He was in there for probably two hours.  Having had done research the week before online to find out what worked best and determined the details, he immediately fell in love with one, and although he kept looking anyway, he knew he would come back to it.  Eventually he did.  It was a platinum ring, and although he thought it was costly for just an un-mounted ring, it was right.

He looked at different diamonds, but he knew Gail had wanted a princess cut.  Although they didn't have the exact ring at the store they had some that were very similar in design.  The problem was that the closest one to the design he liked was in white gold, and not platinum.  The white gold was over three times cheaper.  Which at first sounded good, but he knew he didn't want to get a good ring, he wanted to get a great ring.

After paying for the diamond and ring, he walked back to his car.  It was at that point that the emotion really hit him and he broke down into tears.  They were tears of joy, as the emotions were becoming overwhelming.  After taking a few moments, he talked with his mom to fill her in on the news.  That made her the first official person to know of the planned engagement.  Although the cost was a small part of the emotion, it was really that he knew all his life he would be coming to this point, and now that it had arrived it was more overwhelming than he could have ever imagined. 

Over the weekend he had to think about how he wanted to ask.  She worked the weekend (Labor Day weekend) and she even worked the holiday on Monday.  After pondering and taking the the time to prepare, he came up with the idea to make it a weeklong event.  They both knew Jonathan was leaving for Wisconsin on September 11th, so he thought it best to propose before he left.  To make it better, she had joked with him the last time they were in Wisconsin, that if he was to go back (which he knew he would), that they would need to be engaged.  Of course, she was kidding, but she should have been careful for what she wished... 

The original plan was to ask on Saturday, September 10th.  He prepared by buying her chocolates, red vines and candy since he knew she had a craving for some to enjoy at work.  He also bought a few movies (Princess Diaries and Princess Diaries II) for which she had been asking.

After going home and placing the movies on the counter for her to find when she returned home, Jonathan thought it would be best if I had little labels made.  Dubbed '7 Days In September',  each day he would place a card with the title '7 Days In September' and the respective date on it on the counter next to the gift. 

The first day (9/3) was the movies, which she just thought were sweet.  Of course she asked what the 7 days of September were, to which she didn't receive a reply.  She thought he was just being sweet before his upcoming trip to Wisconsin.

The second day (9/4) was the chocolate, red vines, and candy.  She knew they were for work, and the red vines disappeared in record time (on the way to work as breakfast).  It was on this day that he realized his math was off by a day, and that if he planned on asking on the 10th that it would be eight days and not seven.  Thus, the engagement date was moved up a day to September 9th.

On 9/5 he left out stationary and envelopes for Gail to write letters to Nana (her Grandmother) while he was gone.  Nana is so sweet and writes to Jonathan and Gail (and even the three dogs) every week like clockwork.  This gift simply reinforced for Gail the thought that the '7 Days Of September' existed as a precursor to Jonathan's upcoming business trip.

On 9/6, Gail received five Harry Connick Jr. CDs.  With Harry Connick Jr. being one of her favorite artists, Jonathan had surprised her shortly after they first met with tickets to see him in concert.  And although he wanted to get all his CDs for this event, he quickly realized that he had picked the wrong artist to do this with, because Harry Connick Jr. began performing when he was only five years old.  Even so, he was able to raid all the ones that were available at Fry's Electronics during lunch one day.

On 9/7 (Wednesday), Gail was to be home (she was to have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off).  However, she ended up working this day, so Jonathan had left out a frame that he had purchased and inserted lyrics from the song "Push" by Sarah McLachlan.  It was a song that every time he heard, he thought of her...

Every time I look at you the world just melts away
All my troubles all my fears dissolve in your affections
You've seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land

You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

I get mad so easy but you give me room to breathe
No matter what I say or do 'cause you're too good to fight about it
Even when I have to push just to see how far you'll go
You won't stoop down to battle but you never turn to go

You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

Your love is just the antidote when nothing else will cure me
There are times I can't decide when I can't tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy when otherwise I'd drown
But you pick me up and brush me off and tell me I'm okay
Sometimes that’s just what we need to get us through the day

You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe 

-Sarah McLachlan-

It was one of those songs that just seemed so sweet, and he knew he wanted it to be their first dance at the wedding.

On 9/8 (Thursday) a treasure hunt had been prepared for her.  The '7 Days In September' card had been out on the table, with a piece of paper that said: "16 Things I Want to Do With You...you have emails today!"

