The One Where We Got Engaged

About 2 months ago, a boy got down on his knee and asked me to marry him.

And by boy I mean Garrison. 

This is him… in case you’re new here.

Kinda hot, I know.

I figured since it’s still February, the national love month, I’d give you the run down, the shebang, the wholeee ordeal of what really went down on December 10th. Because the world is nosy, the girls are always looking for internet drama, and of course, everyone’s favorite comment: “What business does a 20 year old girl have getting engaged?” 

Not that your opinion is relevant here, but let me tell you what business a fun, cool, nice, and talented girl such as myself has marrying an equally fun, cool, nice, and talented guy like Garrison.

So let’s go back to the beginning. 

Picture this: It’s February 2020. Garrison and I have been dating for three months. Babies. We’re babies! We’d just gotten back from a church event over the weekend, and even though Valentine’s Day had already passed, we still wanted to get dinner to celebrate the cheesy hallmark holiday. 

We’re driving down Twin Oaks, and we start talking about marriage: the expectations of our relationship, the when, the why. All the typical stuff a young couple talks about when they’ve been dating long enough to know they love each other, but not long enough to have exited the honeymoon phase.

And so it went, on that road in his old corolla, it was spoken that we were dating to marry… which if you think about it, why wouldn’t you do that? I don’t know if that’s weird for people, or actually the norm, but regardless, the goal- the plan- was set.

When I was younger, I never really wanted to get married. I was much too independent for that. I didn’t need a man. I didn’t want companionship from another human when I could get exactly that from a dog. I didn’t even like the thought of it. 

So when we finally had this conversation, it was like a switch flipped in my head. 

“Oh shoot, I really do be fallin’ hard for this boy.” 

And it was with this confidence, I finally began making a Pinterest board. You know what I mean when I say Pinterest board, ladies. THE Pinterest board. 

This stance: shocking.

Who was I going to tell? No one! Far too embarrassing for me! I couldn’t deal with the pressure of having intense feelings for anybody else other than Zac Efron! And here I was, crafting the perfect Pinterest board to fulfill my visions. Insanity!

Garrison left for school that June, and out of fear for what others would say about it, I didn’t vocalize the idea of marriage to a lot of people. Every once in a while, my mom would ask me if we ever talked about it, and I’d respond with a vague, “Yes, a little bit,” and then move on from the conversation. There’s a stigma around people getting married young, and that was one I was worried my family, and some of my friends wouldn’t understand. So, for a good long while, I was what the people would call a vault.

With the exception of the occasional anxious thought on the matter, overall, it seems pretty simple and care free, ya know? It’s giving, “young and in love.” I know, I get it. I felt like Snow White at the beginning of the movie where she literally has 0 cares and is just vibin’ with the birds and the squirrels and what not. 

I don’t even like Snow White! To be on the same wavelength as her, truly has some shock factor.

Princess Tiana is where it’s at. Or Belle. Give me Princess Jasmine for crying out loud. Enough of this Snow White nonsense.

Moving on.

For a year, Garrison and I did the long distance thing. He was only an hour and a half away, and yes, some people have it way worse, but no matter how far, I think distance is always challenging. I saw him on the weekends, and then he’d leave Sunday nights, and I’d go through the week waiting for the weekends to come around. Then I’d do it all over again.

We went on a trip to Mexico in May of 2021 with all of our friends, and it was at this point where Garrison had finished school. I was stoked. The plan was always to get engaged after he finished school, and now was the time. 

And boy, did everyone know it.

I was annoying. I was nosy. And most of all, I was extremely difficult to surprise. 

Maggie and Maika, bless their souls, I talked their ears off about everything. I had theories, I had requests, I had inspo, the whole nine yards. I wanted to know what they knew, when they knew it. I wanted to know the whole plan all while simultaneously being surprised… which is impossible. I wouldn’t have argued if they wanted to show me text receipts, ya know?

I wish I was exaggerating. 

Look at that devious face. She knew exactly what she was doing.

For months I was in a constant state of when? Where? How? I hate being left in the dark, and that’s exactly where I was kept. I just wanted to control all the circumstances around me. If I can’t control it, then how is it going to work out smoothly?… Which admittedly is my toxic trait: thinking that if I don’t take the reins on planning something, it will inevitably fail. No one can plan like I can plan. 

Very wrong, but very true to my personality. This is my public apology for it.

It took a lot out of me to try and let my most valued friends handle the situation without me knowing the key details. 

Months went by, and nothing. Every once in a while I’d get a vague piece of information from Maggie or Maika or even Christy about what was to come, but nothing super sustainable. 

One day me and Maggie were hanging out, and she asked me what my dream proposal looked like? Despite the thoughts of married life occupying my brain, I truthfully hadn’t fully thought about what my dream would be in regards to Garrison getting down on one knee. 

I loved to travel, and I’d seen plenty of pictures of couples getting engaged in different places around the world, and I decided then and there to just say something completely appalling, and I’d whittle it down later. Seeing as how Maggie and I were in the midsts of planning our trip to France for December, my mind pulled the trigger on conscious and subconscious thoughts combining. 

