We met at a mutual friend's holiday party in the SJSU dorms (CV-B, iykyk). We hit it off and spent the entire time between Christmas and the new year trying to convince our friend to throw another party so we could see each other again. He did, and we reunited for NYE, where we shared our first kiss at midnight and started dating soon after.

Adam had told me in November about this holiday party his work was throwing. He said he would be receiving an award for best employee retention in his district so we had to go (otherwise I knew we would not have). He reminded me several times about this event between then and the date it was to be held - January 13th. On the day of, I packed my overnight bag with my dress for the event and got my nails done to try to look extra fancy for his boss and colleagues - they were generously putting us up in a hotel on Cannery Row after all. We eventually arrived at the hotel in Monterey where we were greeted with a beautiful room with a fireplace, balcony, and view of the ocean where we began getting ready. I came out from the bathroom in my dress and Adam asked me to sit down for a minute, he "had something for me". He was sitting on the ottoman of the reading chair and I sat facing him on the side of the bed and he pulled out a storybook from behind his back - professionally bound with illustrations of us. He said he wanted to read it to me and began to. The book (written by him, obviously) described the things he loved about me and his desires for our future together. The last page was handwritten and said "Will you marry me? Let's start the next chapter together". It turns out there was no work event, it was all a plan to get me to dress up and have a night free to go to Monterey. What can I say? He got me good! Our engagement was a beautiful and personal moment and although we don't have any photos of the moment, we will always have the book!