It was a typical summer Saturday - day spent poolside with girlfriends and night filled with delicious food, drinks, and live music; however, the night part ALMOST didn't happen. 8+ hours of soaking in the sun and brutal Georgia heat made our group of 5 dwindle down to 2. At this point, I, too, was ready to throw in the towel and call it a night. Thankfully, my friend Hillary convinced me otherwise. The Uber dropped us off at Mac McGee's in downtown Roswell. After an enormous cheeseburger, some drinks, and live entertainment, I was back to my normal self. Just before midnight, we told ourselves, "this is the last song," and were getting ready to order a ride home when we ran into Colleen, a co-worker and long-time friend. She had just left a nearby wedding venue with the wedding party. We decided to stay just a little while longer… As I was chatting with a high school friend, Brittany, who was also at the wedding, a SUPER handsome guy looking dapper in his pristine tux sat down beside her and conspicuously (or so he thought...) started nudging her, as if he was trying to tell her something without actually telling her anything. Eventually, she swapped places with him in the booth and he introduced himself as Derek. A few hours of incredible conversation distracted me from the fact that it was after 2:00 AM and Mac McGee's had stayed open long past closing. Eventually, we said our "see you laters," as we made plans to see each other the following day. I went home absolutely giddy that night, knowing that my life had been forever changed.

I haven't read Bianca's version yet, but I am sure it will be much more interesting and much longer than mine. For starters, I am a terrible writer...I went to school for math, not for my writing skills. Also, the night we met, Bianca was the DD for her friend, and I was coming fresh off my groomsmen's, Mark's, wedding - a wedding that served lots of champagne (you get the picture). Anyways, after Mark and Lexi's wedding, a group of us staggered to a local bar by the venue. I got to the upstairs bar and did a quick scan of the room and immediately noticed a very attractive girl sitting in the corner of a booth. My first thought was, "Wow, who is that girl? I hope she is here by herself." I then noticed one of my friends sitting next to her, excited that I now had an in. While I was trying to figure out my approach, "apparently" my friend (and groomsmen) Franco told me I could "talk to anybody in this room except for that girl," to which he allegedly pointed to the same girl in the corner booth. Did I hear him? Maybe. Did I listen? Nope. As Franco went to the bar to get drinks, I quickly made my move. I went over and sat next to my friend, who in that moment was the gateway to meeting this girl, and as it turns out, they were mutual friends. I gave my friend a nudge, and I can't remember exactly what I said (the champagne...remember?), but it was probably something along the lines of, "Hey...who's that girl? Mind if we switch spots?" She happily switched with me (thank you, Brittany). I introduced myself, to which she replied with, “Hi! I’m Bianca.” We immediately hit it off and talked all night until the bar closed. We even went on a date the very next day, and well, I guess the rest is history.

It was the first day of summer break after a very busy school year, and I couldn't wait for the special date Derek had planned for us to kick off the start to my vacation. He always has surprise dates up his sleeve (I know, I am a very lucky gal!), so at the time, I hadn't suspected anything. After much suspense, Derek told me we were going mining in a quarry! As most of you know, I love gems/natural stones, so this was the PERFECT date. He had already stopped at Home Depot and purchased all the necessities - pickaxes, hammers, shovels, gloves, and more. We were ready to go! That morning, woke up early, loaded the car with all our supplies, grabbed breakfast from Chick-fil-A (essential for a road trip) and drove a couple hours to the border of South Carolina and Georgia. Upon arrival, we set up shop on the amethyst hill - ready to find my favorite stone. After digging belly-down in the dirt for several hours, we had plenty of awesome gems to take home with us. We didn't stop there, though. We decided to move to another hill to see what else we could find. Before getting started in our new spot, I ran to the restroom (which actually happened to be out of order, so the time Derek had to himself was extremely brief). When I got back, he turned to me with his hands clasped shut in front of him and said, "Look, I found a diamond while you were gone!" Still processing what I just heard, I quickly made my way over to him and my jaw dropped as his hands slowly opened. He was holding the most beautiful diamond ring! He got down on one knee and said lots of sweet things (that I only half-heard due to the shock and pure joy/excitement). With tears in my eyes, I got down to give him a huge hug. Then he said something along the lines of, "So, is that a 'yes?'" I was in such awe that I didn't give him an answer, but to me, the answer was obvious. "OF COURSE I WILL MARRY YOU!" I exclaimed. We are excited to make visiting Diamond Hill Mine a tradition in remembrance of our special day for years to come.