“Paris.” I said confidently. “And the Eiffel Tower.” 

I know, I really went for it. But what’s important is the fact that this dream proposal of mine became as close to a reality as it could’ve possibly gotten. Since we were already taking our trip there, Maggie and Garrison did some scheming to get him there too. He bought a plane ticket, they had a plan, I’m talkin’ the dude even had been gifted a warm winter jacket for this trip. Everything about this proposal was in the works. It was being breathed to life by some very wonderful people. 

Things were solid for all of us up until 2 days before we were supposed to leave. The ‘rona was to blame for all issues. France had changed their entry and exit requirements at their border, and it was at this point, that it was about near impossible for any of us to get in, and it would be damn difficult to get out too.

Me and Maggie were SCRAMBLING. We went down every road to try and pull this one off, and we ended up coming back empty handed every time. We had hit every dead end in the books. We were at a loss, and never had we felt more defeated. 

What made this whole ordeal a million times worse: I had found out their sneaky little plan to surprise me. I had been on the phone with Maggie one night late, and Garrison had fallen asleep at my house. When our call ended, I knew his phone was dying, so I went to charge it, and guess who texted him a cryptic message as I plugged it in? 

You guessed it: Magazine herself! Magzilla! Mrs. Globetrotter!

Something about covid tests in France at CDG airport and how everything was in the works and blah blah blah my world was golden. I was freaking out. Legitimately my heart rate went into overdrive. A doctor probably would’ve thought I was having heart palpitations if there was no context. 

But alas, there we were having to cancel our trip in its entirety, and let me tell ya, the harsh reality slap of finding out you aren’t getting engaged in Paris will never not irk me.  

HOWEVER, the perk of getting engaged where you do live, is the guarantee that you will be celebrated. And that’s exactly what happened ladies and gents. 

But we’ll get back to that in a minute.

Me and Maggie began to grasp at straws. New York, Nashville, Alaska, and Hawaii all came up as potential contenders to replace the trip we were mourning. Hawaii got really close- I had even packed a suitcase for it- but we just couldn’t pull it off. 

So we spent the week at home, shopping all of our sorrows away. It didn’t quite hit like a baguette under the Eiffel Tower, but you know, you win some, you lose some. 

I often reflect back on this week, thinking about the hand we’d all been dealt. I could argue it was a pretty crappy hand… I mean, in the heat of it all, it really sucked. Like mega. But it really isn’t about the proposal at all. It’s about the person who is doing the proposing. 

My mom said it so beautifully right after the real thing happened. She said: “He was prepared to chase you around the world just to put a ring on your finger.” I will never forget those words. There is a man, who was completely willing to follow me to any corner of the world just so one day he can tell everyone that I’m his wife. It really doesn’t get more romantic than that. 

And if that were a love language, that would 100% be mine. 

So instead of a sparkling Eiffel Tower, or an insane Hawaiian beach, or a hot air balloon thousands of feet in the sky, we got engaged right here in Socal, on a cliffside overlooking the familiar Pacific Ocean that laps at the shores of San Diego. 

Pretty swag if I do say so myself. 

Now, remember how I said that the perk of getting engaged at home is you’ll have people to celebrate you? Let’s discuss this one, because boy is it true. 

Garrison wasn’t slick with plan D of this proposal. Granted, he probably didn’t think he would need to have a plan D, let alone a plan B or C, but when a guy who normally vibes in dickies and t-shirts is wearing a nice jacket, new shoes, and all in all, just looks really put together for a simple breakfast date, a gal’s gotta know something is up. 

I was the gal who knew something was up.

Because after breakfast, when we finally make it to this lookout spot that he’d mentioned (you know, after driving pointless circles around Encinitas for 20 minutes), I was going into panic mode. I of course knew what was happening… at least I was pretty sure.

Was I sweating? Probably.

Was I freakin’ out? Definitely.

Was I tracking my friends’ locations to see where they were to 100% confirm if my gut feeling was correct or not? Uh… YEAH.

Apple failed me though, and they wouldn’t load.

When we get there, we walk a ways away from the car on this dirt path, and we make it to the edge of this insane cliff. My back is facing him as I’m looking outwards to the view, and then he says my name. 

I don’t turn around right away. I know what I’m going to see when I do. 

Sure enough, there he is, on his knee, asking the big boy question. 

Behind him, hiding in the bushes, I can see our dear friend brophie filming a janky little video that makes me laugh to no end. And right as I say yes, BOOM. I see my besties flinging themselves at me. 

Chaos. Pure joy. The best kind of feeling. 

I call Christy, I call my mom. I call my dad. All the important peeps.

Later in the day, we go “out to dinner,” and somehow end up at Maggie’s house where all of my closest friends surprised me. This is what I mean when I say your friends celebrate you. 

I love our little engagement story. It’s been a long time coming. We have the best people in our lives, and the best support system, and the best church, and the best everything in between. 

I don’t really know what I did to deserve all the love in my life, but I wish someone could’ve told 15 year old sad and heartbroken Sky about it. 

She would love this.

P.S. All film photos taken by Maika Parks, and all digital photos taken by Maggie Peck :)