When Jonathan was asked why there was 16 things, the answer was simple.  He wanted to keep her busy throughout the day and since there were 8 hours in the day, and he wanted to do two an hour, (his math was correct this time) thus 16.  They exchanged emails all day with the following hints which lead to the following locations, and the 16 things...

16 Things I Want to Do With You...

The emails went like clockwork, and Jonathan was on his way home as he sent the last hint.  Although they had done some of the stuff on the list previously, they were things to look forward to in the future.  Just as Jonathan was pulling in at home, Gail sent him an email saying that it was really sweet and that she cried.  All the better that he was walking in the door to be with her and that she didn't have to wait any longer.

Throughout the week Jonathan had taken the time to prepare for Friday.  He spoke to those close to him to fill them in on the plans personally, so as not to surprise them with a general email.

On Monday, he went over to Jim and Marie's (her parents) house, as he knew they would be home after spending the weekend in Tucson.  On his way out the door, he was caught by his neighbor Sam, who could tell he was keeping something secret.  It didn't take Sam all but a few moments to figure out what it was, as who in their right mind goes to visit their significant other's parents by themselves with no apparent reason?  Having him sworn to secrecy (as other neighbors would be upset they didn't know first) Jonathan continued on his journey to ask permission.  The first stop was actually her grandmother's house, as she lives just two blocks away from her parents.  Broney Nasif (Nana) is 93 years old and bought a new house when she was 90.  She is a soft, gentle, sweet, loving, inspiring woman who endured so much in her lifetime, that every time Jonathan sees her he wants to hear everything he can from her.  She always has words of wisdom to share, and she really should be writing a book. 

Along for the ride were Gail's dogs (Sierra and Lucy).  Her parents always love to see the dogs, and they are great in the car.  Jonathan talked with Nana for almost a half-hour, and when he finally gathered the nerves to ask her permission she clapped her hands and bounced in her chair.  She said that if she could she would stand up and jump up and down.  She was very sweet and genuinely excited, as she talked to him for another 15 minutes before Jim and Marie arrived.  After a few minutes of stalling with them too, Jonathan asked their permission and they too were excited.  The group headed out to lunch nearby, and it was really great afternoon.  The moments alone with her father were exceptionally great, as he provided his words of wisdom which kept Jonathan on the verge of tears.  The secret was to be kept for a week, and although Gail's mother asked in jest "what if she doesn't say yes?".  Jonathan calmly replied, that the thought had never crossed his mind.  Luckily, it didn't come to that.

On Thursday he purchased two dozen roses for use the next day.  Along with the roses, he purchased a new vase, and some little gems to place in the bottom of the vase to add some flair to it all.  The arrangement was then taken to his mom's, where it would wait until the next day.  Later that evening he snuck out to his neighbor Karen's place, so he could call Gail's sister Joy in Tucson to ask for her blessing.  Karen helped Jonathan plot by calling him over to her place to 'help her'.  In addition to calling Joy, Jonathan used that time to call his Dad and his new wife.  While he was there, he filled Karen in with all the details.  She was so excited, she called their neighbor Sam to brag that she had a secret.  Of course, he already knew and she promptly gave Jonathan an earful for not telling her first.

Joy is very important to Gail, and Jonathan too found it very important to have her blessing.  When he called, Joy spoke softly, and being the third time that he asked permission, he skipped the stalling and went right out and asked.  She seemed caught off-guard, more-so than even her parents and grandmother, and although he received her blessing the phone call seemed odd.  It was later disclosed that shortly before Jonathan called, Joy and her husband Brent had found out that they would be parents to their first-born child.  Joy's thought was that it was "meant to be", and their bundle of love is expected in May 2006.  Karen was provided a key to care for the dogs over the weekend, and as Jonathan headed home after being gone for over an hour, he headed home with a cover story.  Upon returning home, he walked in on Gail ironing his shirt for his 'meetings' the next day.

