Have you ever crossed paths with someone and knew you couldn't let that moment pass you by? Well, that's where our story begins... I saw this handsome man carrying his guitar into the bar I was leaving. I yelled out of the car to him and said "Hey, you're cute!!" as loud as I could to which he responds, "Thanks! My name is CJ." And we went our separate ways. I couldn't allow this to happen, so I messaged a friend that was still inside the bar to find this mystery man CJ and give him my number. We had a few dates together, but the universe had other plans in mind, and we went our separate ways for the 2nd time. Until one day, mutual friends convinced us both to go to a Breaking Benjamin concert where our love story truly begins. We spent all our days together, sneaking kisses at the studio and making memories until Feb 24th, 2023, CJ finally asked me to be his girlfriend. In that first year we went to Rockville and made more memories traveling to different states and overcoming life obstacles. We moved in together weeks before out 1st anniversary. But boy was that 2nd anniversary weekend one for the books! <3

I [CJ] had everything planned. The date, the time, the location, and even how to get all our families there without Meghan knowing. After a few scheduling tweaks, it all worked out. The day of the proposal Feb 22nd, 2025, I woke up confident-everything was set...or so I thought. I told Meghan I had something I needed to take care of and headed out for a "secret" two-hour mission to pick up my kids while she got ready for our anniversary weekend date. On my way to get the kids, I drove past the dock where I planned to propose- and my heart sank. A full construction crew was tearing it apart. Immediate panic. I rushed to contact everything and redirect them to my backup location. Once everyone was updated, I headed back to start our date day with Meghan. When Meghan got in the car, she immediately questioned why the sun visor was down on the passenger side and why Kara's song was playing on the radio. I played it cool, claiming Kara had sent it to me to listen to and the visor was me, thankfully this didn't spoil the surprise! Meanwhile, I was trying to hide the ring in my sea when Meghan's hand brushed my leg at the worst possible moment. I quickly shoved the box under my seat belt, to which her response was, " Why are you acting weird" and all I could say was, "Why are you acting weird?" We spent the afternoon wandering through an art festival downtown, laughing at some of the prices and talking about how her art deserved to be there. The day was perfect, but as the proposal time got closer, my nerves grew. Our last stop was a botanical garden--we arrived a little too early, so we walked around to explore the beauty of nature. It just so happened that they were hosting a wedding that same day. As guests were walking up, Meghan says, "I don't know any of these people" to which I reply, " I haven't even proposed to you yet [lol]". Still buying time, I suggested we walk the gardens again. By now, Meghan was getting suspicious. I coughed into my jacket and Meghan jumped peering into the bushes expecting people to jump out. I teased her, pretending to not know why she was so jumpy. I told her it was time to go, but once we got to the truck we waited [not so patiently] to ensure everyone was in place. When we finally arrive to the proposal spot, Meghan immediately spots her brother. "Why is Aaron here? ...is that Alessia? AM I GONNA CRY?!" As we approached and saw her family, my family, her best friend all gathered together, we stopped as they formed a circle around us. Just as I was about to start speaking, an ice cream truck pulls up and blasted music at full volume, I stalled, waiting for it to leave- but it didn't. So, I raised by voice over the music and began. Got down on one knee and asked the love of my life to be my wife. She said YES with shaking hands and reminded me " you can put it on my finger now!!" Afterward, we all went out for a proposal dinner, and from that moment on, everything has been better than we ever imagined.