Though the title of the page and the menu selection may give this "surprise" away, here it is:

WE GOT ENGAGED!!

And now...... from the Late Show, it's the TOP TEN (doo dee dooo dooo *Ben hums the TOP TEN music*)... thank you, thank you very much. Tonight... The TOP TEN GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS (by Ben Yau, Groom To Be)!!

10. You'll know there's a good chance that she'll say "Yes" if you guys have been ring shopping together..
    
    In fact, I think Sheri was more surprised about the ring shopping then the proposal itself. When I asked her "Hey, do you want to go look at some rings?" she just about died from happiness and excitement... "OH reaally??"
    
    
9. Guys, you will WANT to know you have a good chance of her saying "Yes", especially if you propose in front of other people!
   
   Did any of you see that footage of the guy who proposed at half time during a basketball game and the girl put her hands over her face, shook her head, and took of running out the stadium? It happened just within the last month (3/2004)!
   
   
8. Make your ring special!
   
   We actually first went to Robbins Bros. Okay, sorry if you are a Robbins Bros "The Engagement Ring Store" fan, but we had the worst experience there ever!! We would be happy to go into details if you email us. The one we went to is the one near the Glendale Galleria. It was a terrible experience. It was at this time Ben then remembered that an acquaintance of his (Holly D'Lane) was a jewelry maker. We talked with her about it and together the three of us designed a fantastic ring! Holly then turned our concept into a GORGEOUS engagement ring! (and to get off the story here for a bit. We HIGHLY recommend her for any of your jewelry needs. Her crafts are just beautiful and she's one of the friendliest people we've ever met! Check her out at http://www.hollydlane.com).
   
   
7. It's really cool to ask the lady's parents for permission.
   
   Altough it can be nervewracking also. Rumors had arisen that after meeting me for the first time, Sheri's parents were, to put it kindly, "curious" about me ( what with the mohawk ponytail, earrings, multi colored hair, etc.). Not to mention I was not very socially "graceful" with parents in general.
   
   So I was a bit nervous proposing. It didn't help that when I finally asked Sheri's mom for her permission (Sheri's dad had not come home yet) her response was ...joy? happiness? No....
   
   
   Ben: "I'd like your permission to ask Sheri to marry me."
   ** pause **
   Sheri's Mom: "Are you sure?"
   ** pause **
   Sheri's Mom: "Have you talked with my husband yet? You better talk to him."
   Sheri's Mom: "Are you guys ready to be married?".
   
   (I should note that had worked with Sheri's mom for over a year at this point so we were very comfortable talking to each other)
   
   Nonetheless...talk about making me nervous!
   
   Anyhow, I had to leave before Sheri's father got home. (I did find out later from Sheri's Sister that after I had left, Sheri's Mom was so excited that she woke up Sheri's Sister and told her about my plan to propose!). Anyhow, my next chance was that Saturday when the family and extended family were getting together. And (dun dun duuuhnnn) this was the day I'd have to ask her father for his blessing.
   
   As it turns out, asking her father was the easiest thing in the world. He just smiled a big smile and said he'd be honored to have me as a son-in-law..
   
   *PHEW*
   
   
6. Realize that your bride will either laugh or cry when you propose
   
   She laughed. Actually it's probably my fault because I tried to do some corny magic trick as a way to produce the ring out of my pocket... cornnyy... so then I proposed during dessert with the entire family and extended family watching... Sheri smiled the whole time at me ... so much so that she didn't realize when I had finished my proposal. We sat looking at each other smiling for awhile before I said, "umm... you may want to give me an answer." Which snapped her out of it and she said "Yes!" (*BIG PHEW*)
   
   
5. It's a lot of fun to propose in front of the familiy (but see rules 1 and 2)
   
   because she, her aunt, her cousin, her mom, and her sister got to talk wedding plans the rest of the night. (I got to play GameCube with the male relatives.. woohooo!)
   
   
4. It's also a lot of fun to propose in public! (but see rules 1 and 2)
   
   I told Sheri of my "other" proposal plan which was to propose to her at LindyGroove, at which point she said... "ohh..if you did that I would have cried..." and also "oh come on..can you propose to me that way too?"
   
   
3. You can't have your cake and eat it too
   
   After a proposal, you are engaged, so you can't legally propose again... Okay, I don't know about "legally" but you know what I mean..
   
   
2. There's an exception to every rule
   
   "Oh come on..that would have been so neat..." Sheri says... and "Swwoooooon" Sheri Melts. So finally, what we decided was to not tell our friends we were engaged and then announce at LindyGroove our engagement in a similar way to that of how I was going to propose...
   
   So here is what happened:
   
   After the birthday dances, I got on the microphone and first thanked the swing community for being very supportive, and then announced that over the weekend Sheri and I had got engaged :). Wohooo!! After which: "Okay.. so she's been very happy wearing this ring on her hand that I really had to work to wrestle it away from her tonight so you guys can have one last dance with her before the ring stays on for good!" at which point it just became a zoo. So Cal Lindy Guys are definitely enthusiastic! I don't think Sheri knew what hit her. And the song for her special "bachelorette party swing dance" ? "Can't Touch This" by Hammer! Definitely a fun night at LindyGroove.
   
   Oh yeah! The original proposal speech was something to the effect of: "I just wanted to have a special dance for Sheri to congratulate her on her new job!" (crowd would have luke warm applause as that is a strange reason to have a birthday-type dance). "Oh, and by the way, guys, make sure it's a good one because it's the last one you'll get with her before she becomes engaged!" ..(stunned response as the crowd realizes what I am saying)... and then Sheri would have to dance an entire dance knowing that at the end I'd be coming in to propose..
   
   

Ben has too much stuff in his pocket! Where's the ring? Aug, 2002

Let's start the honeymoon early! Aug, 2002

And finally... the number one guideline for a proposal!!!

1. Enjoy it!!