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Dear Diary,

I know it has been a long time since I have written in you, but this is something I want to remember for the rest of my life.

Shaun and I went to Monterey, California this weekend. We got a room at the Hyatt which had the softest bed, with SIX down pillows. We drove to Cannery Row and walked around for a few hours. It was exactly as I remembered it when I was a little girl there with my mom and dad. It was still as magical as it was when I was 12. We went into almost every shop they had. I don’t remember Starbucks being there the last time I was there, but I was grateful it was this time.

As the sun went down we drove along the coast and just ‘ooh’ed and aww’ed’ the beautiful homes along the coastline. I just kept saying, “I can’t even imagine having a home with THAT view!”
We just kept driving. Most people would have classified that as ‘romantic’, but to me it was ‘quiet’. We didn’t have 5 kids in the back of the car demanding that we switch the radio station. I just kept looking over at Shaun and smiling. He would smile back and we would both giggle because we knew — no kids in the car.

When I was a little girl my mother and I walked to the end of Cannery Row where construction was going on.
My dad told us they were building an Aquarium and showed us the plans on the board outside. My mom pointed out how huge it was going to be by just the size of this window they had already installed. She promised me that someday we would come back and be able to see it.
Shaun and I went there Saturday morning and I almost cried. It was so much bigger than my young mind could ever imagine. I could have sat there and watched those jellyfish for hours. Everything was mind blowing.
The fish there were bigger than my first car.

Shaun asked me what I wanted to do next and I couldn’t wait to go drive along the coastline to a stretch of road called “The 17 Mile Drive”.
I could remember my mom being so excited as we drove it when I was younger and pointing out all the big houses. My dad was in awe of the golf courses.
“I’m going to play that someday.” My dad boasted as he pointed out Pebble Beach Golf Course.

My favorite part of the drive was this single tree that grew out on this cliff. As a 12 year old you would think that it would be the lamest thing, but the way my mom told the story of how the tree had been there for years and years and how it was now preserved out there so it would always be there just made me feel safe.

Shaun and I walked down the stairs to the viewing area. I took about a hundred pictures of the tree. It was just as beautiful as I remembered it.
I sat on the bench that surrounded the viewing area, crossed my legs and took a deep breath. Shaun turned around and looked at me and said I looked so relaxed.

I was.

He then got down on one knee with ring in hand and said, “Then this would be the perfect time to ask you to marry me.”

It was the perfect time, the perfect place, the perfect man.

I said yes.