Andrew and I have known each other for more than 15 years, but not well. We were friends of friends, more acquaintance than anything, in high school. We actually met through his good friend, Bob, who was also my first boyfriend. I remember liking all of Bob's friends, but what stands out in my memory about Andrew is that he was goofy, funny, and kind - traits that have endured over the years. After Bob dumped me via AOL Instant Messenger, Andrew's life and mine went different directions for nearly 12 years. Surprisingly, we both stayed friends with Bob as well. During a rough patch in both of our lives, we had both turned to Bob for some friendly support. He separately nagged both of us to just talk to each other since we were facing the same challenges. Eventually we did, and the connection was instant. For my part, I was in denial about being head over heels for him for weeks, until one day in a phone conversation, he told me how much he liked me, and that was it for me. The past three years have been the best of my life and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life laughing with him. :)

After dating and living together for two years, I knew the time was right to pop the question. We had talked about getting married and we both knew that it would be in our future. A couple months before Ashlea's birthday one of her mom's rings had broken, so for her birthday I went to a local jeweler to see if they could get a replacement stone to fix it. I had been thinking about getting a ring and asked him about engagement rings. He pulled out a ring and I instantly knew that was the perfect one, I ordered it on the spot and started the waiting game. The ring finally arrived after the new year and the one thing I knew for sure was that there was no way I was going to propose on Valentines day. So a couple days before the 14th I thought was going to be perfect, we could have a nice date then I would do it after. The week then started to fall apart at Ashlea's job, first the date I had in mind was gone as Ashlea had to go to a work event that night, then when she got home she had to do more work. The next day, I had cooked a roast chicken dinner - exactly like I had the first weekend I came to visit her in IL, but she had to stay a little late and suspend an employee on the phone after she got home, so I aborted the plan. For Valentines we just ordered some pizza and stayed home, it had been a rough week. Finally, on the Friday I made plans for us to go out for dinner and when we would get home I was going to pop the question. As soon as we walked into the front door I went to the living room to pace while waiting for her. Little did I know that in the span of 2 minutes she had changed into pajamas and was ready to relax. I called her into the living room saying something about the dogs, and she walked in washing her face, saying the lighting was better to check out the dog in the bathroom. I followed her over to the bathroom, determined to do this, and I went on my knee and asked the question, I was still dressed nice and Ashlea was in pajamas.

It shall always live in infamy that I was proposed to by the absolute love of my life wearing men's sweatpants and a shirt that read "You had me at tacos" - Ashlea