Will hike for diamonds

November 16, 1991
See the little black box???

Today is Don's birthday. It is also the day we got engaged 18 years ago. On his 24th birthday we drove to Lake Tahoe. I knew what was going to take place that day but acted like I didn't.

Don had always said that if a girl loved a guy enough a cheeseburger should be enough and that she didn't need a fancy, gigantic diamond ring to symbolize their love. I tried to modify his philosophies slightly but, honestly, I was so smitten with him, I would've gladly accepted just a cheeseburger. When we got to Tahoe, we did stop at McD*onald's and he sprung for a cheeseburger and then we set off to go hiking.

After a bit of a hike, we made it to the beautiful and scenic water's edge of Emerald Bay at Vikingsholm. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I forgot to say, "yes" and it is funny to me that my failure to answer actually caused him a slight scare. Eventually, I sealed the deal and we were married seven months later on June 13, 1992.

Judging by my pictures nowadays, he's showered me with more cheeseburgers than diamonds. It is probably time to work on adjusting his philosophy again AND maybe even plan a hike...

I never had heard of formal engagement pictures
but this was taken shortly after our engagement.