He said...

As many of you know there are two sides every story, and it was only fair of me to post his version. Especially since there were a few more details he was able to include that I was unaware of.

"Let me start off by saying that I am a very lucky guy, to say the least. When you least expect it, the best things come into your life, and I may add that it has been quite an adventure since I met the infamous 'E'!

It all started with E and I wanting to plan a vacation. Fortunately, we were able to book a nice, relaxing beach vacation at Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica from July 25 to July 30, 2009. Although we had talked in detail about getting married, kids, family, our future, I tried not to indicate that I had any plans to "pop the question" in Jamaica. If anything, I downplayed it to her, my friends, and family. I wanted to keep the element of surprise, but not have such a surprise that I wasn't sure what her answer would be."

(I won't be a commentator for this entire entry, but I would like to add that by Brian saying he "downplayed it" is a complete understatement. Leading me and everyone else on wild goose chases about the entire situation is getting closer to the truth, and that still is a bit of an understatement! Nevertheless, he did a great job at keeping the proposal a surprise, which I know is not easy for him!)

"We had looked at rings quite a bit and I had begun the process of looking into a custom ring with everything that she wanted in a ring. I also had begun to speak to different jewelers and look at different diamonds. (By the way, if anyone needs a lesson on the '5 C's', I'm your man!) After finding the perfect diamond, I was able to get it custom mounted in the setting that she wanted. It was beautiful. I was quite impressed myself! It was then time to get approval and permission from both Paul (Erin's Father) and Scott (Erin's Step-Father). This was definitely not going to be the easiest task, logistically. Paul lives in Germany and Scott lives in Maryland...I live in Columbus, OH.

I had decided to make a phone call to Paul to speak to him and ask him if I could send a video to him and have him call me once he watched it. First off, I have never made a video of myself, let alone a video asking someones Father for their hand in marriage, so my nerves were a little on edge. I wanted the video to be more personal than just a phone call and I didn't want it to be scripted. I set the camera up on a shoebox on my desk and just went for it on one take. (I realized I say "um" when I am nervous!) Luckily, after all of this, I spoke to Paul and he gave me permission to take his daughter's hand in marriage.

The next step was to speak with Scott in Maryland. I arranged a breakfast meeting in Baltimore at BWI Airport. Fortunately, I had a business trip planned to Chicago for work and since I was trying to figure out a way to get to Baltimore without Erin knowing, I flew out of Columbus at 6 am to re-route through Baltimore."

(This was slick, I have to admit. I had no idea! He told me he had an early meeting in Chi-Town and had to change his flight. Sneaky. Maybe I will commentate throughout the entire blog...)

"I was able to meet Scott as I walked through security. We walked down to Starbucks to grab a coffee and went to an area where we could sit and talk. At that time, he 'gave me the floor' and I spoke to him about Erin, our relationship, our future, and everything in between, then I asked for his permission to take Erin's hand in marriage. After about a 5 minute pause (just kidding), he approved, and was also very excited for us!

Now started the planning of the proposal during our trip to Jamaica. If anyone knows me, they know I am not that good at keeping secrets because I get too excited about things. So, to keep this bottled up from E, and everyone else, was not an easy thing to do. I had so many ideas going through my head: how to propose, where to propose, what would I say, etc. I can honestly say that everything went out the window on July 25, 2009 - the day we arrived in Jamaica. Normally, I am well prepared for any situation. I can generally stay calm, cool, and collected. Not this day, I was a total mess!"

(Agreed. Definitely agreed.)

"My emotions, excitement, and anticipation were flowing rapidly. I had arranged for a private dinner on the beach that night but really wanted to propose before our dinner so that we were able to enjoy it and talk about everything. So, we left Cbus on our journey on our first leg to Miami, FL. We had an hour or so delay before we took off for Montego Bay, Jamaica. When you are carrying around an engagement ring in your backpack, it is a bit nerve racking. My backpack was glued to me."

(This is actually pretty funny because the night before we left we were packing. We were deciding if we should take one carry-on or two. Brian pushed us taking two, I said we only needed one. We ended up going with two and I later found out that he didn't want me riffling through to find my book, get my Ipod, grab a pen, etc. It was quite funny, actually, once I realized why we had taken two bags. On the way back we only had one carry-on!)

"On our flight to Montego Bay, we had emergency row seats, so we had plenty of room to enjoy our flight and not have to worry about the people in front of us sitting in our laps. But, we noticed there was an NBA basketball player that was about 6' 11" and his wife that was at least 6' 5" scrunched up (literally) next to us in the row behind the exit row. We offered to switch seats which they were thankful for.

We finally arrive in Montego Bay! We were so excited to actually be on Jamaican soil even though we still had an hour or so bus ride to our resort in Negril. We passed through small villages and towns and the roads were pretty much dirt or sometimes only one lane highways. The scenery was incredible, and the driving was insane!

Upon our arrival at the resort, the resort staff took our luggage and arranged for it to be brought to our room. They provided us with a glass of champagne and cold towels as we checked in. (If this was any indication as to how the rest of our vacation was going to be, we were going to be in heaven!) The staff walked us to our beach villa - 3308. We literally walk in our room and head straight to the beach. It was late afternoon and the sun sets around 6:30 pm and I wanted to be sure I had the chance to propose before our planned dinner that night at 7:30 pm.

We walked the amazing beach talking about everything and how excited we were to finally be there in Jamaica. We actually stopped a few times during our walk and just took in the scenery and enjoyed each other's company. If any of you know Erin, she is quite a prankster. So, when we were standing there talking, she started splashing water and tried to trip me so I would fall in."

(Whoa, whoa, whoa. I would just like to state for the record that while I may have frolicked a bit in the water and may have splashed around a bit, I certainly did not try to trip Brian so that he would fall in. I may have just tried to pull him in a little bit further than where he was - on the dry sand.)

"The sky was a little overcast but the sun was just setting and peeking through. I began to tell Erin how much I loved and cared for her. I was definitely anxious, and nervous. I had never done anything like this and my emotions were definitely coming out. After talking about my love for her and telling her that I had received permission from her Dad and step-dad, Erin found me down on one knee, proposing in Negril, Jamaica, on the seven-mile beach, at sunset.

Fortunately, she said yes! We kissed and hugged and were both filled with a lot of emotions. We walked over to a hammock and just talked about everything. The tears were flowing on both ends. (But if we could keep this one between you and me that would be great.) At this time, I told her I arranged for a private dinner on the beach. It was for the two of us about 10 feet from the ocean. We had our own private server and they had tea lights leading us to the table, and four tiki lights surrounding us. It was absolutely amazing. I am, without a doubt, looking forward to spending the rest of my life with her."

(I love it, Brian.)