You heard it right folks, I'm engaged. After just getting back from <a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/New%20Zealand%20Livin">New Zealand</a> and then <a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/gallery/3157569">travelling across the US</a>, I took Heather to New York city on the premise of watching the July 4th fireworks and having one last trip before we settled back in Boulder. Little did she know I was going to pop the question in Central Park! More juicy details in the photos... http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heatherlookingdown/173445475_R7QTy-Ti.jpg http://neb.smugmug.com/gallery/3168563_NQQKQ/ 2007-07-17T13:51:24Z Copyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved. SmugMug <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Heather and I decided to go to New York City way back in February, when tickets were cheap, knowing that we wouldn't be working then and not needing much of an excuse to go see the fireworks ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#174235677_GyyA9" title="Heather and I decided to go to New York City way back in February, when tickets were cheap, knowing that we wouldn't be working then and not needing much of an excuse to go see the fireworks ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/skylinefromplane/174235677_GyyA9-Th.jpg" width="150" height="101" alt="Heather and I decided to go to New York City way back in February, when tickets were cheap, knowing that we wouldn't be working then and not needing much of an excuse to go see the fireworks ..." title="Heather and I decided to go to New York City way back in February, when tickets were cheap, knowing that we wouldn't be working then and not needing much of an excuse to go see the fireworks ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T20:06:38Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/skylinefromplane/174235677_GyyA9-Th.jpg <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />We spent July 3 eating our way around Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Natural History museum. On July 4th we "decided" to walk around Central Park... all part of my devious plan.</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173445040_onbLR" title="We spent July 3 eating our way around Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Natural History museum. On July 4th we "decided" to walk around Central Park... all part of my devious plan."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heathercentralparkskyline/173445040_onbLR-Th.jpg" width="150" height="142" alt="We spent July 3 eating our way around Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Natural History museum. On July 4th we "decided" to walk around Central Park... all part of my devious plan." title="We spent July 3 eating our way around Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Natural History museum. On July 4th we "decided" to walk around Central Park... all part of my devious plan." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T21:20:34Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heathercentralparkskyline/173445040_onbLR-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 05:18:04 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Central Park is one of my favorite places in NYC... lots of variety.</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173443522_icids" title="Central Park is one of my favorite places in NYC... lots of variety."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/imagine/173443522_icids-Th.jpg" width="150" height="113" alt="Central Park is one of my favorite places in NYC... lots of variety." title="Central Park is one of my favorite places in NYC... lots of variety." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T21:17:45Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/imagine/173443522_icids-Th.jpg 2007-07-04 09:29:11 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />One of Heather's highlights up that point was riding on the old-time carousel in the park... It made for pretty good photography too.</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173444624_rcUxU" title="One of Heather's highlights up that point was riding on the old-time carousel in the park... It made for pretty good photography too."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/carouselheather/173444624_rcUxU-Th.jpg" width="150" height="100" alt="One of Heather's highlights up that point was riding on the old-time carousel in the park... It made for pretty good photography too." title="One of Heather's highlights up that point was riding on the old-time carousel in the park... It made for pretty good photography too." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:38:58Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/carouselheather/173444624_rcUxU-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 05:37:33 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />I told Heather that I knew that the Bethesda fountain was a great place to take photos, so we walked over to it... It was bustling with people as it was a holiday, including lots of row boat ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173444558_MdfvU" title="I told Heather that I knew that the Bethesda fountain was a great place to take photos, so we walked over to it... It was bustling with people as it was a holiday, including lots of row boat ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/bethesdafountainfromabove/173444558_MdfvU-Th.jpg" width="150" height="72" alt="I told Heather that I knew that the Bethesda fountain was a great place to take photos, so we walked over to it... It was bustling with people as it was a holiday, including lots of row boat ..." title="I told Heather that I knew that the Bethesda fountain was a great place to take photos, so we walked over to it... It was bustling with people as it was a holiday, including lots of row boat ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:27:47Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/bethesdafountainfromabove/173444558_MdfvU-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 06:40:29 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Here's a photo of us just before I proposed, sitting on the edge of the fountain. My hair looks a bit messy to be proposing, but oh well. After taking this photo I kneeled down to put my c ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173444544_Q3YtV" title="Here's a photo of us just before I proposed, sitting on the edge of the fountain. My hair looks a bit messy to be proposing, but oh well. After taking this photo I kneeled down to put my c ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benheatherfountain/173444544_Q3YtV-Th.jpg" width="150" height="100" alt="Here's a photo of us just before I proposed, sitting on the edge of the fountain. My hair looks a bit messy to be proposing, but oh well. After taking this photo I kneeled down to put my c ..." title="Here's a photo of us just before I proposed, sitting on the edge of the fountain. My hair looks a bit messy to be proposing, but oh well. After taking this photo I kneeled down to put my c ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:22:33Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benheatherfountain/173444544_Q3YtV-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 