On the weekend of July 16-18, 2004, Steve, Andi and her parents went on a vacation to NYC to celebrate Andi’s Mom’s 50th Birthday. Unbeknownst to Andi, the rest of them knew they would end up celebrating Andi and Steve’s engagement as well!

Prior to going away for the weekend, Andi had a feeling that Steve might propose but he was doing everything in his power to throw her off and to top it all off not even her mom gave her an inclining that she knew it was coming...Good Job Mom! On Saturday July 17th, the day started off just like a typical vacation day in NYC by waking up to the sounds of horns honking and leaving the hotel to enjoy the local tourist attractions. After going down to Canal Street and stopping at every pocketbook stand…Andi’s favorite! The four of them headed back to Times Square where they grabbed a not so quick lunch at Bubba Gump’s before dropping Andi’s parents off at the bus for ‘The Sopranos’ tour. They said goodbye and made arrangements to meet back at the hotel at 6:30pm.

Andi and Steve had planned on walking around Central Park (a place Andi had never been) and maybe take a carriage ride. Now, Andi thought the carriage ride was a little odd for Steve to suggest so she thought he might have something planned but wasn’t positive. They began walking down 5th Avenue, which is known for having all the fancy expensive stores and not to mention lots of jewelry stores…Andi thought hint, hint Steve! So of course, Andi had to stop at the windows and take a look. Well, yet again in a mission to throw her off Steve said hey lets go inside and look. She looked at him in confusion because Steve always told her that he was going to pick it out by himself when the time was right. So, she said ‘are you serious?’ He replied ‘Yes’, but in the end they decided not to go inside and just kept walking until they reached Central Park. While they were heading there, Steve asked to see Andi’s cell phone because something was wrong with his. Not thinking anything she pulled out her cell phone and discovered she missed a call, from her dad. Next thing they knew Steve’s phone was ringing. He gave her the phone to answer since it was her dad. He told them that the bus broke down and they were waiting for a new bus but would probably be about an hour late to meet us. They both laughed about it and continued to walk.

Once at Central Park, they stopped to watch some street performers, admired the horses pulling the carriages or rather held their noses since they smelled kind of bad, and walked all around the park. First, they went over to the center area, which was famous for being in movies where they sat down on the benches. They talked for a little and people watched before Steve suggested going down to the lake and taking a rowboat ride. Andi agreed, how could she resist it was so beautiful there! So, Andi sat there looking out at the amazing view while Steve rowed the boat. They reached the center of the lake and Steve stopped rowing. Now because it was so hot outside, Andi kept complaining how swollen her fingers were. Steve asked her if her fingers were still swollen. As it turned out they were a little better then were that morning. He said “good”, took her hands and began speaking (now Andi doesn’t exactly remember everything he said…she was in a little bit of shock and tears began to flow) but she does remember that he said, “You know I love you very much and I can’t imagine my life without you. I want to spend the rest my life with you. Will you marry me?” Through all the tears of joy, she shook her head and said, “YES!” He then, pulled a absolutely gorgeous platinum diamond ring out of his pocket and put it on her finger and YES it fit!!!!

After their boat ride, they headed back to the hotel to meet Andi’s parents. Come to find out their tour bus never broke down, it was all part of the plan to throw Andi off! They went out to dinner to celebrate and ended the night by getting a caricature of the 2 of them in a boat with the ring standing out!