we're getting married!!

We met through a dating website called Coffee Meets Bagel. September 1, 2018 was the day Neal reached out to Becca, the very first person he matched with. At that time, Becca was about to take a dating hiatus; she was going to talk to the people who already matched with her, but after that, no more dating for a while. Neal was Becca's last match. On September 16, 2018 Neal and Becca went on the last first date we would ever have. The date was a Sunday lunch at Marlow's Tavern. Becca was so nervous she had to sit on her hands to try and hide that they were shaking. After lunch, we ended up going to the mall nearby to get ice-cream and walked around in the mall for a couple of hours talking. We were even approached to buy a timeshare together - apparently we looked like an established couple already 😂. And that is the beginning of our love story. We didn't buy the timeshare.

Neal planned the proposal to be during a hike on the same trail he had asked Becca to go to India with him after we had only been dating for 3 months. That hike was one of the most pivotal points in our relationship, so it only seemed fitting to begin our next adventure on the same trail. Neal packed up the dogs and Becca put on a little bit of make-up, just in case. About halfway through the trail, Neal spotted a big rock and said we should stop to let the dogs rest. After tying up the dogs to a tree, we sat on the rock. Right as Neal was about to start the proposal, Rosie wanted to get on the rock so Neal grabbed her harness to help her up. Rosie chickened out and sat down halfway through the jump causing her to slip out of her harness. So, now we have an unleashed dog in the middle of the woods. Luckily, Neal was able to grab Rosie before she could run away and play her favorite game of Chase. We got Rosie situated again and then sat back on the rock. Neal started off by saying how we have even dating about 4 years and how special this trail was. With all the excitement, he forgot the rest of the proposal speech he planned. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked, "I wanted to see if you would marry me?" Meanwhile, Becca was freaking out (in a good way) and was asking herself "is he proposing? Oh my gosh, he IS proposing!! Is this really happening? Ahhhh 😆 he asked! Is this real???? wait... he needs an answer. oh my gosh is this happening??" After a few seconds Becca said, "yes?".... "wait, I didn't mean that as a question. Yes! Yes! Of course, yes!" And we were engaged.