Our Engagement Story

Trickery.  Lies.  Deceit.  —  That’s how the day started.

It ended in Surprise.  Shock.  Love.  

You asked for it, so here is the full story.

Tuesday, 4 August 2009, 2:51pm: Jasmine and Derrick’s friend Brian emails them, along with his roommate Nico, with the following message:

So, a former Boeing colleague of mine and good friend has been doing this scavenger hunt thing around DC for several years now, he always tells me about it afterwards and we always talk smack about who could put together a winning team, blah, blah, blah! So this year, I’m bring the smack talk to real life and I signed up for it. The team has to have 1-2 girls and 2-3 dudes, and we will traipse around the city (especially downtown near your office Jazzy and your house Derrick so I kinda need you guys, Allan, Smash, etc all live and work in the burbs). Obviously I want to beat the crappers out of the Boeing Team, let’s go Team ATK, whoo-hoo!!

Sadly Deena is out of town and since we can use cars, I think I’d prefer to keep it at 4 peeps. So you all are the chosen ones

Anyhoo, please let me know asap, its on August 15 from 3:30 to 6. If you want to check it out, the site for the scavenger hunt is www.seekdc.com.

My buddy has really made it sound awesome, so hopefully you guys can join me, and supposedly there is no running or major physical challenges for the females, so Jazzy, no worries about your knee. Then at the end everyone meets up at a bar for a free happy to see who all were the winners.

More details to come, I just have to get names on the roster ASAP

Jasmine, the Amazing Race lover that she is, replies just eight minutes later:

sounds good to me…. i was just going to have a garage sale that day, but am happy to do it on Sunday!

After a few emails and friendly barbing, we were on for a Scavenger Hunt on 15 August at 3:30pm.

Later that day, Jasmine comments to Derrick how much fun she thinks it will be and starts working out what strategy our team should take for the scavenger hunt. Jasmine even thinks about positioning cars through out the city so that we can be as mobile as possible.

Friday, 14 August 2009, ~8:00pm: We have dinner at our friends Mark and Kari’s home. Jasmine jokingly recalls a comment from roommate Brett on who will get married first  — Brian and Deena, Ashley and Dylan (other friends), or her and Derrick. Everyone quickly moves on to a new topic.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 12:29pm: With the Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt just three hours away, the team receives a clue that leads them to decide to meet at the Washington Monument at the start of the hunt.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 3:30pm: The Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt is officially on! The team receives an email from Seek DC!:

Hello Seek DC! Scavenger Hunters! Let the hunt begin. Each photo must have at least one team member in the photo to count. Don’t forget to send your photos to your team’s special email address:

