We're tying the knot!

Josh and I first crossed paths in high school, but it wasn't until the first week of university that we began dating. In 2020, after I had moved to Ottawa for school, Josh reached out to me on my birthday, September 8th. At the time, he was still living in Bradford and attending Laurentian University. We talked every day from then until September 20th, when I was in Bradford for a birthday party. Josh asked me to dinner, though I was a bit hesitant. My mom, Cindy, encouraged me to go and have fun, so I did. That dinner turned into an unforgettable evening, with Josh and I going for a drive afterward. It was clear that there was something special between us, and we quickly made plans for me to visit him the following weekend. We went to the Stardust Drive-In to watch Happy Gilmore and Despicable Me 2, and it was there, in his 2013 Kia Rio, that Josh asked me to be his girlfriend. I visited Bradford on the weekends, and we continued our long-distance relationship for 11 months. Then, in August 2021, after Laurentian University declared bankruptcy, Josh moved to Ottawa to attend Carleton University and, of course, to be closer to me. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Spontaneity has been such a big part of our relationship from the very beginning. I originally planned to ask Allegra out in December of 2020, but, in true spontaneous fashion, I ended up asking her to be my girlfriend during our second time hanging out in September 2020 instead. That was just the start of a pattern that’s continued throughout our five years together. When Laurentian University went bankrupt, I didn’t hesitate to spontaneously apply to Carleton, just so I could be closer to Allegra. More recently, that same spontaneity played a big part in my proposal. Although I had planned to propose during our vacation in Greece in May 2024, certain factors made that challenging. However, the perfect opportunity unexpectedly arose in February 2024, while we were downtown Ottawa for Winterlude. The opportunity felt right as most of Allegra’s family and my parents and brother were in town, I knew it was the right moment. After just receiving her ring, I decided to propose on our way to dinner. We were walking to the restaurant in ByWard Market when Allegra looked at me and whispered, “What an amazing place the market would be for engagement photos.” Little did she know, less than five minutes later, I would be down on one knee proposing. Some might call it intuition, or maybe even fate, but it was the perfect moment. It felt like everything had aligned, and I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting to ask her to spend forever with me. It’s these unexpected, beautiful moments that have defined our relationship, and we can’t wait for the many more spontaneous memories to come!