Truth be told, it was due to an online dating site. Melanie's lovely friend Colleen set a fine example of meeting her husband on that very same one so clearly it's a successful strategy! Around early Nov. in 2014 Melanie saw a picture of a rather handsome guy who mentioned in his profile he worked for Airlink, so she thought " Hmm, I probably know this guy but he doesn't look familiar". So upon messaging him, Andy's good friend Kelly Larsen took a look and said "Ooooo I know that girl!" So with her vouching for both of us on either side we agreed to meet a local restaurant at Wrightsville Beach. Andy patiently waited while Melanie took 30 minutes to figure out which restaurant she was actually supposed to be at. Sven the new puppy was along for the date as well. We had a lovely lunch in the Nov. sunshine while Sven wrapped his leash around our chairs and the rest is history. We had the very good fortune to meet each other's parents within the first month of dating each other, thanks to the holiday season. We had originally thought to get married in October but it has ended up being November which is perfect since we met each other in early November exactly 3 years ago.

We zipped up to Melanie's parent's house in Mathews for the usual wonderful weekend on the water and time with family. Trevor, Traci and Gracen were there as an added treat and we had the full deck of our kids. We were in the process of leaving and posing for some family photos which the neighbor had gallantly agreed to take. We were done (I thought) when Andy said "Wait, wait! " and in front of the whole family and the neighbor he proposed with the most beautiful pipecleaner ring that he had nimbly fashioned himself that afternoon. It was a perfect moment!