The Proposal



Diana's Point Of View - A Short Story)
Well, I must say, Cody did a pretty amazing job and pretty much everyone else who has heard the story would agree.   It all happened on a trip to Alaska with Cody's family.  The trip to Alaska had been planned at least 2 years before we went, however  I didn't think way back then that Cody would propose during the trip.  Fast forward two years later,  I was hoping Cody had plans of proposing in the near future.  When he hadn't proposed by the trip, I had an idea that he might have plans to propose while we were in Alaska.  In fact, I really hoped that he would!  Two days into the trip, I started thinking Cody was not going to propose because he did not seem to be acting very differently.  Needless to say, I was feeling a little bit disappointed and Cody could clearly notice.  It makes me laugh, just thinking about it! Poor Cody felt I wasn't enjoying my trip, and I told him I just missed my family.  I got over my secret disappointment of him not proposing, and began to really enjoy myself, assuming Cody was not going to propose.  Now let's flash forward a few days later. On the day of the proposal, we had a glacier helicopter tour planned.  We were supposed to take the tour the day before in Juneau, AK, however due to the bad weather, it was cancelled multiple times.  Our newly schedule tour was in Skagway, AK. The weather was beautiful on our flight to the glacier, and we were both so excited to finally be up in the air.  I knew that Cody was looking forward to this helicopter tour for months before we went on the trip. We were both video taping the flight, and eventually we landed on a glacier.  We walked around the glacier, which was SO scary for me.  There were times when I thought I was going to fall right through the ice underneath me.  When the tour guides called "Time to back!", I saw Cody setting up the tripod I was carrying around and I had an inkling of what was about to happen.  A tour guide was with the video camera and the tripod, and Cody took me aside to say he wanted to get a picture.   Before I knew it, he was telling me sweet words and he bent down on one knee and proposed!  My answer, you ask?  Yes!! I shed a couple tears, however I was so nervous Cody was going to drop the ring in the ice  that I had to quickly take off my glove to put the ring on, and then quickly put my glove back on.   Then we had to hurry back to the helicopter.  I must say that during the helicopter ride back, I could NOT stop smiling. The whole event was simply perfect.  I'm never going to forget it. 
Cody's Point of View - The Novel

The proposal from my point of view you say! Well I only get one, so I knew I had to make it count. Knowing how much women like to talk, I knew I wanted to plan something Diana would be proud to share and not be the one sitting listening to other peoples stories and too embarrassed to share her own. So that was the starting point of this little adventure, and obviously the easy part. Now I had to actually come up with something. I kind of played around with some ideas in my head but in the end I'd tell myself, "Nah, that would be lame". I knew Diana likes the more personal, sentimental approach. One idea was actually going to the Great Park in Irvine, and involved the orange balloon. But after thinking about it, I was like, "Are you serious? What is wrong with me? That idea is horrible."

In the mean time, we were already booked for our Alaskan cruise and was just looking up things that could be fun to do on our trip; when it popped into my head. How amazing would it be to propose on a glacier! I have never heard of anyone doing that, and the grandeur of the whole experience with the helicopter flight and how amazing the scenery looked in photos. I knew it would be something she wouldn't expect and there would be no way she would ever forget it. Now the only thing is I had to convince her to do it. I immediately started my research and found an awesome company in Juneau that would be perfect. I emailed them and made sure I could bring cameras and tripods and a bag, etc etc. Everything was set, except Diana. Lol I had to convince her that it wouldn't be dangerous, so she would be willing to do it, as well as make it seem like it's not something she has to do so she doesn't get suspicious like why do you want me to do this helicopter excursion so badly. Well, obviously she was convinced and thought it would be once in a lifetime opportunity so everything was a go. Now I just had to wait (like 6 months) for the cruise to actually happen.

The easy part was all taken care of, now it was time for the hard part. I was definitely more nervous about this part than the actual proposal to Diana. I suppose you would say I had to propose to Diana's dad first. LOL Well I eventually ran out of time because now the cruise was right around the corner (yes i waited 6 months) and I had to talk to Jorge before my trip. I had to set up a place to meet, since Diana was on summer break and would be at the house.  I couldn't do it while she was there. Actually, I did try one time while Diana was home and she likes to be nosy, so she came out to see what her dad and I were up to. And well that was the end of that attempt. Anyways, I set up a meeting at the bagel shop Diana enjoys to go to. Knowing how amazing of a job Jorge and Ginny did raising their daughter, I knew they weren't going to give her up easily, and definitely weren't going to give her to just any guy. So with that in my head, I was unsure of what lay ahead, but I knew it was what I wanted, and that Diana was the girl I wanted to marry, and I would do whatever it takes. In the end, I asked and received Jorge and Ginny's blessing to marry Diana and couldn't have been any more happy.

