First of all I have to preface this story by telling you that Chris and I had decided that for the year of 2014 we would have a theme for every month, and the months of March and April both ended up being "Spy" themed. During the course of our Spy Adventures we went to the shooting range where I shot a gun for the first time, we practiced Archery, we watched Several episodes or Burn Notice and Chuck, and we chased each other around the city using clues. Okay, now to the Proposal Story.....
On April 26th, at 9:00am in the morning, I went to meet my sister, Heather, for coffee and shopping. We spent the morning chatting about our significant others and other random topics and our plan for the day was a surprise that I had planned for Heather's birthday. We were going on a Wine and Chocolate Tour that I had already paid $130 for on Groupon. I was pretty sure she knew nothing about it.
We decided to go and wait for the Macy's store to open so we could go and buy some shirts for Chris. He had given me some cash on Friday and asked me to get him some dress shirts. At about 10:00am I got a phone call from Chris, just as the doors for Macy's were opening. The Phone call went like this.
Amanda: Hello
Chris: Hi! Where are you right now?!
Amanda: At Ridgedale Mall, we are waiting for Macy's to open.
Chris: Okay, I need you to listen very carefully because I don't have much time. Spy Month is almost over and I need you to be relaxed, and I need you to trust me. Your weekend is not going to go as you planned. But it will be more exciting than anything you could have imagined. I need you to drop whatever you are doing, and go home right now. You won't be able to get in touch with me so I need you to follow the clues.
Amanda: Okay
Chris: Okay, I love you, Goodbye
Amanda: Bye
After the phone call I turned to Heather and told her that we had to go back to the house right away. She was like "Why"? "What's going on?" and I said "Chris needs us to go straight home" She had a smirk on her face as we were walking and I asked her as we headed out "You know something about this, don't you?" She said "Noooooo". I looked at her and said "Yes you do" and she smiled. Suddenly I didn't feel so on my own. I had Heather, my assistant Spy.
Heather drove us to the house since I was shaking with nerves because I was unsure of what to expect. I got home to find my kindle, a book, and a Pizza Luce menu on the bed. Inside of the Pizza Luce menu was a post it note that had the address for the Richfield Pizza Luce and it said "Contact: Dave". I looked at Heather and said "Who's Dave?" She responded with "Who do you think he is?" and I said, "I don't know, I don't know a Dave, is it someone who works at Pizza Luce?" "Is that who you think it is?" She responded. Well at this point I knew I wasn't getting much out of Heather.
Once we got to the Pizza Luce, Heather asked me if I wanted to do the talking and I said "No", mostly because at this point my nerves had taken over and I just wasn't sure what to expect. Heather walked up to the Host counter and they asked us how they could help us and Heather proceeded to ask for Dave. The Hostess asked us if we were looking to reserve the banquet room and Heather replied "No, I think he has something for us." Dave came out shortly after that and said "Amanda?, your table is ready. He brought us to a table right behind the hostess stand.
The waiter came over and brought us some water and I ordered mimosa assuming that it would calm my nerves. Shortly after my drink came, my Mom showed up, and I was like "Hi, Mom!" She was looking at Heather all confused like and then Heather said "Just sit down Mom" So she sat down, and I found out that my Mom was taking over for Heather so that she could still go on the wine and Chocolate tour with her Friend. The Waiter told us that a Baked Potato Pizza was Pre-ordered to go for Heather and asked if we wanted to order anything else. My Mom and I ended up ordering some Quinoa pancakes and Heather and my Mom ended up chowing down most of the pizza before Heather even needed to leave. I was only able to eat about 2 bites of pancakes and was not able to eat any more than that, due to my nerves.
The waiter brought us a box for the pancakes and informed us that the bill was covered, he then handed Heather two envelopes and me one envelope. Heather received a card that was signed by me that said "Happy Birthday, Sorry I couldn't be there, Amanda". I laughed when I saw this because he had tricked me into signing that card the night before telling me it was for his Uncle. Heather also received the rest of the information about the wine and chocolate tour. Inside of my Envelope was a key and an address. Heather left soon after we got our envelopes and my Mom and I said goodbye to our very friendly waiter and headed out to the address on the note. The address ended up being for a post office that was in the same parking lot as the Pizza Luce. We went inside and I found and opened the PO box that the key belonged to.
