We’re tying the knot!

Our story starts online - we wouldn’t have crossed paths otherwise due to the long distance between us. James and I had been using OkCupid and both of us sifted through scams and bots before we found each other. James actually reached out to me first with a very sweet, heartfelt message. I had been a bit skeptical at first and didn’t reply right away, but I’m so glad I did! After chatting through the app for a bit, we exchanged phone numbers and set up a day for our first date - July 31st, 2022. James had read through a lot of the questions I had filled out on the app (including the zombie apocalypse plan one!) and had noticed through the questions and conversations with me that I preferred tea instead of coffee. So, James made reservations for our first date at Serenity Tea in West Palm where we had a full-on high tea service with our own teapots and two towers of mini sandwiches and sweets. James even exploded a biscuit! He tried to open it to put butter in, but somehow, he managed to make it explode. Crumbs went everywhere and it made a huge mess. Both of us were cracking up and we haven’t stopped laughing since! After tea, we went axe throwing - something that we both find joy in doing and we wanted to do it together. We had an absolute blast there and afterwards, we kept finding ways to extend the first date into an entire day. We goofed off in Harmon Face Values and then almost got kicked out of a Barnes & Noble before closing the day (and the restaurant) at a Brass Ring Pub. We stood in the parking lot by our vehicles, tired from laughing and having fun but not wanting to say good-bye. We enjoyed each other’s company and had so much fun together we didn’t want the day to end. Luckily for both of us it didn’t. One year later from that day, James made plans to recreate our first date to celebrate our first anniversary. He made the reservations for both the tea house and axe throwing and had also been working on a “super-secret project” for months prior to our date. I would randomly ask him what it was or if I could help but he would just laugh and tell me to wait. I thought maybe he was getting me a hat. Turns out, it was not a hat. Our anniversary day came and we went to the tea house where we first met. We got there a little early so we meandered around for a little while, waiting for them to open. I was admiring a beautiful tree blooming in the courtyard and had turned around to call James over to see it. Instead, I found him on one knee in front of me. He pulled out a Pokeball with a heart shape on the front and inside it was a ring nestled safely in foam. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do or say. I started tearing up and one of the ladies from inside the tea house poked her head out to congratulate us - the employees had seen everything from the front windows. During our tea service I was so happy and teary eyed, especially when I noticed they had put us at the very table where we had our first date. It was all the same - except there were no exploding biscuits this time around. The rest of our anniversary celebration was amazing and ended with great friends, wonderful memories, lots of laughs, and a love that will last a lifetime.