Amanda's Story: My Mom and Step-Dad were having a small gathering at their house to celebrate their recent marriage. I spent most of my day out running errands for the party. When I walked in to the house I noticed a random guy sitting in our living room. I walked right passed him, without saying a word, to find my Mom. When I found her, I immediately asked "Who is that guy?". She told me he was a co-worker of hers, his name is JC. I looked at her and said "He's extremely attractive, I hope you know I'm gonna flirt with him all night". I did exactly that. JC's Story: I had recently been invited to a party by a co-worker of mine. But not just any co-worker; my work mom, or Ama as I called her. I arrived a little early because I figured I could help with setting up or any last minute things she needed and quickly found that I didn’t have much to help with. Thankfully Pat (Amanda’s step dad) still had his Pak Man game in the living room that they let me mess around with. Shortly after having 10 year old flashbacks, someone walked through the front door. Visibly a little flustered, she walked in, placed items on the counter and I greeter her with “hi!”. But I was confused, because she dropped the bags and walked right past me, out the back door. She soon returned inside and continued into a room without a word. Little did I know, she had a plan. And after a night full of conversation and laughter, our future was officially under way.

Amanda's Story: It was JC's 30th Birthday, so I planned a little beach get away with a few of our close friends to celebrate. We drove down Friday, and had plans to go out to his birthday dinner that evening. Our friends were taking forever to get ready, little did I know, this was all apart of a plan. While we waited, JC asked if I wanted to go check out a spot on the beach he found to let them finish up and we'd meet them at dinner. When we arrived, it was a long walk across a beautiful board walk and down onto the beach. There was a photographer taking pictures of someone off to the side so JC guided me around and closer to the water. As we approached, I saw there was a picnic set up and I instantly knew. As tears filled my eyes and my heart beating out of my chest, he got down on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?". YES, YES a million times, YES!! After I finally stopped crying, I looked up and saw my Mom, Uncle and Grandpa get out of a car and I once again, tears filled my eyes. After hugs, tears, pictures and a pop of champagne, we gathered everything up and headed off to dinner. JC had yet another surprise, he invited my everyone! I walked into the restaurant to see my Dad, Step-Mom and Step-Brother, Sister-In-Law and a couple more friends. JC had always asked if I wanted this moment to be intimate with just us or surrounded by my family and friends. I never knew and always went back and forth on what I truly wanted. He somehow pulled off the most amazing combination of the two. We had our amazing, unforgettable moment together then got to celebrate with a few of our favorite people. JC's Story: It was a bitter sweet weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday. Amanda was planning a beach trip with a few of our closest friends just to get away and have a little fun...or so she thought. On the other side of the curtain I was pulling together more family and friends to make their way down there and surprise her on this special weekend. She loves the sun, sand and sound of waves rolling in, so what better place than the beach. After months of planning out the details, the weekend finally arrived and we departed for the coast. The drive there proved to be a true test, as the weather was not in our favor, gloomy clouds and light rain followed us the entire ride (ps, she was freaking out about the rain and how this was going to ruin the weekend, all while I had to stay positive and not freak out on my own plans of proposing). Upon arrival, we all unpacked at the condo and started getting ready. This was our "one dinner out, just to celebrate at a restaurant" so I told her I found a good place, just worry about getting ready. The catch is, everyone else in our group was supposed to be "taking too long", which they nailed perfectly. She began telling people we had to go soon, and I could see she was getting antsy. I knew I needed to do this right now and said, "how about we go check out a spot on the beach where we can set up tomorrow while everyone finishes getting ready?"...she agreed and we departed off to scope out a spot; but I already had one. Through my research, I had found a beautiful boardwalk that would be the perfect intro as we approached the beach. Once we crossed it, I saw that everyone and everything was in place; the picnic was set up (thanks to my amazing soon-to-be mother-in-law), the photographer was taking pictures of their assistant and the beach was all ours. As I walked her around I suddenly pulled her towards the picnic and looked at her, the moment was priceless. I somehow managed to fumble some words out and finally dropped to my knee and asked my best friend to marry me...when (thankfully) she said "yes, yes, a million times yes!". To which we celebrated a new old man and new beginnings!!