OK, as promised - here is our story!
Tesfay and I have been together for about 5 1/2 years! We've actually known each other since we were 13 years old. We shared a math class in 8th grade! We went to middle school and high school together, briefly lost contact after we graduated high school in 2004, and reconnected in 2007. We've been together ever since.
We've known for a long time that we would get engaged and be together forever. It was just never the right time. We've gone through a lot in less than six years, including moving cities twice, a death in the immediate family, and job losses. Having gone through it all, though, we've become closer than ever.
Fast forward to this past weekend, the weekend of my 26th birthday. I've been planning an elaborate
Disneyland birthday bash for about four months. I wanted to invite all of my close friends and family to Disneyland because it had been years since we were all, essentially, commitment-free.
When we arrived at Downtown Disney, we passed a caricature booth and I noticed an awesome looking caricature of a man as Genie from Aladdin! I made a joke that Tesfay should be Genie, since he loves the character. He replies, "OK! Why don't we both do it?" I didn't really expect him to agree, and I was really only joking, so I waved it off as a joke.
The following day, somehow it got brought up again - we should do the caricature, but instead of just being Tesfay, we should both do it. In fact, Tesfay's brother offered to pay for it as a birthday gift to me. I still dragged my feet at the idea. It was really just a joke! That evening we went to Downtown Disney to eat beignets and wait for some more friends to join us before our dinner reservation. As we were walking back toward the park, we passed the caricature kiosk again. This time, the artist (his name is Joenell) made a passing comment about my Princess Jasmine shirt. We all stopped to chat about my shirt, and that's why my friends and family decided to bring it up again - we should do a caricature!
I finally relented. I said, "How long does this take?" and he insisted, "It only takes a few minutes!" When we sat down, he asked who we wanted to be [character-wise]. I told him that I wanted Tesfay to be Genie - after all, that's how this caricature talk all started. And since Jasmine is my favorite Princess, I would be her. But, wouldn't it be weird if it was Jasmine and Genie, rather than Jasmine and Aladdin, I asked. Joenell encouraged me to do what I'd like, stating, "If you want to be Genie and Jasmine, Aladdin will just have to get over it!"
As he drew, our friends and family waited patiently, taking photos and chatting with each other. One comment that stood out to me was when Joenell finally said, "Aladdin is definitely not liking this." I didn't think anything of it at the time, but more on that later. When it was time for the big reveal, he turned it around and I just laughed at the drawings - they never really look like you!
[A closer inspection of the drawing shows Genie proposing to Jasmine on a flying carpet, with Aladdin in the distance, standing on the balcony of the Palace holding the lamp with his mouth wide open!]
Before I could realize what was happening, Tesfay was beside me on one knee with a ring in his palm! I did a double take, from the drawing and back to Tesfay, before I realized that he was asking me to marry him! My first response was not "YES!" but rather, "Really!?"... hahaha! Of course, I said "Yes!" and the rest is history!
Now we are planning for a Disney Fairytale Wedding with a Princess and the Frog theme!
