It’s been quite a week for you. First there was an engagement and then you were hand picked by the WNBA president to play in this year’s All-Star Game. How do you feel about this?
It’s been a great week personally and professionally. I’m really excited for the opportunity to go home and play in the [All-Star] game. It’s going to be in my hometown and it will be a great time for my family, my friends, my coaches, and everybody back home that helped me when I was growing up to get me where I am right now. I’m really excited to get to spend time with all those people.

What has helped you earn you first All-Star game appearance?
I’m thankful to be able to grow in this organization. It’s been slow growing for me – not that I’m done growing yet. But to be able to start with this team and stay with this team is a big reason I keep getting better. And that’s because of my coaches. Coach Whiz in my first four years and now Coach Jenny this year keep giving me more responsibility to help this team win games. I’m proud to be on this team and to be able to represent them in the game this weekend.

Will the All-Star Game be the first time you see your family since the engagement?
Yes this will be the first time I’ve seen them. I’ve talked to them and told them everything but I’m excited to see them. It’s hard to visit them because they’re so far away. Most everybody has met Damien but this will be the first time they’ve seen us since we’ve become engaged.

Was the proposal at the Kenny Chesney concert a surprise for you?
Oh yes. I actually didn’t want to go to the concert that day. I was really tired, we’d had a rough schedule and at this point in the season when you get a day off you want to just rest. You just want to lay on the couch and watch movies, sports, whatever. So I really didn’t feel like going but he really wanted to go – of course I didn’t know why he wanted to go but now I do. When we got to the concert he wasn’t acting strange or anything so there was no reason for me to suspect that he would do that. It was definitely a surprise. We were right off the side of the stage; if we had taken one step forward everyone would have seen us which is really cool. Normally for Kenny’s shows I like to be in the crowd. This is the first show that I’ve watched from backstage so it was really cool to see all the guys before they went on stage and visit with Kenny before he went out. I’ve known Kenny for seven or eight years because he’s such a big supporter of Tennessee, where I went to college. Way back when I was in college Kenny would come to the games and cheer for us. So every year I try to go to one of his concerts and catch up with him.

With such a busy schedule how are you going to find time to plan a wedding?
I’m going to be hiring a wedding planner. There’s no way with basketball, television, and all the jobs I have to juggle. Even the workouts during the off season, I’m not going miss those. There are some things that I’m not going to compromise so I will be hiring somebody. That’s the project I’m working on right now. We’re looking at next spring for the wedding but we’re still trying to figure out some logistics and dates that will work for both of our schedules. It’s all still in the early stages but I’ll feel a lot better once I hire somebody and let them work their magic. I’ll just give my approval.

Are you going to be holding the wedding in Sacramento or in Washington DC where your family lives?
We’re leaning toward Sacramento right now because I haven’t lived in DC since I was in high school. And even though I’m hiring somebody I want to be a part of the process and not have to do it from 3,000 miles away. I don’t want to have to fly in to see a venue – that can get pretty time consuming and expensive if I’m flying back every month to see something or meet with somebody. With my schedule I can’t do that. There’s going to be a lot of out of town guests. And Damien is from here so all of his family lives here too.

How long have you two been together?
It will be two years in the fall. I don’t know the exact date but we met about two years ago. In any relationship you want good balance and you want to make sure you work together well, your personalities match, and your strengths are the other’s weaknesses. I think we’re really compatible and he has a good understanding of how I am. I’m pretty talkative while he’s more reserved and a much better listener than I am. The goal is to make each other better and to be supportive. He’s been very supportive of me and my careers and I’ve been as supportive as I can with his career. He’s been a very good influence in my life so I’m very thankful that I get to keep him.