I took a girlfriend to Vancouver this weekend...and returned home with a fiancée!

The "official" purpose of this trip was to see David Gray perform; She's been a fan since high school, and I got her tickets for her birthday. It was the perfect time to propose: not only would it be awesome to include the concert into the whole engagement experience, it would provide me with a great cover story.

When I told Alana's brother I was planning to propose, he said "Oh man, you're going to be so sick from nerves on the day!" "No way," I said, "Me? Not a chance. Cool as a cucumber."

Sure enough, on Friday I felt so sick all morning. It was very strange, to have such a visceral physical reaction to something I have been happily anticipating.

I managed to hold it together in the morning as we shopped, and in the early afternoon we rented bicycles intending to cycle around Stanley Park. Not really the best of ideas, since I was feeling lightheaded and faint. After a few minutes I knew it had to happen fast, or I might just collapse. Up ahead I saw a little clearing, with a pond and swans and trees and clover...this was the moment

"Hey, let's pull over here, I want to take your picture."

"What? But we just got going!"

"No trust me. It's really pretty here."

We pull over, I set her up, and start taking pictures trying to get the lighting just right. I wanted to get her reaction, 'cause I knew I wouldn't be able to remember a thing. I kept taking photos, again because I was so nervous, and ended up taking way longer than was natural. I could see she was starting to get antsy; I took a deep breath...and went for it. I reached in my pocket for the ring, and as I kept shooting, said "Hey, can you hold this for me?"

*snap* *snap* *snap* *snap*

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur. We sat out on a rock off of the sea wall, talking about weddings and calling our families. We took a ferry across to Granville Island for dinner and champagne, and then went to the concert, which was nothing short of amazing. Our seats were perfect, center section, one row in front of the sound booth.

It was (obviously) a really amazing day, but the best was still to come. I had a full plan for Saturday, which will be revealed in Part 2.