Get Ready for the Best Day

Think Baywatch. Except replace the beach with Tallahassee's Trousdell Aquatic Center, and the cast with me (AnnaJane) and Mike... and the entire plot line from whatever happens in that movie to what actually happened with us. No, I have not seen the movie, but I assume it's about lifeguards, which is what brought us together on that gorgeous Saturday in April! I rotated him out of his last stand of the day and we struck up a friendly conversation. He later called his friend to say he had met the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. I told our manager I had a crush on him, and we started mysteriously getting scheduled for the same shifts. We picked up trash together (among other romantic things) and I could tell that he liked me because he wore cologne to work when most of us didn't even bother to put on deodorant. After being wooed by the way I taught swim lessons, he asked me on our first date! By the end of the Summer, we made it Facebook official, and I actually grew to like his cologne.

It was a military grade operation, really. He was about four months fresh out of Coast Guard boot camp and working in Portsmouth, Virginia on a ship called the Frank Drew. Unbeknownst to me, he flew into Tallahassee that Saturday morning, and texted me throughout the day as if it were a normal day at work. He even sent me pictures of himself on the ship to make it more convincing. While I was out car shopping with my dad, he spent the day with his best friend, Clark, and my sister, Teresa. After purchasing a new (old) car with my dad, I drove to my friend, Caroline's house (read more about these lovely people in wedding party tab). We caught up over tea (and wine) and she asked if I would go with her to cover a shift at the Blessed Sacrament adoration chapel, and of course I agreed. Once we were there, we prayed together and she left to "go to the bathroom" and in walks none other than love of my life, Mike Ulrich. He pulled out a chair and a bowl of water and washed my feet in front of Jesus, gave an eloquent speech, and then asked me to be his wife. I grabbed his face and told him yes like, three times. We haven't stopped partying since.

Mike is still working on the Frank Drew in Portsmouth and has recently been accepted into the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School with hopes of attending flight school after his commission. I moved here in June after graduating with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree at Florida State and obtaining my license as a Registered Nurse. I am now working at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, Virginia on an medical- surgical unit. COVID-19 threw us for a little bit of a loop but we are hoping the conditions allow for safe travel in November. Hope to see you there!