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Announcements February 6, 2004 [From Will] Today Leslie and I made our national television debut on Perfect Proposal on The Learning Channel (TLC). I gotta say it's rather odd to watch yourself on television. I was extremely pleased, though, at the opportunity to relive the life changing experience that occurred on a Sunday afternoon almost three months ago. I had Leslie by my side as we viewed the program together. You see, even though I already have told Leslie about all of the planning that went into making the perfect proposal a reality, she hasn't yet seen any video footage of the events that took place on the days leading up to the proposal. So was she impressed by the end of the show? I think so. Did she cry her way through the show? Definitely so! If you didn't see the show, let me try to recap for you how the proposal unfolded. But trust me, you'll get a much better picture if you watch the program on your television screen. After all, no words can capture the priceless emotions expressed on Leslie's face when I got down on one knee and slipped the ring on her finger as I asked her to be my wife. For the better part of summer 2003, I knew Leslie would be the one for me and I was looking for the opportune time to pop the big question. I knew how special Leslie was to me, and I wanted to express my love for her by asking her to marry me in a spectacular way. One day in early October, while researching for proposal ideas on the web, I came across TLC's website and found out about the Perfect Proposal show. I secretly taped a couple of episodes and watched them in private, and thought to myself what a great show this is, and how cool it would be if I could propose to Leslie on the show, in front of a national audience. Knowing it would be a long shot (I later found out they receive 50-150 applications a day), I filled out the application on the website and hoped for the best. The next day, I received a phone call from the production company, wanting to find out more about me, Leslie, and our relationship. I was ecstatic when I got the call. I wasn't expecting to hear from them at all, much less to hear from them the very next day. Over the course of the next few weeks, I found myself secretly working very closely with the production team on the details of the proposal, which is to take place on a day about a month away. Before I tell you the proposal plan, I must first give you a brief history lesson on how Leslie and I met. We each occupy a condo unit (with identical floor plans!) in a newly constructed condo complex in Mountain View, California. Leslie moved into her unit just a few months before I moved into mine. The two of us lived across the courtyard from one another, but we never met each other until May 2001, when we both attended the condo owner association's first annual meeting. About a month had gone by, and while I was walking my dog Tinkerbell in the parking garage, I ran into Leslie, and we got a chance to know each other a lot better and talked about possibly getting together more in the future. The romance started to blossom that evening. Since both Leslie and I are animal (specifically, dog) lovers, I wanted the proposal to carry a dog theme. I couldn't, however, use Tinkerbell, because Leslie unfortunately became allergic to Tinkerbell's fur and we had given her up for adoption some time ago. Luckily, my love for technology and my loyalty to Sony products gave me the idea of leveraging the Sony Aibo robotic dog as the perfect accomplice for the perfect proposal. The idea was to trick Leslie into entering a contest with Sony to win me an Aibo, which she knew I love. To do that, I created a website with the same URL that you're on right now (in case you're wondering... why aibo7.com?). I mentioned to Leslie one day that Sony has a contest to win an Aibo, and all you have to do is write a short story on why you deserve to win. Leslie jumped on the idea right away, and even wrote a very sweet story on how her allergy forced her boyfriend to give up his dog, and how the Aibo would make a perfect pet for them. As Leslie pressed the Submit button to enter the contest, her entry form didn't quite make its way to Sony -- it instead went straight to my inbox. The relevant information would then be turned over to the hands of the Perfect Proposal team, who would place a phone call to Leslie a few days later to inform her of her finalist status in the Aibo contest. In order to make the proposal a true surprise to Leslie, I had to work covertly on many details with the Perfect Proposal team while appearing business-as-usual with Leslie for more than a month. That was an awfully difficult thing to do. I see Leslie just about everyday, since we live so close to each other. Having to withhold stuff from her and even telling her a few lies at times were quite a challenge. There was a great deal of anxiety and anticipation as I prepared myself for the big moment. To prevent any potential mishaps, the plan was kept secret from most people I know, with the exception of a handful of folks who were directly involved with the mission (need to know basis, as they say in the government). The filming for the show started two days before the actual day of the proposal. I was followed by the crew both days as interviews were conducted, locations were secured, and Aibos were prepped. Leslie, of course, had no idea I was doing this and yes, I had to lie to her on my whereabouts for just two more days (sorry honey!). On the morning of November 9, 2003, Leslie and I made our way to the Sony Metreon Center in San Francisco to film a "promotional video" for the judges at Sony so they can decide which of the 3 finalists takes home the Aibo... at least that's what Leslie thought. She had no idea that she was just hours away from being proposed to by me, and that her life, and mine, will change forever. While Leslie was focused on winning a dog, I was focused on winning her heart. While I may have rehearsed a thousand times what I want to say to Leslie as I lowered myself to one knee, I knew when the moment comes, words will just have to roll out of my tongue naturally. The big moment finally came. I professed my love to Leslie, asked her to be my wife, and we sealed our commitment to one another with a kiss. The first chapter of the book of Will and Leslie was written. Leslie forgave me for the lies I told her. Visit our Wedding Page for information about our upcoming wedding.
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leslie@aibo7.com | will@aibo7.com |