This small series
will be a break from my normal travel writing and blogging. It will attempt to document to the best of my
memory and limited writing skills the run-up to Colleen and I's recent
engagement. I apologize in advance if I
get a little sappy at times. Brent.
I apologize for the
delay in getting the final chapter of this "saga" on paper. Due to work commitments and some other
happenings I have not had any time in the last three weeks to write. On that note, enjoy and thank you everyone
for reading and providing me with positive feedback. It's what keeps me writing!
Monday, October 28, 2013.
5pm. The time was finally
here. As I sat in my hotel room waiting
for my girlfriend and her best friend to arrive, there were a million thoughts racing through my head. I wondered how many people get engaged on a
Monday night? I imagine it has to be under 5% of all engagements. I mean really, a Monday night!? There was no way she would be expecting
this. Colleen had last seen me the day
before dropping her off at an airport on the other side of the country and she
knew I had to be back in Inuvik in a couple of days. I was hoping Stephanie had done a good job of
selling her on the fake prize package she had won. Only time would tell...
While nonchalantly texting Colleen that afternoon and asking
some vague questions as to her whereabouts, I started to gather the impression
that she was getting slightly ticked off with Stephanie for taking so long to
get her ass in gear and get on the road to the resort. Colleen is the type of person who likes to be
everywhere early or at the very worst on time, so if she has a 3pm check-in time,
you damn well better believe she wants to be standing at that counter at
2:59pm. Stephanie on the other hand is
more like myself and well, quite frankly could give two-shits about such
things. Fearing that my girlfriend was
growing agitated only added to my growing pre-proposal anxiety. The last thing I wanted to do was ask someone
to marry me while they were pissed off that they missed checking into their
hotel at the earliest moment possible!
 |
| I just realized what the hell I am about to do! |
Figuring I had a couple hours to spare (due to Stephanie's
tardiness), I went about doing what every heterosexual man does with his free
time: pluck my unibrow, trim my nose hairs, and clip my nails. After all, I didn't want her to turn me down
on the grounds of my singular eyebrow!
With my manscaping complete and my sweater vest looking fresh to death,
I sat and watched Monday Night Football.
And waited. And waited a little more.
And waited some more. I was
beyond nervous at this point and all I can remember is thinking that I had no
idea what I was going to say when I actually proposed. I did find this ironic, as someone like
myself who writes a ton should theoretically have prepared a lengthy speech for
such a situation. Nope. I was going to wing it.
Sometime during all this "thinking"
pant-shitting, I received a text from Stephanie indicating that they were
almost at the resort. I grabbed the ring
and prepared myself. The plan was for me
to hide out on the balcony and surprise Colleen as soon as they walked into the
room. I had told Stephanie to start
filming (discreetly!) with her IPhone as soon as they walked in the room. I also told her to text me from the hotel
lobby so that I would have time to gather myself, get out onto the balcony, and
compose my thoughts. Somewhere along the
text message train, we had a translation breakdown and with me still sitting in
the room I could hear what sounded like two women approaching! Shit!
I quickly ran out onto the balcony and prepared for the most
nerve-wracking moment of my life!
Upon entering the darkened candlelit room (complete with a
large assortment of flowers) I could hear Colleen remark to Stephanie that she
believed the hotel staff must have had the wrong idea about their relationship
and/or purpose of the trip. She said something
to the effect of, "I think they think we are lesbians". Not how I envisioned taking my cue, but hey,
whatever works. Before Colleen got too
weirded out (or thought her friend was going to attack her with a dildo) I
popped open the sliding glass door and dropped to one knee!!! She screamed, she cried, I fumbled my words
badly as I attempted to gather my thoughts.
You get the idea. There is full
video evidence below (Sorry for poor quality. Also, the end of the video got cut off and I am not tech saavy enough to fix this. Enlarge video to see it a little better)...
My favorite part of the whole thing was when I told her that
she makes me cry. I would like to state
that this is not true and I have no reason why I said this! Movies make cry. Sports (the Leafs and Bills) make me cry. That is all. Another one of the highlights of
the video has to be Stephanie's running commentary in the background. Comedic gold.
 | ||
| The three of us are getting married (and taking awkward selfies)...
|
I will spare everyone the mushy details, but must say we had
a fantastic dinner that evening, drank mucho champagne, and we still have not
broken off the engagement...four months later (wedding is planned for May of
2015)! It was truly the happiest moment
of my life!
 |
| Lovely dessert they made for us at the restaurant at Quaaout Lodge. Staff here were awesome! |
On a semi-serious
note, I must say that my fiancée, Colleen makes me feel like the luckiest man
alive. I love her for her, I think hope
she loves me for me, and she even lets me fart at will in the house 24/7. This is how I know it's real. I am honestly beyond words excited to marry
her and look forward to having babies that have crazy flatulence and inherit my
deft gift for growing a moustache at an early age. She is truly one of the most generous, kind,
caring, and beautiful people I have ever known and she even gives me permission
to write about her online. Must be a
keeper. Love you babe! xoxo
I also would like to
thank everyone that helped bring this plan to fruition. My Mom, Dawn Moreau,
thank you for everything. Your help with
the flight passes and just being an awesome Mom in general. My sister, Natalie
Moreau, thanks for helping me with the ring shopping and for making sure I
always stay in line. A BIG BIGBIG thanks to Stephanie Brandsma for helping me
execute this plan. We almost dropped the
ball a couple of times, but in the end it all worked out and I know how much it
means to Colleen that you were a part of this process. Thanks to everyone who helped in some way or
another and for the people who were made aware of the plans in the weeks prior
to the actual engagement, thank you for keeping your mouths shut! Lastly, I want to thank everyone who reads my
blogs. This series has proven to be my
most popular by far over the last seven years and seeing such viewership
numbers and positive responses is what makes it all worthwhile.
Until next time,
~Brentski/Fiancéski~
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| Sure didn't take long for her to grow those "devil horns" I'm always hearing guys talk about! |