  1. 1pt – Find your starting point
  2. 1pt – Find a Washington Nationals logo
  3. 1pt – Find a car with a racing stripe
  4. 1pt – A picture of the Beatles
  5. 1pt – Pose for a picture with President Obama
  6. 1pt – Hold up the Washington Monument
  7. 1pt – You can take this plane around the world on a single tank of gas
  8. 1pt – Find this renowned shiny rock
  9. 1pt – Find the fourth line of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
  10. 1pt – Find a wooden baseball bat
  11. 1pt – A ticket stub from the Spy Museum
  12. 1pt – A presidential portrait
  13. 1pt – A shop that starts with the letter Q
  14. 1pt – A foreign candy bar
  15. 1pt – Find a cherry blossom tree
  16. 1pt – Take a picture with a DC police officer (1pt bonus if the officer smiles)
  17. 1pt – Take a picture with a DC Fire Fighter (1pt bonus if the fire fighter smiles)
  18. 1pt – Five matchbooks from five different restaurants
  19. 1pt – Metro Farecard with less than a dollar left
  20. 1pt – Team picture where Lincoln was shot
  21. 1pt – Menu with
  22. 1pt – Find the Dark Side of the Moon
  23. 1pt – Find someone named William
  24. 1pt – A Michael Jackson Tribute shirt
  25. 1pt – Fallout Shelter Sticker
  26. 1pt – A man in a bowtie
  27. 1pt – A blue moon
  28. 1pt – A can of Spam
  29. 1pt – A seashell
  30. 1pt – An eeyore (1pt bonus if tigger is in the picture as well)
  31. 1pt – Picture of something spicy
  32. 1pt – Find a White Castle hamburger
  33. 1pt – A newspaper from yesterday
  34. 1pt – A pre-Windows or Mac computer
  35. 1pt – A flight suit
  36. 1pt – Find a picture of golden sidewalks
  37. 1pt – People playing soccer
  38. 1pt – A lotto ticket
  39. 1pt – A slice of pizza
  40. 1pt – A fermented apple drink
  41. 1pt – Ice cream sample spoon
  42. 1pt – A bobblehead
  43. 1pt – Take a picture with a Monet
  44. 1pt – Picture with a Ryan Gosling movie
  45. 1pt – Something from the McDonald’s Value menu
  46. 1pt – A high school yearbook
  47. 1pt – An inscription of a team member’s home state (upto 4 states max)
  48. 1pt – A ticket stub for a movie
  49. 1pt – A dinosaur larger than you
  50. 1pt – A Christmas Tree
  51. 1pt – A picture in front of a fountain
  52. 1pt – Take a ride with Dumbo
  53. 1pt – A teammate doing a split
  54. 1pt – A photo with Mercury
  55. 1pt – Something Star Wars related
  56. 1pt – The Swedish Chef
  57. 2pts – Do a team YMCA on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
  58. 2pts – An Alaska driver’s license
  59. 2pts – Three non-team member girls doing the Charlie Angels pose
  60. 2pts – A german sounding ice cream treat
  61. 2pts – Take a picture at the Lincoln with a Penny
  62. 2pts – Recreate a scene from Romeo and Juliet
  63. 2pts – Recreate the Abbey Road cover album
  64. 2pts- Find someone dressed as a hippie
  65. 2pts – Find someone wearing a band t-shirt
  66. 2pts – A Delaware driver’s license
  67. 2pts – Find someone with a pink hat
  68. 2pts – Get cozy with the father of relativity
  69. 2pts – Find a Coney
  70. 2pts – Find someone with a beard over three inches long
  71. 2pts – Where you might go to spoof politicians
  72. 2pts – Pose with a dime at the FDR
  73. 2pts – A picture from a rooftop deck
  74. 2pts – A picture with a priest
  75. 2pts – A picture with a Marine in uniform
  76. 3pts – Take a picture with the writer of the Declaration of Independence (3pt bonus if there’s a $2bill in the picture)
  77. 3pts – Pose with a chihuahua
  78. 3pts – Get total strangers to spell out a team member’s name (upto 4 teammates, 12pts max)
  79. 3pts – What does Farragut say on Pennsylvania Avenue?
  80. 3pts – Tapping these famous shoes together will help you get home
  81. 3pts – Pose for a picture with Pluto
  82. 3pts – Someone inside of a kayak
  83. 3pts – Where you might go to see an artsy film in DC5pts – Recreate the Marine Memorial
  84. 5pts – Take a picture of Sasha and Malia’s Swingset (no team member needed in this one)
  85. 5pts – Two teammates on a bridge
  86. 5pts – Picture of the whole team inside of paddle boats
  87. 5pts – Take a picture with this famous Rough Rider
  88. 5pts – Team photo with everyone inside a phone booth
  89. 5pts – Build a human pyramid of at least six people (1pt bonus for each person past six)
  90. 5pts – Picture with identical twins
  91. 5pts – Find someone in a tuxedo
  92. 10pts – Take a picture from this Civil War General’s House
  93. 10pts – Fine someone with that is ‘sleeved’. (ie arms covered in tattoos)
  94. 10pts – Find someone with a tramp-stamp–cannot be a team member
  95. 10pts – Get a total stranger to buy you a drink
  96. 10pts – Find a cherry blossom bloom
  97. 25pts – Take a team picture in the exact middle of the district
  98. 25pts – Take a picture with a Member of Congress (no cutouts, no pictures. The person must really be there)
  99. 25pts – Get a manicure and pedicure
  100. 50pts – Talk a park ranger into allowing your team to go to the top of the Washington Monument w/out tickets.
  101. 100pts – Take a picture from inside the West Wing (no breaking the law!)

Let the Hunt Begin!

Jasmine, Derrick, Nico, and Brian all begin looking for people on the Washington Monument grounds. Brian heads to the Washington Monument and talks to a National Park Ranger about getting our team up the Washington Monument. After noticing that the Ranger’s name is Jasmine, Brian gets permission for Jasmine and Nico to ride to the top of the Washington Monument without tickets. (Next to impossible in August tourist season.)

Over the next two-and-half hours, Jasmine would ask just about every stranger she saw if they were from Alaska or Delaware, take pictures of random strangers, and try to figure out how to get the remaining big ticket items on the list. Willing to take one for the team, Jasmine offers to get the manicure and pedicure and score the team a cool 25 points.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 6:00pm: The Seek DC! Scavenger Hunt is officially over, as another email is received by the team indicating that it is over. The team is instructed to get changed- the awards ceremony will begin at 7:30pm sharp at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Party Suite 769.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:40pm: Jasmine and Derrick arrive at the J.W. Marriott. Jasmine notices on the events board the awards ceremony is not mentioned, leading to a slight bit of confusion. Upon arriving on the seventh floor of the hotel, Jasmine wonders where the other scavenger hunt participates are. Derrick comments that the email did say 7:30pm sharp.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:42pm: Jasmine and Derrick walk into 769. Jasmine is confused, as there is no one else in the room, but only a trail of pink rose petals and candles leading to the balcony. Completely confused, they head out to the patio to see what is going on out there. Jasmine makes sure to not step on any rose petals on the way out.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:43pm: Jasmine and Derrick emerge onto the patio, and Jasmine notices a path of flowers and candles leading to the end of the patio deck. At which point, Jasmine turns around to discover Derrick on one knee with a very important question to ask. Now, Jasmine has figured out what is going. She says “Of Course” to Derrick’s proposal. Yeah!

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:45pm: Derrick heads inside the suite to get one more surprise for Jasmine. He emerges with two champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne. They enjoy a glass of champagne for the next few minutes.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:50pm: Jasmine notices her friend, Naomi, peaking through the curtains from inside the suite. Then, about twenty of Jasmine and Derrick’s friends from DC pour out of the suite onto the patio and offer their congratulations. Jasmine is best described as shell-shocked.

Saturday, 15 August 2009, 7:55pm–???: The happy couple celebrates with everyone for the rest of the night as Jasmine is brought up to speed as what really happened that day as well as the previous two weeks. Jasmine and Derrick are both very happy.

Pictures from the Scavenger Hunt and the celebration can be seen here.

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