best kind!

With our baby girl set to arrive any day now, I thought it would be fun to surprise Summer by posting this video, in part to remind her of a special moment in our lives together (one of many), and partially to demonstrate just how far we've come in a few short years. Summer, you're still my sweetheart and always will be!

I love you, Summer Mosman!

-Sean