April Haynes and Joseph Wunderlick

Proposal

April regularly made “subtle” hints to Joe about getting engaged.  She knew from discussions with Joe that the proposal would take place sometime during the summer of 2009.  She also remembered that Joe had made the comment a while back that he would want their families there to celebrate when it finally happened.  Being an obsessive planner and scheduler, April began to get a little impatient by early August, when she realized that they had something going on every single weekend for the rest of the summer.  When would Joe possibly have the time to propose?  And her family had plans every weekend as well, so how could they possibly come to Dallas?  And what if Joe had not even bought her ring yet?  What if someone else had gone in the jewelry store and bought the Ritani ring she had picked out and told Joe about?  What if he didn’t believe her when she said IT”S THE LAST ONE THEY HAVE.  She began to stress about it so much that she began having nightmares about Joe putting a hideous ring on her finger.  And the proposal was always AWFUL.

On the morning of August 29, 2009, April and Joe began what was to be a full day of moving. Joe’s college roommate, Dan, helped Joe move furniture that morning and as he was getting ready to leave, he asked April if she and Joe would like to go to dinner with him and his fiance around 6 pm. April gets suspicious and texts every girl in her phone. They spent the next few hours apart while running errands, and April spent the better part of that time on the phone with Tricia and Lauren, thinking of every possible proposal scenario.   By 2pm, she determined that there was a possibility her family could surprise her, because she had not talked to them in a few days…so maybe they were trying to keep a secret.

At 3pm, April sees that her Aunt Karla’s Facebook status says she is going to April’s mom’s house for dinner. April texts everyone again and thinks it is off.  Tricia suggests the possibility that Aunt Karla has posted this to throw April off, but she doesn’t buy it. April starts getting ready around 4:30 since they need to leave at 5:45 to meet Dan for dinner.  At 5:45, April tells Joe she is ready to go…and Joe realizes that she plans to finish getting ready in the car, as usual.   They are about ready to leave at 5:45 when Joe gets a “text” from Dan saying they are running late and to take their time. Joe tells April to take her time and finish putting on her makeup because they don’t need to leave until 6.  At 5:50, April is convinced they are really going to dinner with Dan, and she sends a text to Tricia to let her know that unfortunately, she has gotten all excited again for nothing.

At 6pm, April is ready to go.  As she goes to grab her purse off the bar, Joe asks if she can come outside for a minute.  When Joe opens the door to the patio, his parents, as well as April’s parents and her siblings, are standing outside next to the lake and yell, “WILL YOU MARRY JOE?!?!”.  Joe drops to one knee and opens a ring box, and there before April’s eyes is her ring!

Well, April said YES, after she had to ask Joe “um..are you going to put it on my finger?”, and then remind him which hand it goes on.  The whole family came inside for a champagne toast and happy hour, and then they headed to Mi Cocina (where else?!), where more of Joe’s extended family was waiting to celebrate with them.  The night ended with drinks and shuffleboard at Dave and Buster’s.  On Sunday, they joined April’s family for brunch at Breadwinner’s, and had dinner with Joe’s family again that evening.  The weekend could not have been more perfect!