So now came the time for our actual trip, and the first hurdle was the weather. Even though it was summer time, the helicopter excursions had a 40% cancellation rate or something ridiculous. So I was constantly checking the weather which every day would say it is going to be clear on my proposal date, and then a few days later it would say it is going to rain. So that was frustrating not knowing what was gonna happen. The second hurdle was how do I travel with this ring in my bags or on me, when I am gonna be with Diana. What if security at the airports have to check my luggage or ask me to remove stuff from my pockets and then Diana would be standing right there. So I decided that Diana and I would go ahead of the rest of my family, and that I would leave the ring with my mom and my sister. That way Diana and I could go through security checks then "clear out of the way to make room" (that's what I told her) and if anything happened with a security check with my mom or sister then Diana and I would be far enough away where she wouldn't see anything.

Eventually our cruise started and the first day would be spent at sea and the second day we would be in Juneau where the big moment would happen. First day of the cruise that is, but we went 1 day early to be safe with flights and all and not miss our cruise. So here we are in the evening at sea on the ship and something was up with Diana. She just did not seem happy, and seemed upset about something which I could not figure out because here we were on our first real big vacation together; which happened to be in Alaska! Diana was rather gloomy the rest of that day, but I knew that the next day I was going propose, so that would make her happy anyways. Well the next day came and we are at port in Alaska, and it was RAINING!! I was freaking out, I call the helicopter company and they say they are still going to fly so I was like "Ok fine". They pick us up at port and take us to the helipads. My family conveniently had a dog sled flight tour at the same time so we all ended up at the office together. I had to try and sneak outside to pretend to be taking pictures of the helicopters while my mom slipped me the box with the ring in it and I could get it in my pocket. Well Diana always was wondering what I was doing so that made it tricky. But we did it. We got all suited up with crazy spike boots and were waiting for an instructional video when the employees decided to tell us the flights were cancelled. I was like, "You gotta be kidding me." They said we will do one in a few hours. So now we had to head back to town and kill time, get some food, and wait. Well round #2 came and a van came to pick us all up in port and we all got loaded it. Just before we were about to head off again, they say "Oh nevermind. Flights are cancelled again. Ok, here are all your refunds." At this point I was like, "You have got to be kidding me. Now what do I do?" The driver mentioned that there are tours that leave the other port, which we would be at tomorrow. So immediately we were like" Ok, we have to call them right away." Diana calls them up and I spoke with the company and was like give me anything, whatever you got, I'll take it sort of attitude. Luckily, they had 1 spot available for 2 people. So we locked that bad boy in.

So after locking that in,  it was alright lets just get back on the boat and go change and eat some amazing dinner .... yea that was until we get up to the boat and I realize omg we have to do a security airport style check just to get back on the boat. And I still had the ring in my pocket. I didn't know what to do because I had zippers on my jacket, little metal buckles on my boots, my belt, camera bags, her ring! .. I just took everything off, boots, jacket, left the ring in the pocket and sent everything I had on me through the xray machine and once it all came out the other side I didn't even bother to put it back on. Diana said she could carry something but I wasn't gonna let that happen. I just needed to get everything back to the room and put the jacket where Diana wouldn't need to move it.

Finally finally finally Skagway Alaska was here. We walked around town to start the day off since the flight wasn't till after lunch time, and then we checked into the helicopter flights. Diana was on the phone outside with her parents, and I took the time to go inside and speak with the crew since this was a new company which I hadn't spoke to before. They informed me that I could not take any bags for safety reasons, and that I would not be able to bring my tripod. I explained my situation to them and after speaking with the manager I was able to take the tripod but leave the bag. So that's all I really needed anyways was the tripod to record it all. They even gave us the front of the helicopter so we got extra amazing views. I made sure to document everything on a gopro I borrowed from my groomsman and cousin Cory. I didn't want to miss a moment of the action and departing the helicopter they had to tell me to leave because I was trying to record Diana making her departure from the copter to the glacier. Anyways we walk around the glacier for awhile and all I could think about was ok when will a good time be, I wanna make sure we have a nice backdrop and things will look good. Then we hear from the helicopter staff, "Ok lets head back -  the rides are coming in", and my thought was "What?Wait! I am not ready yet!".  Ok, well it's now or never.  I tell Diana, "Stop stay here, I wanna take our pictures here."  Lol I had to set up the tripod and gave a crew member my camera to take photos. Got it all set up and bam. She said yes.

After this day of excitement Diana decided to share a little info with me. And that being the reason she had been upset the other day on our trip was because she was really hoping I was going to propose to her but she felt like it wasn't going to happen. She said I was acting too nonchalant with my luggage and could care less if Diana picked anything up or went into my bags to get anything. It was as if I didn't have anything to hide. Well I didn't have anything to hide because it was all hidden away in my moms and sisters luggage :P

Our first dinner after the proposal.