It was the third time that my friend Joseph asked me to join him for a dinner party at a friends house. Finally, I agreed - I figured, what did I have to lose. Little did I know what I was going to gain. When I arrived at the apartment, there was someone else waiting there to be buzzed up. We were finally let in and walked upstairs as we tried to warm up. When I opened the door, there were a ton of people there that I didn't know. I walked towards the food, trying to survey the room to see if there were any faces that looked familiar. When I entered the main room, I was caught by a beautiful girl standing near the corner talking to someone. I made my way over and asked her name. "Andrea" she said. We talked for almost an hour before getting separated in the crowded apartment. As the party went on, I kept thinking about her. I tried to find Andrea again, but to no avail. Walking home in the snow that night, I thought I had missed my opportunity. A few days later, I received a message. It was Andrea. We went on our first date the next day.

We met in Chicago on a Friday night in November--the first snow of the season. After a few months of dating, Dan asked me to move to New England with him that August. Trusting both my heart and my head, I agreed! We settled in Quincy, MA, enjoying life on the bay--along with my cat, Arabella--for a year and upon Dan's new teaching opportunity, moved north of Boston to Nashua, New Hampshire. We’ve enjoyed various trips throughout New England--Burlington, VT; Bar Harbor, Maine; various places throughout Cape Cod; and Newport, RI to name a few! Dan opened up a whole new world for me and a love of all things New England. Also, we have encouraged each other's passions for international travel and have travelled to Montreal, QC; Paris, France and London, England! After 4 years together, job changes, 5 moves and many adventures, we look forward to continuing our journey as husband and wife. We've already made it through a huge milestone---purchasing our first home together! In addition to all of these highs we've also experienced some of life's tragedies as we unfortunately had to bury three of our grandmothers together. Being able to support each other through both the ups and the downs of life has deepened our love. We are so grateful for each other and for the love and support our families have showered us as we move forward towards marriage.

Waking up on September 29th, 2018, I knew it would be the most amazing day of my life. I had been planning for weeks. I had the perfect plan for the perfect engagement. Now, I thought to myself, if I could only trick Andrea into thinking it was just going to be a normal day. As we drove North, I kept waiting for the New England weather to rear its ugly head - but it never did. Something was in the air. We arrived at High Meadow Farm in Wolfboro with the sun still shining and as soon as Andrea saw the horses, the barn, and the beautiful property, her face lit up! Andrea and I had always talked about going horseback riding and it was at that moment that Andrea finally knew what we would be doing. But what she didn't know is that I had one more surprise up my sleeve. As we combed the horses and got our helmets on, I could barely contain myself. The ride was perfect and as we came to the end, I knew it was showtime. We approached High Meadow's "Magic Mailbox" and Andrea opened it to find a little box sitting there, waiting to be opened, and waiting to change both of our lives forever. As we sat high upon the horses, I couldn't have been any happier to ask the love of my life to spend the rest of her life with me. She said yes; and with tears in both of our eyes, we dismounted our horses to begin our lives together. September 29th, 2018 is a day I will never forget.

To be honest last summer I did what every girlfriend should NOT do and that is guess when her boyfriend will get down on one knee.. Dan and I love to plan and dream together and talked a lot about the topic of marriage before getting engaged. We both knew we'd love a fall wedding. This past summer, every trip we took together (to Paris, to Montreal, to Maine) in the back of my mind I thought, "Is it going to be now? Yet?" Looking back, I probably wasn't ready yet during the summer to take that step and start wedding planning, as it was a whirlwind of transitions, travel together and work as I was expanding my business and outgrowing our apartment into a warehouse. The summer came and went and I stopped thinking about "when" it would be and just enjoyed the start of Fall as our travels were done and back to our work schedules. Then one Saturday morning on September 29th, Dan asked me to be ready to spend a "day trip" together and that we were "driving north." I knew this meant a surprise and because the weather was perfect--sunny and 65 degrees--and he knew how much I loved horses yet we hadn't gone horseback riding yet, I had a feeling that that may be the activity and I was very excited because I LOVE horses. Needless to say, the day was perfect. And when I say perfect, I mean one of those days that will truly stand out in my memory forever. From driving up to the expansive rolling acres of horse farm, to experiencing the slow-paced life it brings, we were overcome with a sense of serenity. As Dan wrote above we went on a relaxing private trail ride--with Skittles and Kermit---with the owner of the horse farm and he proposed afterwards right there on the horses! The whole day was blissful! We then drove to downtown Wolfeboro and enjoyed walking along a dock on Lake Winnipesaukee as we called our parents to give them the good news. We ate dinner on the lake and toasted to the start of our new life together. Dan had planned the perfect day for us!