Popping the Question

It was New Year's Eve. Jessica had just flown to Honolulu from Austin, where she had gone to spend the holidays, and Justin picked her up that afternoon from the airport. They went back and exchanged Christmas presents. Justin received a bottle of cologne, champagne, and chocolate-covered pretzels. Jessica only got some bubble bath (which was from the dollar store -- Jessica knew this immediately), some salt water taffy (which was from Ross), and a keychain (also from the dollar store). This left Jessica wanting. And curious as to where her other, hopefully much larger and substantial present was hiding.

For dinner, they went to a romantic Italian restaurant. After dinner, they went back home to watch Sleepless in Seattle. During the movie, Justin went to get the champagne, which had been chilling in the freezer. Much to his dismay, it appeared to have frozen, which strangely did not deter him from proceeding to open the bottle. After a ear-splitting "POP!", the frozen champagne erupted onto the ceiling, walls, floor, and Justin. They cleaned the mess, only salvaging a half-glass of champagne that they shared.

After the movie, shortly before midnight, Justin led Jessica to the window, which overlooked Honolulu. He then gave her a present to open, wrapped carefully in cardboard and wrapping paper. Inside was a beautiful ceramic container shaped like a flower that he had made. Justin asked Jessica to hold the container while he pulled out several sheets of paper from a nearby drawer. From them, he read his poem, 'Twas The Night Before New Year's. It spoke of their many journeys together, and what he hoped would be many more to come. At the end of the poem, it said, "Jessica Rice, will you marry me?" He pulled off the top of the container to reveal the ring. He could barely finish asking the question before she said yes! At that moment (exactly!), fireworks exploded across the city. It was the perfect end to 2007, and the perfect beginning to 2008.