Chapter Eleven: Sunset

July 28th is Omar's best friend's birthday. So, Tyler invited Omar and I to the beach house in Newport Beach, California that he and his girlfriend rented for the weekend. Unfortunately, I was supposed to be in Mexico that Sunday, so when Omar asked if I wanted to go with him to spend the night there on Saturday, I declined. Omar then decided that he would just drive me to wherever I needed to go on Sunday morning and after contacting my Pastor in charge of the trip, we were able to arrange for me to meet them in San Diego before they crossed the border.

Everything was planned out perfectly, and Vladimir the Nano Pet was turning 20 days old on the exact day that we were going to be in Newport.

I vividly remember being at my best friend Jessica's house on the 28th, while Jess, Whitney and I were hanging out in her kitchen. They walked outside for a minute, then opened the door and stared at me. Weirded out, I asked them what the heck was wrong with them.
"Allie! This is the last time we will ever see you single!" Then they closed the door again.

Omar picked me up before daybreak on the morning of July 29th, 2006. We drove the four hours to Newport, talking the entire way. We decided not to interlock fingers until we got into the ocean.

tyler and omar battling the gargantuan waves, 2006

So, we ate breakfast. Then, we went to the beach, got into the water, and interlocked fingers! We stayed like that for at least 30 seconds before a giant tidal wave came and sucked me under and Omar had to save my life and I got covered in sand and looked like a swamp thing and Omar took me over to the showers and tried to rinse the 23588 pounds of sand out of my hair.
But, other than that, it was an earth-shattering moment.

Afterward, we went to the house and changed, then headed to get bikes. We rode our bikes to a taco shop, singing Switchfoot songs at the top of our lungs (I am not even kidding you).

this is what i look like when ive been swallowed by a wave and am completely in love with the photographer, 2006

and so is this, 2006

Omar spent a great deal of time trying to kiss me all day, and I told him, over and over again, that when the time was right, he would know. We had alot of fun playing in the ocean and riding bikes around the little town of Newport. For some reason, Omar was adamant about getting back to the beach house before sunset. So, we headed there and I wondered why Omar's ultra-relaxed demeanor had suddenly been replaced by this sunset-obsessed crazy man. He wanted to go find the best spot possible to watch the sunset over the ocean, and suggested to Tyler and his girlfriend that they should go watch it on the pier. Away from us.
"Weee were meant to live for so much mooooore....", july 29th, 2006.

The sunset that evening was, by far, the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen. We watched in awe. We took pictures. And then, while I was leaning against him, his heart started beating out of his chest at an alarming rate.


see what I mean?, july 29th, 2006.

I turned around as Omar put his hand in his pocket. With a shaky voice, and a heart that was almost visibly about to explode, he started,
"I've been praying alot and I've asked God to guide us in this because I don't want to start something that isnt going to last forever and well, Ive been praying and I promised you on July 1st that someday I would put a ring on your finger and someday I'll put a real ring on your finger, but this will have to do for now and well,
Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Well, I mean, Umm oranges are still oranges even if you call them apples, and I think well....."

(Insert the earth shattering, fireworks seeing, world's most incredible first kiss, initiated by me because the time was, most definitely, right and the deal was sealed, and it lasted for at least 45 seconds before we pulled away and both of our eyes had tears in them and we knew at that second that this was the last first kiss of both of our lives, and Oh my gosh, what just happened was amazing)

Adorned with my beautiful, sapphire ring (my birthstone), we laughed and danced and kissed and kissed and kissed for the rest of the night/ until it was time to go to our separate bedrooms.

July 29th, 2006

And, for the next week in Mexico, I was absolutely elated.
kid in Mexico wearing a backpack Omar bought, 2006



After I got home from Mexico I spent a week in Ohio. Omar and I skipped carelessly through life together, and soon the subject of marriage became constant, and suddenly quite serious.

to be continued....