We're Getting Married!

I (Anthony) moved to Savannah in May of 2018, and since I didn't know anyone, I went to a young adults event through church, where I saw Ashley for the first time in passing. I remember thinking, "huh...she seems like a really cool person! Maybe I'll see her around at some point!" As it turns out, we ended up in the same community group together, and over the course of about a year we got to know each other through those group meetings, game nights, "fancy dinners", a Lindsay Stirling concert, hockey tournament, and more. Looking back on all those events, we laugh at how both of us had developed an interest. On March 24th, 2019 I was sitting in church thinking, "did I really just say that?" You see, all our friends had already seen Captain Marvel, and it was referenced during the sermon. Still jealous, I said, "I still need to see that..." to which Ashley replied, "me too!" What slipped out of my mouth next was, "well we should go see it!" What was I thinking!? What if she said no? As I've already mentioned, there had been signs along the way that kept pointing me towards Ashley, but I was still nervous! Well, to my surprise, she said yes! Now, I was in the middle of a powerplant maintenance outage and it just so happened to be my first day off in about a month. It also just so happened that all of our friends were either out of town or busy. My original plan was to walk around downtown Savannah to enjoy the rest of the day (up until the movie of course), but since it was my only day off, Ashley offered to hang out downtown too. That started what we affectionately call "Accidental Date Day", where we ended up spontaneously walking through all the squares downtown, picked up some macarons, tried a new coffee shop, and then of course, went to the movie. Not wanting the day to end, I even invited her to dinner at my house later that evening! That day started a series of dates, dinners, laughs, stories, and jokes that led us to now, and we know it was no accident.

Anthony doesn't do anything less than 100%, which includes how he proposed. Back in February, I (Ashley) had no idea a complex plan was in the works. Our friend Abby asked if we would be interested in going Madeira tasting with her and her husband Janek. I felt like I convinced Anthony that we should go and then it turned into a date night for me/Anthony, Abby/Janek, and our friends Randy/Hilary. We arrived at the Savannah Davenport House Museum and went on a fun historical tour and tasted some Madeira wine. At the end of the tour, Anthony was poking around the back door and opened it. He looked at me and said "We should go check this out." I said, "Um. No that's not on this tour. We are supposed to go downstairs and leave!". He said, "uh, well, we really should just do it," and he grabbed my hand and led me out the door. At that point, I saw Christmas lights on a beautiful porch and stairs that led to the private garden of the old house. I knew what this was and I was so excited. Anthony set up a cute momento table representing us so far: Lake Powell, NY Mission Trip, Coffee, Macarons, Posters, Pictures, and more. A note on the Ace of Hearts pointed me to the arbor at the back of the garden lit up with more Christmas lights. In the arbor was the "Proposal Jar" with a scroll in it. Reading through the letter was overwhelming for me. I was (and still am) thankful God blessed me with a passionate, loving, devoted man. When I finished the letter, Anthony was down on one knee and asked if I would marry him and of course my answer was yes! I didn't think the night could get any better, but it did. Back at the house, Anthony arranged for an entire Engagement party that included our close SAV friends, his parents, grandparents, and even my parents! Everyone got to see the joyful waterworks from me. Which you guys will probably get to see again on November 7th. Each detail in the proposal was significant to us, so if you want more details we can tell you later!