Ideally, I'd like something small that I can carry with me always until the proposal so I can produce it on the spot. However, he's a very no-frills man; he doesn't like wearing jewelry and dislikes metal watches very much. I feel a little like I am cheating by asking everyone here for ideas, but I am extremely starved for ideas.

My best idea so far is to buy a reproduction of a medieval suit of armor--jee, where am I going to hide that?--and produce a picture of it to my knight in shining armor when he proposes. Is this a terrible gift? I am sooo lost!

Jeeyun, Seriously, how about pocket watch? Exclusive pen?

Well, Cut Nut, I never thought of THAT as a gift. Besides, that would be a mutual gift. Unless ... hmmmm, not appropriate for this forum....

His main hobbies are computers and playing basketball. He's a software developer that dreams code and hits 90% of his free throws.

I guess the suit of armor is rather extreme and/or weird. _sigh_ But pocket watches (too ostentatious for him) and expensive pens (loses them) are not his thing. How about I register a domain and put together an online scrapbook? Too girly?

He will appreciate it in with the time even if he doesn't really want it today.

1) High Price idea: If he loves computers, you may want to consider buying him a Pocket PC, like an IPAQ. They are kind of expensive, but right now there is a rebate going on, and you could probably pick one up in the high $300's.

2) Lower Price idea: Pick up some type of neat gadget from the internet, or an airline magazine, or some other source like that. I know I am not being very specific.

By the way, what a really, really neat idea. I have never heard of a young woman wanting to have a gift ready when her boyfriend proposes. I think this is very thoughtful and unique.

Paul, I thought about giving him a useful computer product (maybe a bunch of CL2 RAM). The problem is, he already has 5 computers, 4 that he has built himself (yeah, I know, what do you do with 5 computers??). He knows a lot more about this stuff than I do. And computer products won't really stand the test of time. I will go flip through one of those airline magazines--good suggestion. It might give me some good ideas.

Nerd pen? Is it one of those gravity pens that you hold in a certain orientation to change the color? Those are so neat. Unfortunately, he already has a Niji(graduation gift) that he keeps stashed away in the case. At first, he did get a kick out of it, but now it just stays put away in a drawer.

How about if I get a nice matching pair of wedding bands with a small inscription? Maybe we could wear them on the right hand until the wedding. He's going to have to wear a ring all the time anyways, so he might as well get used to it.

Also, if you'll want to wear your band with your engagement ring, you'll need to make sure it matches well and that they will sit nicely together.

I think the engraving of something special is a great idea. Is there a male equivalent of a locket with photos? Also, I love the idea of the scrapbook. There was one guy who posted that when he proposed, he also presented a scrapbook/photo album of their lives together. What a fabulous keepsake!

Let us know what you choose.

I'm thinking of engraving the rings with the date of our first date and leave room for our engagement and wedding dates. I was inspired by listening to some U2 last night, and thought of adding a "we are one" or "we get to carry each other." But I will have to check with the engraver to see if I can fit all of this on one ring. If I can't, maybe a nice nerdy infinity sign will do.