OUR STORY
Meeting
I had been working at the World Famous Jungle Cruise for almost a year when Jer joined the crew. I started noticing him as a competent and exceptionally funny skipper, and through the spring and summer, we got to know each other as friends. We both were trained on the Disneyland Railroad at the end of the summer, and because we started working more and more shifts together, we grew quite close. It's not uncommon for people to spend a great deal of time after work in the parking lot just talking, but on two separate occasions we didn't leave for home until eight hours after we were done for the day. We discovered common interests in theatre, filmmaking, and writing, and generally understood each other.
On December 9, a group of us went to see The Golden Compass, which was wretched. I had already been invited by a mutual friend, but Jer asked me along as well. A few days later, just the two of us went to see Enchanted, which was much better. He walked me to my car and kissed me for the first time. We kept it quiet for about a month to avoid workplace drama, but once we started getting serious, we let everyone in on the secret.
The Proposal
We had been talking about a trip to Yosemite National Park for a while, because Jer grew up near there and I'd never been. After Jer left Disney to start a new job, our schedules lined up enough so we could take the trip, coincidentally on our five-month anniversary. Now, we had already decided that we wanted to get married, but he wanted to ask my parents first, neither of whom he had met because they don't live in California. Plus, I'd been warned by my friend Julia that if I got engaged before she did, she'd kill me. So I thought this was just another trip, even when Jer rather suspiciously borrowed his friend Jason's new video camera, and insisted I couldn't open my anniversary present quite yet.
We ran around the park for a while, then near the end of the day, headed up to Glacier Point, which Jer claims is the most beautiful place in the world. There was still snow on the ground, and when we arrived, I asked if I could open my present. He agreed, and pulled out the video camera.
Inside the box was an adorable Build-a-Bear teddy bear wearing a tux and holding a box. Figuring the box was just a prop, I cooed over it and started to put it back. "Um, open the box," Jer said. I opened it and saw a beautiful diamond solitaire, and my brain ground to a screeching halt. I'll have to go back and watch the video, because I have no idea what he said. I was so stunned that my first response was, "Julia's going to kill me." Then I gave him a good long kiss, before I remembered that I still had to say "Yes."
