After a few weeks of talking on Facebook, (we had mutual friends and I added him, taking a major risk) we decided to go on actual date and meet in person for the first time. Paul and I met at The Dugout Sports Bar in downtown Hendersonville, NC on a Sunday evening, on his way back from Virginia Beach. He had just attended the wedding of his best friend Keagan Martin and feeling pretty confident. (So confident, that he had tried to get me to be his date to the wedding last minute. I had to decline because of my insane work schedule, which ended up being okay, because rumor has it, the bachelor party the night before the wedding got pretty wild and I would have probably been bored in the hotel room by myself watching Law & Order SVU reruns.) We instantly connected and could not stop blabbering to one another. There were no awkward silences, no glances around the bar trying to get out of there. What really hooked me was that he wore a shirt with a pun on it. (Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good pun.) He told me that his friend was originally from the Boston/New England Area as well so he had tried "Sam Adams" beer for the first time and that it was "not bad." (We still have to work on his craft beer palette, but I can safely say he is coming along well.) After dinner, we got ice cream and he just had to call his mom because she loves ice cream so much. We continued to walk around downtown Hendersonville after, even stopping by a thrift shop that had a scavenger hunt in the window and we looked for the items together. He walked me to my car and gave me tight hug goodbye. (I think we both too nervous to make the first move for a kiss!) We couldn't stop texting once we both got home and made plans for the following weekend. Clearly, we both thought the date went great, even without a first kiss on the first date!

We took our first road trip together, so it was a real test for our relationship. Would we survive or would one of us (Paul) be hitchhiking back to the Carolinas? This was Paul’s first trip north of the Mason Dixon line and he was both nervous and excited. He was given advice on places to get pizza, one being Frank Pepe in New Haven, CT. Don’t worry, I also brought him to the North End in Boston and got him Regina’s (which he preferred, sorry to those reading in CT). (We ran out of time so he wasn’t able to get Tripoli’s beach pizza.) Paul was also told to visit certain historical sites, take pictures of specific views and attempt to talk in a “Baw-ston Ah-ccent” and try to sound “wicked smahht kehd.” With our itinerary jam-packed with activities that involved masks and social distancing, Paul managed to coordinate with one of my friends, Jonele, and plan a big surprise. On Sunday, August 23, Paul woke me up with excitement, suggested a certain outfit and to make sure my hair and makeup looked better than usual. (According to him, I could wear a garbage bag on the big day and he'll still say "I do") We made a pit stop at my favorite coffee shop on the South Shore (Mary-Lous) before picking up Jonele and her husband Anthony for what I thought was brunch, and as we drove past diner and restaurant after diner and restaurant, I got suspicious that something was going on. We arrived at Fort Phoenix state park and Jonele encouraged us to climb to the top of the rock formations. At the top, I turned and realized that Jonele and Anthony were still a ways down, but holding Paul’s phone out towards us, and I turned again and saw Paul down on one knee, holding a sparkly ring. I squealed with excitement as he asked me to marry him, but noticed that when he went to put the ring on, he had left the price tag on! (Honest mistake! I consider the moment PRICELESS though!) He quickly removed the tag then quickly put it on my finger. The best surprise of my life!