How We Met

STEVE:

I decided to take a Wednesday afternoon off to go to the beach.  I saw Adriana Tomazelli laying out at the beach with some friends and joined her group.  We decided at to meet later that night at a new nightclub called Stingaree because Paul Oakenfold was playing (thanks for the music, Juan!) 

I showed up late to the tune of 10 Brazilian girls.  The second I arrived, Adri grabbed me and said, “What do you think of Cynthia?” and pointed her out.

I think I said something along the lines of “Hell yeah!”  I then approached the group, said hello, and then asked Cynthia if I could buy her a drink.  I grabbed her a blue martini, the color of her dress, and hung out with her the rest of the night.  Paul Oakenfold was cancelled but that didn’t bother us at all.

A Gente Se Conheceu Assim

CYNTHIA:

O Steve era amigo ja ha muito tempo de um grande amiga minha, Adri Tomazelli, mas ate entao nos nunca tinhamos sido apresentados. Mas naquele dia – 12 de julho de 2006 – nos acabamos saindo juntos no mesmo grupo para assistir a um show do Paul Olkenfold numa boate em San Diego chamada “Stingaree”.

Eu cheguei mais cedo junto com o grupo – nos estavamos num grupo de umas 10 meninas – e o  Steve chegou uns 20 minutos depois.

Steve gostou do que viu.

Eu tambem gostei do que vi!

Steve ofereceu-se para me comprar uma bebida eu eu pedi um martini.

O martini era azul, exatamente da cor da blusa que eu usava.
Assim tudo comecou...

How Steve proposed to Cynthia

STEVE:

NEW YEARS IN RIO
I knew that I wanted to propose to Cynthia for months and was listening to Portuguese mp3s constantly.  We flew to Rio in December for the most incredible New Years Eve celebration that I have ever experienced.  2 million people, dressed in white, all holding champagne bottles, watching 25 minutes of finale fireworks, then running to the ocean and jumping over seven waves while the two miles stretch of Copacabana and surrounding beaches broke into dance.

MEET THE FAMILY
After Rio, we headed to Curitiba, where Cynthia is from, and I met the family.  It was immediately obvious where Cynthia got her energetic, positive personality.  We hit it off right away and I realized quickly that I didn’t know very much Portuguese.  The next two weeks we spent eating, drinking, sight-seeing in Curitiba and Florianopolis.  I worked hard on my Portuguese and studied a dictionary to figure out how to talk t Cynthia’s dad. At the end of the trip, I was planning on asking Don Sebastiao for Cynthia’s hand in marriage at an Irish bar.  However, he cancelled last second to prepare for a Brazilian churrasco and my plans were destroyed.  I desperately looked for time alone with the Don and it came at the last second at the airport. 

ASK PERMISSION
Our flight was delayed for 3 hours and I asked Cynthia if she could check on the flight.  Cynthia and her mom, Dona Anadir, left and I leaned forward and asked her dad in broken Portuguese.  He looked at me very seriously and started talking quickly.  I completely blanked because I had never seen him act serious.  I interrupted him and, apologizing said, “I’m sorry, Don Sebastiao, Yes or No?”  He jumped up and said, “Yes, Ehschteevie! (Steve) Yes!!” and ran around the table and hugged me.  We spoke together for the next ten minutes in broken Portuguese about traditions in the United States and how I really wanted him to keep our conversation secret from everyone including Cynthia.  He agreed and then told his wife 30 seconds after we left to get on the plane. 

THE WEEKEND
My Dad and Rachel flew into San Diego months later.  My mom cancelled her trip to San Diego and my Dad cancelled another trip.  Neither realized that I was trying to propose and wanted to make a week out of it.  I had everything planned and nobody (with the exception of the Kileys and Grant Hale in Afghanistan) knew that I had any intention of proposing to Cynthia.  We went to Seaport village the first day, then rented Harleys the second day and drove all over San Diego and over to Coronado Island.  On the third day, we went up to the wineries in Temecula.

THE PROPOSAL- APRIL 20, 2008
Dan Kiley and I had a pact that they would have their baby the same day I proposed to Cynthia.  We reached Ponte, the third winery, and walked to the grassy amphitheater where a wedding was getting ready to happen.  I handed my dad the camera and dropped a knee in front of the amphitheater.  Everyone thought I was naturally joking until I pulled out the ring.  Cynthia jumped on me and started hugging and kissing me (I took this as a yes.)  The rest of the winery, and wedding party, took notice and broke out into applause.  I immediately called the Kileys and sure enough, they had their baby, Travis, a couple hours later.  The pictures tell the rest of the story.

Como Steve pediu Cynthia em casamento

CYNTHIA:

O pai  e a madrasta do Steve (Dick e Rachel Presser) que moram em Fort Wayne, Indiana, vieram nos visitar em San Diego.

Steve ja tinha tudo planejado.

Nos quatro fomos passar o dia em Temecula, uma cidade que fica a cerca de uma hora de San Diego e que tem varias viniculas que oferecem degustacao de vinho.

Quando nos ja estavamos na terceira vinicula, apos varios copos de vinho, Steve se ajoelhou na frente de todo o mundo e me pediu casamento! Eu comecei a pular de felicidade – “Claro que a resposta e sim”!!!!! A vinicula estava super movimentada naquele dia, varias pessoas comecaram a aplaudir... Foi um momento inesquecivel!

O que eu nao sabia e que na nossa viagem ao Brasil 3 meses antes, Steve ja tinha falado com o “Don Sebastion”, num dialago descrito como “interessante”, ja que Steve nao fala pouquissimo Portugues e “Don Sebastion” tambem nao fala Ingles. Mas isso tudo tinha sido mantido em segredo, pois Steve fazia questao de que tudo fosse uma grande surpresa para mim!