The History
Jeff and Christy met at Hope Bible Church in Eagle Rock, CA in the fall of 2001. They got to know each other through activities in their singles group. One day, Jeff asked Christy out on a date and to his surprised she was interested in dating him. They dated for some time, but eventually, circumstances drew them apart. Christy ended up moving to Texas and lived there for a little over a year.
Jeff didn't think there was much hope for a future with Christy even when she returned from Texas, but God had other plans. For almost a year after she returned from Texas, by God's providence they reconnected one night after seeing a movie. After spending time together, Jeff started to think that there might yet be the possibility of a relationship. Once Jeff started dating Christy again, he did so with the intention of marrying her.
The Engagement
The two of them had talked about marriage for some time, and now Jeff decided that the time had come to ask Christy to marry him. But he wanted to surprise her. Therefore, he had to figure out a way to catch Christy off guard when the time came to make it official. Since Jeff had asked Christy to send him pictures of rings she liked, she knew the time was close. Thanks to the magic of Google's image search, she researched 1930-1940's vintage rings and was wondering how Jeff was going to pull off finding the kind of ring she wanted. Fortunately, Jeff's mother, Cheryl, asked him if he would be interested in giving Christy a family heirloom ring as an engagement ring. The ring (from the late 1930's) was a very close match to the style that Christy liked. At this point, it was an easy choice. Jeff took the ring and had it cleaned. Once the ring was cleaned, Jeff picked it up and was amazed at how much more it sparkled and shined than before!
Jeff had to consider where he would propose. He didn't want to go to some old restaurant or building that would someday be torn down or change hands; he wanted to find a more permanent place. Fall was coming to a close and the weather had recently brought the first snow fall to the local mountains. All that week, Jeff was trying to make sure that Christy would have the following weekend off. On Sunday, December 13th, 2009, after church was over, Jeff asked Christy if she would be interested in taking an afternoon drive to go find some snow. After lunch they took a drive up the I-5 to the Grape Vine area and ended up near Mount Pinos. Due to the fact that chains were required to drive up the mountain, they stayed down by the recreation area. There was just enough snow to hike around the base of the mountain. It was about 38 degrees outside and after hiking around and taking some pictures, Christy was ready to get back to the nice warm car. But on the way back to the car, Jeff said to Christy, “I have something for you,” but all Christy was thinking about was how cold she was and how close the car was. Christy turned around and Jeff took out a black box from his coat pocket and proposed.
Jeff successfully caught her off guard. She said, "Yes."