Christian Liden has been dreaming of creating his own engagement ring for his bride-to-be since he was in eighth grade – and thanks to a recent lucky find, he's finally got all the pieces he needs to do it. Liden, 26, found a 2.20-carat yellow diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, bringing to a close a years-long search for raw materials to create the perfect ring. "I saw it shining as soon as I turned the screen over and immediately knew it was a diamond," Liden said in the release. "I was shaking so bad, I asked my buddy to grab it out of the gravel for me!" Liden, who lives in Poulsbo, Washington, has spent the last five years panning for gold, and in that time, found enough to make the band of the ring. With that part covered, he set his sights on finding the perfect way to top it all off, which led him and a friend to take off on a mining excursion earlier this month, armed with equipment they built themselves. The pair were on their third day hunting at Crater of Diamonds and were about an hour into the search when Liden made his lucky find.