Congratulations to Erin Lund, of Cedar Falls. She won 4 Platinum Seats to the EXPO!
Here is her winning engagement story:
My name is Erin Lund and I’m from Cedar Falls, IA. My fiance, Andy Paul, proposed to me on August 8, 2009. Andy is in the U.S. Army, currently stationed in Afghanistan. Before deploying, he came home on leave for a month in August to spend time with me and his family. On Saturday, August 8th, Andy told me that he had a surprise for me and not to ask any questions. I was told to be at his dad’s place in Toddville at 8:30 a.m. sharp! Instead of holding off on the surprise, Andy told me the night before that he was taking me riding on his dad’s motorcycle. We had been wanting to ride together for some time, but never were together to do it. So, I met Andy at his dad’s place early that Saturday morning. He took me all over Cedar Rapids that day! We went by our old high school, past the house he grew up in, and to Ellis Park to ride along the river.
After circling around the park once, Andy led us back towards a nice open area overlooking the water. We got off of the motorcycle and headed for some benches. After talking for a little bit, Andy went to grab something from the bike while I continued to relax on the bench. One of our inside jokes is that I will say “I love you”, Andy will say “I love you more” back. Then I will say “I love you forever” and Andy will finalize it by saying “I love you to infinity times 2!!”. So, when Andy returned to the bench, I quickly said to him “I love to infinity times 2!!” Andy just smiled at me and shook his head. Then he replied, “I think I have something that will top EVEN that!” That’s when he pulled out a little black box.
I was so flustered when he did this! I didn’t know what to do, I started tearing up immediately. I asked, “what’s that?!” He opened the box to reveal a very pretty, silver banded, diamond engagement ring. I was so surprised and happy, I couldn’t stop hugging him! He finally looked at me and asked, “so, is that a yes?” I said, “yes, of course!!” That’s when I finally looked at the ring and tried it on, in between tears of joy! After a few moments, Andy send a text message to everyone who happened to be “in” on this little surprise to let them know that “she said yes!”
Later that evening, Andy had planned to have all of the families meet for dinner at Hacienda. Little did I know that this was for a reason! Once our families arrived, we announced to everyone that we got engaged that morning and shared the story of how it happened. Everyone was thrilled and somehow seemed to guess that it was going to happen. My mom even brought her camera along just in case! It was a wonderful engagement day and it couldn’t have been any more perfect!
Andy deployed a few weeks after that and has been gone for 4 months now. He returns in March 2010 and I can’t wait to have him back! Our wedding day is May 1, 2010. =)
~Erin Lund