We met online, back when MySpace was still the social media of choice. Both of us had free profiles set up on a dating website called, Zoosk (affiliated with Facebook), but neither one of us were willing to pay the fee to actually talk to anyone. Michael proceeded to track me down on MySpace, after seeing my profile on Zoosk. I decided that anyone that went to the trouble of hunting me down twice was either a weirdo or worth at least one date. I decided on the date.

The first weekend in June, I took that Friday off work to spectate at a powerlifting meet. The week before the meet, Michael had asked me if I'd like to go to Wisconsin and check out a jewelery store we had discovered online. I told him no without hesitation. Two days before the meet, I changed my mind and told him I wanted to go. Michael himmed and hawed but finally agreed. When we got to Wisconsin, we decided to try and track down the jewelry store. We searched everywhere to no avail. Michael called the store and left a message asking for directions. The next day, we went to the Milwaukee County Zoo. Hours later, as we headed back to the car, Michael's cell rang. It was the jewelery store. They were so sorry but they no longer had a physical store location and only did online sales. I was devistated. I cried...a lot. Michael kept trying to reassure me and let me know that the point of the trip was not the store but the experience together...yeah, right. He finally convinced me to have dinner in Chicago and walk around Navy Pier. On our way to the ferris wheel, we were stopped by an Asian lady "selling" lifetime peace. Michael was suckered into paying $20 for our matching bead bracelets, and we couldn't stop laughing as we walked away from her. As we got to the ferris wheel, I noticed, what appeared to be, a couple and their two young children waiting in line before us. The attendant sent the couple into a lift by themselves and the children into their own. Sure enough, we were ushered into the same lift as the children! I tried making conversation with the kids but I'm sure they were warned about "stranger danger" and got mild responses from the boy about whether the Lions were better than the Bears. When we reached the top, Michael turned and said to me, "What if I told you I already had a ring?" I looked at him in shock and responded with, "What?" While he repeated the question, he pulled out a ring from his pocket and proposed. Obvi, I said yes.