Inside the PO box was a folded piece of paper. I looked at my Mom and said, we better leave before we open this, someone might be listening. She played along and we ran out the door to the car. When we got to the car, I opened up the paper to find an email confirmation for a plane ticket to Las Vegas along with a post it note that said "Plus a massage and a manicure". I laughed when I saw it and explained to my Mom that a few nights before that he was showing me a video of Ellen DeGeneres giving her administrative assistants gifts. One girl got a weekend in Las Vegas, and the other one got a massage and a manicure at her desk. Chris asked me which one I would choose and I had said that I really needed a massage and a manicure. He said "So you wouldn't go on a trip to Las Vegas with me? and I said, "I guess, if there was a massage and manicure involved I would."
Anyways, so my Mom told me that I didn't have time to pack and she drove me to the airport. She got me all checked in and sent me off on my way. The greatest feeling in the world was walking through security with nothing but my purse. No Luggage! You should try it some time, at least once! It felt awesome!
After I got through security, I was hoping to see Chris at the gate, so I hurried my way along to the gate, only stopping to purchase a pair of cheap headphones so I could listen to music on the flight. When I got to the gate, there was no Chris. My seat hadn't been assigned yet, so I waited for them to call my name. I went up and got my seat assignment and then shortly after they started to board the plane. I was pretty sure that there would be a chance that Chris was on the flight, but when I found my seat, two women were already seated next to me. I took my seat and noticed that the woman next to me seemed crabby so I pretty much kept to myself. I felt pretty calm once on the plane, I felt like most of the stress was over, and even if Chris did have me chasing him around Las Vegas, at least I had a few hours to relax beforehand.
Unfortunately, the flight was awful, about an hour into the flight we started experiencing really bad turbulence. The plane was wiggling and shaking and dropping. People were screaming, and I was holding onto my chair for dear life. The woman next to me noticed that I was distressed and asked me if I was okay, and I told her that I was just scared. She said that she understood and said that it helps to talk. So I told her about why I was going to Vegas and what had happened so far, and she told me about her son, and how her friend builds these planes and they are built to handle the turbulence. She helped me calm down a bit, but lets just say, I was pretty tense for the remainder of the flight. So imagine me finally landing in Las Vegas, feeling sick to my stomach when all I had eaten was two bites of pancakes and some peanuts, not to mention my whole body ached from being tense for the entire flight.
After I got off the flight, I stopped by the bathroom and then checked my phone. I saw that I had a voice mail. I listened to it and it was a man saying "Hi Amanda, I'm Dale, I'll be your driver today, Just follow the signs for the Terminal 1 Baggage claim and wait for me there." I was pretty relieved that there was a plan for this leg of the trip. I followed the signs and found several men dressed in suits holding up tablets with people's names on them. I saw one that said Amanda and went up to him and said "I'm Amanda Olson" He said, "Well, Let's See" as he pulled out a picture and showed me, it was definitely a picture of me. "Much prettier in person". I kind of laughed and said "Thank you". He led me to a town car and got me a bottle of water after hearing about my rough flight. Half-way through the car ride he called someone and told them we were on our way and then handed me an envelope, it had an Agent Profile, a hotel key: room 921, and a Las Vegas Brochure.I smiled while reading the Agent Profile that Chris had created.
There were a lot of inside jokes involved and it was very entertaining. I couldn't believe he had gone through all of this trouble. When we arrived at the hotel, my driver said that the ride was already paid for, he made sure I had the hotel key, and I made my way up the escalators.
Once I had gotten to the elevators I took them up to the 9th floor and found room 921. I opened the door and there was a very fancy looking room with a big couch, a view of the Eiffel tower outside the window, and a kitchenette to my right. There was no sign of Chris, so I started looking for my next clue. Shortly after I started looking, Chris appeared from a bedroom that was to the side. I immediately hugged him and said "You're amazing" and he replied "You're Amazing". He asked me about my trip and wanted to know everything that had happened. So I told him, and after I was done he said, "well, You'll need this for our mission" He pulled out the ring, got down on one knee and said "Amanda Olson, Will you Marry me." I immediately said yes, he put on my beautiful ring and then we spent the next 3 days together in Vegas. I have the most amazing Fiance! I feel very lucky!
