Sparks will fly on the 4th of July!

We met in Findlay, Ohio, while Mike was coaching football and Katie was finishing her graduate degree. We met online and Mike made the first move! Our first attempt at a first date was cancelled by Katie (oops!) due to her busy schedule! Luckily though, Mike gave her a second chance and our second attempt at a first date was at Findlay Brewing Company.

Mike knew early on in our relationship (like in the first week!) that he was going to marry Katie. And what better time to propose than over the holidays right? Well, easier said than done. Mike had the perfect ring picked out, but before he could buy it, it was sold out. So he ordered a credit card so he could get a ring faster and picked out his 2nd choice ring. The card took almost 3 weeks to be delivered and Mike was only a little stressed;) by the time the card came, the second ring was no longer on sale (more stress!). BUT, the first ring had come back in stock! Such a God thing! So Mike ordered the ring, and it was delivered to his parents house in Florida while Mike was picking Katie up at the airport! He proposed 3 days later.

Mike told Katie that on one day of her trip, he wanted to see the sunrise on the east coast of Florida, then drive to the west coast to see the sunset. So we woke up early, and Katie had to drag Mike out of bed, to watch the beautiful sunrise. After a nap, we drove to Bonita Springs on the Gulf coast. We found a secluded spot on the beach and set up our chairs. Mike kept saying he wanted to find the perfect seashell walked around for a while on the beach. Then he said it was Katie's turn to look, but Katie said she just wanted to sit for a while. (Mike really just wanted her to get up so she didn't see him get the ring out of the bag). Finally Katie decided to go look for shells, and Mike promptly followed. We walked for a bit, and then Katie heard Mike say from behind her, "Hey I found the perfect shell, look at this one." Katie turned to find Mike down on one knee with the perfect ring in his hands. Mike planned to say more, but he was so nervous he could only say, "Will you marry me?" Katie was very surprised and of course said yes. We watched the sunset as an engaged couple and couldn't stop smiling the whole night!