March 20th 2016

     Sami proposed! Spoilers! Let's go back a few steps. I was so excited for my birthday today. Sami has been keeping me out of his desk space for weeks now while he has worked on my birthday game. He makes me a game every year for my birthday so this wasn't surprising. However, living together has only mounted the tension of finally getting my present. This morning I was going to be able to play my new game. I couldn't wait to see the style, the references from our lives, and of course how much he has progressed at game development in the last 3 years. I woke up first, but I knew he was up late putting the finishing touches on my game so I let him sleep. I got up, made some tea, and completed my WoW dailies before finally breaking down and waking him up. 

     I made him some coffee and woke him up gently. He was surprisingly willing to get up right away. I waited for him by the computer. I played the old birthday games first. It was so nostalgic to remember what happened those years and to think about how far we have come. We both have better jobs than the Best Buy / Geek Squad ones when we met, we live together, and have traveled across America to make a life in California. It's crazy to think that all of that started from a conversation about how I was too weak to get a refrigerator on the showroom floor, not that he helped to move it out there. One cup of coffee after our shifts later, and it was clear that we had a lot in common, not that I let him in on that fact. He eventually figured it out though. 

     Finally I was getting to play my birthday game for this year. As it came on, I realized that he remade Pokemon Leaf Green!!! I was so excited to play it. I LOVE Pokemon games; they have always and still bring me joy to play through. He chose this one in particular because it was the first game I bought him in our relationship. At the time of his birthday in our relationship, I was replaying Pokemon Fire Red on the Gameboy Advanced. I really wanted to play with him so I got him a Gameboy Advanced, Pokemon Leaf Green, and a link cable. He never did link it with me though.

     Either way, the version he made me was much better. In it, I was Robot (his nickname for me) and he was Sami, my nemesis. As I was playing in the world, I encountered wild Pokemon to battle and references to our cats, my job, my younger brother being ecstatic to see me, and my older brother teasing my cat (he calls him Hey Cat). In the buildings, I found pop culture references to things we enjoy together. For instance, the school house contained Ron, Hermione, and Harry saying their famous catchphrases from Harry Potter (something we have marathoned more than once together). In another building, I found the Doctor with his TARDIS, an upside down union jack (reference!), a Sontaran, and a Weeping Angel; all are from Doctor Who, a show we have watched all of together. 

     All of that was nothing compared to the gym battle though. The gym leader was of course Sami. He rigged the game so that there was no way I could lose, but it still nice to kick his butt. Once I won, the gym leader started a spill about how it was OK that I won because he was going for "the rarest catch of all."  I know there were a few more lines, but I honestly can't remember anything after that because that is when it hit me what was coming. As I reached the last screen that said "I choose you Tasha, will you marry me?" Sami fell to his knee with a ring. I was completely shocked by what was happening. I just looked at him, at the ring, back at him. Then I took the ring and hugged him. At which time, he reminded me that I had to speak words out loud. So of course I said "yes!" I was informed that I had to hit "Y." I hadn't finished the game! I hit Y to see a celebration screen and am now extremely happy. 

     About the ring! It is so perfect. It's a Pokeball of course, but it is also subtle enough to just be a gorgeous, unique ring. I did know what ring I was getting ahead of time. I had once told Sami that I always envisioned having a very unique ring. A ring that was customized to me, for instance it would include a sapphire as that is my favorite gem. I also wanted something else, but I wasn't sure what. He then started sending me a few pics he found on the internet. Eventually he sent me a pic of this ring, but with a ruby instead of sapphire. Well, that was the ring, I just knew right away. It became a running joke in our relationship that he was going to get me the ruby Pokeball and I always corrected him to the blue one. And of course I got the blue one! It's perfect! I can't stop looking at it and exclaiming how pretty it is. Well see the pics in the Imgur link below.

     I can't wait to start a marriage with this wonderful man! My monkey! 

http://imgur.com/a/xRJu2