06:08:21 40.77442170460000 -73.97091507910000 0 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Heather was stunned, to say the least. She managed to get out a "uh huh" to my question, but was relatively speechless for the next 30 minutes, which was good because it finally gave me som ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173443903_HZiCP" title="Heather was stunned, to say the least. She managed to get out a "uh huh" to my question, but was relatively speechless for the next 30 minutes, which was good because it finally gave me som ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heatherringfountain/173443903_HZiCP-Th.jpg" width="100" height="150" alt="Heather was stunned, to say the least. She managed to get out a "uh huh" to my question, but was relatively speechless for the next 30 minutes, which was good because it finally gave me som ..." title="Heather was stunned, to say the least. She managed to get out a "uh huh" to my question, but was relatively speechless for the next 30 minutes, which was good because it finally gave me som ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T21:19:10Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heatherringfountain/173443903_HZiCP-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 06:19:24 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />She loves her new rock, which of the whole process was the hardest thing for me to decide on. I ended up deciding to get her a custom setting, as I knew her unique tastes didn't fit any of ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173445475_R7QTy" title="She loves her new rock, which of the whole process was the hardest thing for me to decide on. I ended up deciding to get her a custom setting, as I knew her unique tastes didn't fit any of ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heatherlookingdown/173445475_R7QTy-Th.jpg" width="100" height="150" alt="She loves her new rock, which of the whole process was the hardest thing for me to decide on. I ended up deciding to get her a custom setting, as I knew her unique tastes didn't fit any of ..." title="She loves her new rock, which of the whole process was the hardest thing for me to decide on. I ended up deciding to get her a custom setting, as I knew her unique tastes didn't fit any of ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T21:19:40Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/heatherlookingdown/173445475_R7QTy-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 06:20:08 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Some friendly onlookers asked "did she say yes?" and then offered to take our photo. Notice something new on Heather's finger?</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173445205_XNKeB" title="Some friendly onlookers asked "did she say yes?" and then offered to take our photo. Notice something new on Heather's finger?"><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/centralparkproposal/173445205_XNKeB-Th.jpg" width="150" height="124" alt="Some friendly onlookers asked "did she say yes?" and then offered to take our photo. Notice something new on Heather's finger?" title="Some friendly onlookers asked "did she say yes?" and then offered to take our photo. Notice something new on Heather's finger?" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:19:56Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/centralparkproposal/173445205_XNKeB-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 06:21:44 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Afterwards we strolled around Central Park some more, before having a celebratory glass of champangne in the Boathouse restaurant/cafe, just on the other side of the pond from the fountain.</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173444024_QUWNQ" title="Afterwards we strolled around Central Park some more, before having a celebratory glass of champangne in the Boathouse restaurant/cafe, just on the other side of the pond from the fountain."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benheatherboathouse/173444024_QUWNQ-Th.jpg" width="150" height="94" alt="Afterwards we strolled around Central Park some more, before having a celebratory glass of champangne in the Boathouse restaurant/cafe, just on the other side of the pond from the fountain." title="Afterwards we strolled around Central Park some more, before having a celebratory glass of champangne in the Boathouse restaurant/cafe, just on the other side of the pond from the fountain." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:22:58Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benheatherboathouse/173444024_QUWNQ-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 07:28:27 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />After a great dinner involving more champagne we met up with Danny and Jess and watched the fireworks from the roof of their apartment building. I had bribed the city officials to shoot off ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173444769_7ajik" title="After a great dinner involving more champagne we met up with Danny and Jess and watched the fireworks from the roof of their apartment building. I had bribed the city officials to shoot off ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/fireworks/173444769_7ajik-Th.jpg" width="150" height="89" alt="After a great dinner involving more champagne we met up with Danny and Jess and watched the fireworks from the roof of their apartment building. I had bribed the city officials to shoot off ..." title="After a great dinner involving more champagne we met up with Danny and Jess and watched the fireworks from the roof of their apartment building. I had bribed the city officials to shoot off ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-10T21:18:48Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/fireworks/173444769_7ajik-Th.jpg 2007-07-04 21:50:49 <p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com">Ben Ridge</a><br />Heather took one of our final photos of NY, as the fireworks had ended and we were on a plane the next morning. Behind me is Jess, and her friend is beside her. Much thanks to Jess for hel ...</p><p><a href="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/3168563_NQQKQ#173445447_YmjCD" title="Heather took one of our final photos of NY, as the fireworks had ended and we were on a plane the next morning. Behind me is Jess, and her friend is beside her. Much thanks to Jess for hel ..."><img src="http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benjessfriendrooftop/173445447_YmjCD-Th.jpg" width="150" height="83" alt="Heather took one of our final photos of NY, as the fireworks had ended and we were on a plane the next morning. Behind me is Jess, and her friend is beside her. Much thanks to Jess for hel ..." title="Heather took one of our final photos of NY, as the fireworks had ended and we were on a plane the next morning. Behind me is Jess, and her friend is beside her. Much thanks to Jess for hel ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-06-25T14:27:35Z Ben Ridge http://neb.smugmug.com http://neb.smugmug.com/Events/New-York-Engagement/benjessfriendrooftop/173445447_YmjCD-Th.jpg 2007-07-05 13:13:07