Liane Nakano, my better half, was born and raised in Orange County, California. She has a younger brother, Dana, and a younger sister, Blaire. Her parents, Sheri and Gary, were also born and raised in Southern California.
As for me, I was born in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina and have since lived all over! I’m an only child. My parents, Alice and Charles, and I have lived in Southern California on two separate occasions totalling over twenty years. My parents currently live in a suburb of Sacramento.
In 1998, Liane and I both began our freshman years at the University of Southern California. Liane was playing soccer for the Trojan’s and I played regular football…just kidding, sweetie. During our first semester, Liane and I met during “study hall” in the athletic department. I kid you not, I used the “you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere” line…and it worked! We became instant friends, and began dating in 1999.
In 2002, Liane graduated and took a job with Triage consulting in San Francisco. Because of my red shirt season, I had one more year to go. This marked the beginning of the long distance chapter of our relationship. In 2004, I got into the University Of San Francisco School Of Law and promptly moved up to “The City” as the locals call it. We moved in together for the first time and it actually went really smoothly.
At this point in the story, you may put two and two (and two more) together and realize that Liane and I had been together a very long time, and yet no ring. We are both oddly old fashioned in that I did not want to ask her to marry me until I could completely take care of her. With that being said, in 2007, during my final semester of my third year of law school, I received a job offer. That very same day, I bought Lee a ring.
On Mother’s Day of 2007, we drove down to the Ritz Carlton Laguna Nigel on our way down to San Diego. We used to walk around the Ritz in college because they have beautiful grounds by the beach and they didn’t charge us…we were usually broke, after all. On one of these “dates”, I picked Liane a yellow flower while she wasn’t looking and gave it to her. For some reason, she has kept that single dried up flower after all of these years. During this trip to the Ritz, I told Lee that I was going to pick her a few flowers and that she could pick the best one. I picked two and brought them back to the bench that she was sitting on. (The picture is from date in question) The first one was identical to the one I picked for her several years ago. The second one was not as “cute”, and she said that the first one was still her favourite. I told her to hold on a second, got down on one knee, pulled out the ring I had purchased a month earlier, and asked her “how about this one?” She started crying and the rest is history…
As for me, I was born in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina and have since lived all over! I’m an only child. My parents, Alice and Charles, and I have lived in Southern California on two separate occasions totalling over twenty years. My parents currently live in a suburb of Sacramento.
In 1998, Liane and I both began our freshman years at the University of Southern California. Liane was playing soccer for the Trojan’s and I played regular football…just kidding, sweetie. During our first semester, Liane and I met during “study hall” in the athletic department. I kid you not, I used the “you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere” line…and it worked! We became instant friends, and began dating in 1999.
In 2002, Liane graduated and took a job with Triage consulting in San Francisco. Because of my red shirt season, I had one more year to go. This marked the beginning of the long distance chapter of our relationship. In 2004, I got into the University Of San Francisco School Of Law and promptly moved up to “The City” as the locals call it. We moved in together for the first time and it actually went really smoothly.
At this point in the story, you may put two and two (and two more) together and realize that Liane and I had been together a very long time, and yet no ring. We are both oddly old fashioned in that I did not want to ask her to marry me until I could completely take care of her. With that being said, in 2007, during my final semester of my third year of law school, I received a job offer. That very same day, I bought Lee a ring.
On Mother’s Day of 2007, we drove down to the Ritz Carlton Laguna Nigel on our way down to San Diego. We used to walk around the Ritz in college because they have beautiful grounds by the beach and they didn’t charge us…we were usually broke, after all. On one of these “dates”, I picked Liane a yellow flower while she wasn’t looking and gave it to her. For some reason, she has kept that single dried up flower after all of these years. During this trip to the Ritz, I told Lee that I was going to pick her a few flowers and that she could pick the best one. I picked two and brought them back to the bench that she was sitting on. (The picture is from date in question) The first one was identical to the one I picked for her several years ago. The second one was not as “cute”, and she said that the first one was still her favourite. I told her to hold on a second, got down on one knee, pulled out the ring I had purchased a month earlier, and asked her “how about this one?” She started crying and the rest is history…