The next morning Jonathan did some early software testing at 3am, but when Gail thought he was getting up to go to work at 7, she was mislead.  Jonathan actually headed to his mom's to pickup the flowers, and to go to the Starbucks where they had first met.  He even went to the same table where they had sat and talked for three hours the first time.  Bypassing the long, long line he asked for a manager.  This is where he met Nicole, Rachel and Bob the StarBucks staff working that day.  Nicole was filled in on the plan by Jonathan.  She thought it was sweet and even noticed he was trembling.  She stated she would make sure nobody sat at the table and that she would have their coffee (his: grande non-fat cinnamon spice mocha with just a little whip cream; hers: grande black and white mocha) waiting there at exactly 9am.  Rachel commented that she wished she had a sweet boyfriend that would propose to her.  As Jonathan headed out to the car, he took a deep breath, and called Gail to tell her he was on his way back to pick her up (of which she had no idea).  Of course, through all the planning there is some things that cannot be controlled.  In this instance it was, will she answer her phone?  He called her 7 times on his way home, and when he finally talked to her, she had only 15 minutes to get ready.  He asked her to throw on her black pants and a sexy top and that he'd be there soon.  Having only been up for less than an hour, Gail called back not 30 seconds later to ask if he was serious.  Jonathan laughed and told her she didn't have time to be calling back.  Gail, still confused, asked if she was going to the meetings with him at work.  Far from being in her ideal state with make-up and all, Gail was in the car and on her way with Jonathan.  To where she did not know.  As the drive continued, Jonathan just kept talking to prevent her from asking where they were going, but at one point she finally said, "you don't work this direction."

Right at 9am, they arrived at Starbucks, and by then Gail knew this was their destination.  As they were walking in the employees quickly rushed the drinks down on the table and were walking away as they saw them entering the store.  Gail saw the flowers and he asked her to take a seat at the table.  They sat and reminisced a bit about the first time they met and how great its been.  After a few minutes (again, likely stalling), he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked her to marry him.  She said yes, and they stood up and hugged and cried.  Everybody in the store started applauding, and it was a busy place all morning.  They spent the next two hours there talking just as they did on their first date.  Several customers offered congratulations, some asked to see the ring, and some even took pictures and emailed them to the couple.  One of them happened to be the owner of the 'As You Wish' paint your own pottery stores throughout Arizona.  In addition, Rachel (the StarBucks employee) had a black and white disposable camera with which she snapped a few pictures.  One of which was later edited in Adobe Photoshop to add color to the roses.

While the newly engaged couple was flattered enough to receive the free coffee, in addition, the manager provided them with a bag of Starbucks anniversary blend to take home.  Taking the time to reminisce, the staff made light of the fact that they had actually spilled their coffee just before the couple arrived.  Having only minutes to recover, they did the best they could to mop and wipe up any evidence of a problem.  This explained the random coffee spots found on Jonathan and Gail, as it had splashed up under the table, and was dripping on them throughout the morning.  However, it provided for great fictional stories including Gail saying "no" and throwing coffee at him.  Some of the coffee spots made it to the vase and on the 7 days of September card.  After another three-hour date at Starbucks, the couple headed off to spread the good news.

The first stop was to Paradise Valley Hospital where Jonathan's mom was working.  At the hospital, they learned that his mother couldn't keep keep it a secret, and besides telling all her co-workers, the news had already spread to some of his family.  After chatting for awhile, the couple headed home to change out of their coffee covered clothes and to head to Mesa to visit Jonathan's sister.  After lunch and telling of the engagement story again, the two of them headed to Tempe, as he had prepared a romance package at the Wyndham Buttes Resort.

Arriving at the Buttes at about 4pm, they had a corner suite which was a larger room with a city view.  A gorgeous view it had.  They relaxed for awhile and went to the pool.  Wrapped around the mountain, the pool was elegantly laid out with rock cliffs, waterfalls, and even a waterslide.  Throughout the pool area and up on the mountain there were sporadic hot tubs which were quietly tucked away and provided a view over the city.  It was the perfect evening to add on to a perfect morning.

For dinner the couple lounged in the resort's Market Café.  They sat in the back corner on the patio, which allowed for a view and the breeze to come around them.  Waiting for them back in the room, were roses, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries.  They couldn't have asked for more.

As if the evening hadn't provided them enough, they started out the next morning with breakfast from room service.  Blueberry pancakes, cereal, fresh fruit, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, yogurt, banana bread, orange juice, cranberry juice and some milk.  All of it was gone within an hour.

After departing the resort, they finished their 'tour' by having lunch with her family and grandmother, and later had dinner with his father.  Their first full day as an engaged couple and they had as much food that day as they had romance the day before.  Home was a welcoming sight.  They had plenty of planning to do, as the wedding was soon to be upon them...