There must have been a full moon….

One night in the middle of March 2005, Scott was hanging out with his friend Kris at the Good Times Bar & Grill in Eugene.  Hanging out at a bar was not all that uncommon for these two, but hanging out at Good Times was.  It was not their typical watering hole and they had only been there a couple of times before.  

The night was progressing well – pretty low key (which was appreciated) mostly just having one or six beers and playing pool.   Not too late in the evening, Angelique and her friend Kami entered the covered patio area where Scott, Kris, and about 50 drunks were playing pool.  When Angelique` walked in, Scott was mesmerized.  "Dude," Scott says to Kris "she's gorgeous."

Angelique` and Kami were having a great night as they walked into Good Times.  The duo hardly frequented this bar, but were looking for a change of pace.  They came in and sat about 20 feet from where Kris and Scott were sitting.   Shortly after she arrived, Kami's boyfriend showed up and was heavily involved in conversation, leaving Angelique to people watch.

Scott watched all of this and paid good attention to Angelique's gaze, watching it change from a patient observation to a dull, bored stare.   It was obvious that Angelique` was planning her escape from the dive bar.  After a healthy dose of liquid courage, Scott made his move, knowing that his window of opportunity was quickly closing.   However, Scott didn't take into account the incredibly hideous, loud shirt he was wearing.  It was a black bowling shirt with a large red stripe and white stripe running vertically down the right side, topped off with checkered racing flags on the buttons.   

So he walks over to Angelique` and she looked up at him.  Scott half-smiles and says "So – good times at Good Times, huh?"   Angelique` let out a sympathy laugh, even though she wasn't in the mood to be social, especially to someone wearing that shirt.  Somehow, Scott managed to keep a conversation going long enough with Angelique` for her to not leave the bar with Kami and her boyfriend. Angelique` ended up hanging out with Scott and Kris for the rest of the evening when Scott managed to get her phone number before she left.   Scott maintains that it was his charm, but outsiders believe that only smoke and mirrors could help make Angelique` interested in him.

So Scott calls Angelique` the next day but he is so nervous that he can't seem to muster up the courage to set up a date.   So they just talk on the phone for a couple of days, chit-chatting.  Knowing that the date needed to be set up soon, Scott employed drastic measures.   He asked Angelique` on their first date via text message, to which Angelique` responded with "Are you seriously asking me out on text message"?.  Although this was an unorthodox and somewhat cowardly move, it worked.  More precisely, it worked with some persuasion from Angelique's mom who said "maybe he's really just a nice guy."

So eventually they end up on their first date:  dinner at Applebee's followed by miniature golf.   Angelique beat Scott by a landslide.  Despite Scott's pitiful mini golf skills, Angelique` let him come back around for date #2.   Then date #3.  And so on. Angelique` had her doubts and said Scott was just too good to be true, she didn't think it was possible for one person to be this nice. After listening to her friends and mom she decided to see if it were true.

Unfortunately after Scott graduated, he had to move to Seattle for his job, 4.5 hours away, 4 months after the couple started dating.   The couple realized that they had something special and a long distance relationship was worth a try. Deemed a doomed relationship by some outsiders due to distance, Angelique` and Scott worked on the relationship and spent every possible moment together that they could.   After Scott first moved, he traveled to Oregon approximately every second weekend to visit with Angelique`, which became less frequent from January through March due to time demands at work.   Then, Scott had back surgery and was forbidden from extended travel.  In light of this, Angelique` started making the trek up to Seattle much more frequently and even purchased a new vehicle to facilitate the increased travel.

For their one year anniversary on March 31st Scott took Angelique` on a romantic dinner cruise in Seattle , with a delicious 3 course meal and dancing. Angelique` felt like she was on the Titanic without the sinking part of course.
The couple have taken a handful of vacations together while involved in the long-distance relationship, including going to Las Vegas with Celeste, two camping trips to the exclusive Indian Mary campground – full of rafting, potjies, fun, and amore'.   Like-a big pizza pie.

After Christmas 2006, the couple planned to have their own vacation for the week following Christmas, including New Year's Eve.   Angelique` and Scott enjoyed a nice intimate Christmas celebration with Bernard, Anna, and Brad during the Christmas weekend and headed up to Seattle on December 26 to start their vacation.

The vacation started out as your typical relaxing vacation – no real big plans – just enjoying each other's time.   When Scott was in Eugene over the Christmas weekend, he told Angelique` that they had plans for one night and that she would need flat shoes for the event, but did not tell her what they were doing.   In fact, Angelique` didn't know what they were doing up until the evening of the 27th when Scott drove her to the train station.  "You are taking me to the substation?" she asked, facetiously.
"Yep," came the reply.
"Are you serious?  Why?"  Angelique` asked, a little skeptical.
"Well – not really the substation so much as the main station.  We're catching a train."

They had reservations of the Spirit of Washington dinner train.  When they first got there, they retrieved their tickets, took some pictures in front of the train, and climbed on board.

A candlelit table was prepared for the evening in the upper level of the dome car, which has windows on the side and windows overhead for viewing the beautiful sites of the evening train ride ahead.   After the train departed, a delicious three-course meal was served en route to the gorgeous Columbia Winery in Woodinville, Washington.  When they arrived at the winery, the couple took the wine tour, viewing and learning about the thousands of barrels that were processing.

After the tour was over, Scott, Angelique`, and a few other stragglers stayed behind to do some extra snooping.   Scott lead Angelique` to a far corner of the warehouse and then down a long corridor of barrels.
"Let's go check out these oak barrels," he said, as he led her down the corridor.
"You don't think we'll get in trouble?" she asks.
"No, no… We'll be quick."

Once at the end of the corridor, Scott turned and grabbed both of Angelique's hands.   "Ang," he began "I want to make sure you understand how much I love you-"
"I know babe," she interrupts, "I love you too."
"No, wait.  Just hear me out.  I really want you to listen to what I have to say here."
"Okay."
"I love you with everything I have.  I think about you every day from the moment I get up until the moment I go to bed.   I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
And then he got down on one knee, "Will you marry me?"

"Of course!" She gasps as she bends over, trying to lift him off of his knee – obviously elated. Angelique exclaimed "We're getting married – I can't believe it!" over and over, in between the kisses and hugs with which she inundated Scott.   After about two minutes, Scott looked at her and asked "So, do you want to try the ring on?"

In all the commotion, Angelique` had forgotten to take the ring!  "Oh, yes," she laughed, holding her hand out.   Only, her hand was shaking so bad from excitement that Scott couldn't put the ring on.  She took a couple of minutes to shake out her arm and then put the ring on.   It looked absolutely stunning on her hand.

They went into the tasting room and sampled some wines, buying a couple of bottles on the way out.   They were the second-to-last people to re-board the train for the voyage home.  As they got back to the rail car, Angelique` headed up the stairs to find a dozen red roses and a bottle of Dom Perignon on the table.   Scott had set this up ahead of time so the waitress was privy to his plans.  While they were in the winery, the waitress informed the other patrons in the car of Scott's plans.   After a few moments of extreme silence, as Angelique` was sitting in her seat, someone in the back of the car asked "Well – did she say yes?"

Angelique` turned around beaming and said yes, and everyone in the car started clapping and cheering and offering both of them congratulations.   It was truly the best night of their lives. Angelique` could not believe that even her parents had kept it a secret, she had no idea that Scott had even come into town to ask their permission and none of them slipped up.

And the rest is history…