Sophia and Josh Newman Engagement Announcement

Sophia Scull, daughter of Bob and Sharla Scull of Rapid City, has become engaged to Josh Newman, son of Mike and Mary Newman of Rapid City.

Saturday, June 15th 2019

Proposal

(Josh’s Story)

Sophia and I were on a trip to New York City with her father and mother in the middle of April 2018. I had bought the ring a couple months prior with the intent of asking her on the trip. When it came time to leave, I tucked away the ring in my suitcase in the back pocket of a pair of jeans in the very middle of all my other clothes. Sophia took notice that I didn’t have a carryon bag with me and joked with me that “huh, must not be a ring on this trip.” Little did she know that I was sweating the whole time until I was able to pull my suitcase into the bathroom once we landed in New York to make sure the ring was still with us! 

We arrived on a Thursday and spent the rest of the evening and all day Friday exploring the city and taking in all the sites. Then came Saturday. This was the day that I planned on popping the question. We had a pretty big day planned and it was near 80 degrees and sunny, a perfect day. I was wearing a tee shirt and a pair of golf shorts, which doesn’t give a guy many options for hiding a ring. I had one of those concealable ring boxes, which was tucked away in my back pocket along with my wallet. 

To start off the day, we walked from our hotel in Times Square down to the Empire State Building where I met what turned out to be the challenge of the day. How do I get this ring through security check when Sophia is right next to me? I tried to switch lines at the last minute so that we wouldn’t go through the same metal detector, but she followed right behind me. Then they want us to empty both our pockets into the same plastic bin to run through the scan. I made sure my wallet was sitting directly on top of that box, hustled right through that scanner and grabbed every single item in the bin and hurried ahead to get that thing back safe and hidden. All was good.

We took in a few more touristy stops before heading over to Central Park to wander around and eat lunch. This was it, this was where I had planned on asking Sophia to spend the rest of her life by my side. We had lunch at the Boat House with her parents and then sat down in the grass to relax. Her dad decided that was the perfect time to take a nice nap in the park. This was my chance. I asked Sophia if she wanted to go take an adventure around the park. It truly was an adventure with the amount of people in the park that day. 

I knew that neither one of us would want a spectacle of a proposal, but rather it be an intimate moment for the two of us (great choice on a New York City proposal, Josh). We walked around for a while talking and taking in everything. Really, I was just zoned in on finding a place to pop the question. We finally stumbled upon the perfect spot. It was a little rock overlook that was about as tucked away as you can be around there. It overlooked some of the park and was near the road running along the west edge. I got down on a knee and asked her right there. She said Yes! After the initial shock wore off, we found an ice cream shop to celebrate our engagement. When we got back to the hotel, I think her parents were a bit shocked to find a new ring on her finger!

How They Met

(Sophia’s Story)

Josh and I met at work on a Monday. Josh came in as an auditor and I was working at the front desk.  I immediately noticed him and it is hard to explain but there was something that just felt different. Saying I had “butterflies” sounds cliché but it is the only way I can describe it. I kept noticing him throughout the day so naturally I was excited to see him again on Tuesday.  

I work in a family business so I asked my dad the following night to put in a good word for me… He said “no, you need to do that yourself,” but then he added “well he has been drinking coffee so why don’t you ask Josh if you can make him some fresh coffee.” At that point I was determined that we needed to talk. Wednesday, the following day was the first time Josh and I started to make connections. He was trying to copy one normal piece of paper but being distracted by me he ended up making 20 or so copies on 11 x 17 paper and acting like nothing was wrong.   

Thursday, Josh brought in caramel rolls to our office and put them in our break room. Every time I heard someone in our break room I would casually walk back there hoping it was him. Finally, he was back there! That was the moment the coffee pot was empty so I asked him if I could make him some coffee. As I was making the coffee we also heated up the rolls and took a little break from what we were doing. At the end of the day as Josh was walking out the door we kept making conversation with each other and on that day he asked me if I would want to go out on a date on Friday night. Obviously, I was BEAMING inside! From that day forward we never missed spending a day together. In the place I least expected it, I found my best friend and love of my life.