If you’d have asked us where we thought we’d eventually meet the love of our lives, there isn’t a chance either of us would have answered “a volleyball game at a local bar!” We were both asked to play on a co-ed volleyball team by friends (who happen to be husband and wife). My athleticism begins and ends with softball, so the initial message I typed was “thanks, but hell no.” But looking at this as a chance to get out of the house the next few Friday nights, I erased that and agreed! Eric agreed to play as well, and after a few weeks of getting to know each other, he asked me out on our first date. We dined at HuHot on Memorial Day where Eric accidently consumed too much hot sauce but tried to play it cool while sweating profusely. And the rest is history.

I (Eric) had a business trip coming up that would take me to Louisville, Kentucky, so I asked if Becky could come along. I had brought along the ring as I planned to possibly propose during our trip if the moment was right. After finishing my work responsibilities, we went out to lunch to plan the remainder of our trip. Our discussion took a crazy turn and suddenly we found ourselves stopping at the local animal shelter. At the shelter, we find this half dog, half wolf named Diamond and both agreed that we just had to have her. Because we weren’t able to pick her up at the shelter the next day, we had to quickly drive back to the hotel to pack up, then make the six-hour car ride back home with a puppy in Becky’s lap. As much as I loved this decision, it threw off my plans for proposing during our trip. I had to rethink my strategy and tried to think of another big plan, but ultimately, I knew that I just couldn’t wait anymore. That next Friday, I greeted Becky at the door after she got home from work and was anxious to know her response so I wasted no time getting down on my knee to propose. Her initial response was “wait…are you really doing this right now?” to which I responded “yes…shut up.” When she said she would marry me, I’ve never been happier in my life.