We’re getting married!

Daniel and I met when he showed up early (which I now know is a rare occurrence) to our friend Lauren’s birthday party that I was hosting. He brought White Claws, so I let him in, of course. Then he put salt and lime on the rim of the can, and I was like no thanks. I thought he was cute anyway, and we hit it off that night. His way of hitting on me was dancing and spinning me around until I was dizzy. We had been “talking” for a little bit when I told him I wanted to be friends because I wasn’t ready. This man came on strong! Well we ran into each other again, and it was clear we didn't want to be just friends. We had met in April, and Daniel left for deployment in July which was very hard for us. He told me he loved me on the Fourth of July as we sat in my driveway watching fireworks in the neighborhood. I coaxed it out of him because he had been beating around the bush saying "I love everything about you." I told him a couple days later... Even though the feelings were there, I wanted to play it safe and wait until he got home 6 months later for us to be “official.” We have gone through moving in together, getting our dog Winnie, the pandemic, and going through yet another 6 month deployment. Daniel proposed the day after my birthday at the Biltmore, and he was so nervous. It was the cutest thing ever. I was even more shocked when we got home and my friends and family surprised me. It truly was the best weekend ever. We can’t wait to get married and continue our lives together!

Anne Marie and I met on April 19, 2019. To this day, when anyone asks me how long we have been together, I start counting from that date. I asked her out that weekend and the following Monday we were out on our first dinner date. I was late to Tsunami, and she's never really forgiven me. We went out a couple more times before she told me that we would be better off as friends. About a month later, she asked me if I was going to Lauren's pool, and she told me she was going. I spent around 2 hours at the gym before I arrived with White Claws. I salted the rims to be fancy so she would think I was a well cultured man. We started talking again that day, and some time later in July, I got deployed to Qatar. Six months went by, and when I came back, Covid messed up our plans to travel. We spent the year staying in and getting to know each other. Pretty soon we moved in together, and in January 2020, I got deployed again to Kuwait. When I came back, I couldn't wait to propose and lock her down. I was going to do it in August when I got back, but she got a virus and rash from my travels and forbade me to take any pictures until she felt better so I ended up doing it in October. When the time came, we went to the Biltmore. We walked by the gardens, I propped my phone up "to take a picture", and as I was getting ready to get down on one knee, a random lady came by asking if she could hold the phone and messed with my flow. She held the phone up to take our picture; I quietly asked her to just keep recording. When I was about to pop the question, I got down on one knee and suddenly got amnesia and asthma at the same time. I had forgotten my whole speech and said, "I want you to... *inhales* Will you marry me?" She thought it was a joke. She said yes! I cant wait to marry her and be Mr. and Mrs. Lara with our fur baby Winnie.