In March of 2018 Alex and I were both in positions of frustration and felt defeated. We both contemplated giving up on dating forever... too many chumps out there! In a final effort, I decided to message Alex on the Hinge dating app. The majority of his pictures were with family or in Pittsburgh Penguins attire so I was automatically very intrigued. We chatted for less than a week before deciding to meet up. On Sunday, March 11th, Alex was wrapping up a drill weekend and I was in Allentown when we decided to meet at a bar & grill in Valley Forge. Upon parking in the LA Fitness parking lot, I sent Alex a message that basically said "what color is your car and what are you wearing?" He got out of his car and the rest is history... Although I showed up to the date in a baseball t-shirt and sweatpants he must have been able to see through my careless attire, guarded persona, and overly exaggerated, "I'm a cool person," energy because we ultimately went on 3 additional dates that following week. By the next weekend we decided to attend Erin Express together in Center City, Philly and essentially couldn't get enough time with each other from that point forward. Alex was (is) special and I could see that from the very first date. There was something about him in all the moments we spent together that I couldn't put my finger on but I loved. I wanted to learn and see more. I am now a firm believer of "when you know, you know." <3

It was "Date Night Friday" and we were scheduled to go to a new restaurant at 7:30 pm. Jill questioned the late reservation all week, but I had a plan... On my way home from work I picked up bouquets of roses. I raced home, got dressed before her and played the waiting game until she went upstairs. Once upstairs, I laid a path of roses to our fireplace where I would be waiting. To see how much time I had, I walked her phone upstairs to see if she needed it for some reason, not the best excuse, but it worked. My heart was going a mile a minute as I went through what I was going to say in my head. The time was now, she started walking down the steps and I got in position. As she started yelling for me I told her to come over towards the fireplace. The speech I prepared went out the window and I completely black out! All I know is she said yes, I put the ring on her finger, and I could finally breathe again. The year 2020 was quite a year for all, but it gave us a new house in the beginning, unexpected time together at home in the middle, and ended with us wanting to spend the rest of our lives together. I could not ask for anything else and can't wait to see what the rest of our lives have in store.