Let's Celebrate!

It was "Christmas in July" 2014 when I first noticed Andrew standing across the patio at a downtown Toledo Irish pub. At first, I thought he was someone else I knew that decided to put some fake glasses on for the night and pretend to be hipster. Fast forward about an hour and I was proven wrong when Andrew, in prescription hipster glasses, swooped in to save my friend Kim and I from an awkward situation with his intern. It was that moment, and a bit of Café Patron, that turned what was supposed to be an early night, into an evening of awkward dance moves at Ye Olde Cock 'n Bull tavern. When Kim and I called it a night Andrew, being the true gentleman that he is, asked me out on a proper first date. We certainly don't have a story found in fairytales but our quirky courtship has led us to a wonderful life together that we could have never imagined that fateful day in July!

Living halfway across the world from your girlfriend, and maintaining that relationship for two years, is perhaps the truest test for knowing whether or not your love for each other is real. Living that far apart also makes the opportunities for making a marriage proposal truly surprising that much more difficult. Flying back to the US from London only happened for me about once every three to six months, so the day had to be under the cover of something fairly routine, but special enough to do something out of the ordinary. That takes us to Labor Day weekend 2016. The location was Saugatuck, Michigan on a sun-soaked Saturday. The love boat in question was a modest aluminum pontoon, rented for a pressure-packed four hours in which to muster the courage to take the plunge, no pun intended. My courage was fueled by a combination of a fine Sauvignon Blanc and some delicious Michigan micro brews. As we rounded hour three - having spent our earlier hours cruising from the dock, out to Lake Michigan, sunning on the beach and then back into Kalamazoo Lake - the clock was ticking on the proposal, but also on my ability to hold my bladder. Oddly enough this became the opportune time to pop the big question. So, coincidentally during “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd - I reached into my backpack and pulled out a ring that could have afforded me a much nicer pontoon boat, hid it down by my feet and asked my beautiful fiancée-to-be to take the wheel, as I needed to take a dip in the lake. As she slid into the captain’s chair, I got down on the one knee and asked this amazing woman to be my wife. Her answer was an emphatic “yes,” overlooking the unique circumstances of my proposal and loving me, most certainly, unconditionally.

We've allowed you to skip the boring part! Okay, it's actually for selfish reasons. In order to accommodate someone's (Melanie's) PDA-phobia, we are having a small, short & sweet ceremony in Saugatuck, MI, where we were engaged. We will spend the day with immediate family as we make this thing official. Don't worry, there will be pictures. Then, you all get to meet us in Madison, WI for the party of a lifetime, and we can't wait!