We're Getting Married!

We were at a gathering on a cold December night a week before Christmas. Danny didn't want to be there so he wouldn't get out of the truck. Cue Best Man, encouraging Danny to join the party. As I sat there on a lawn chair with my red wool coat, diamond earrings and cute pigtails, I stared up at this grumpy guy unwrapping a bright yellow McDonalds wrapper huddled over the firepit. I never imagined that this rugged, independent, shy country boy from a small-town life in The Keys would wind up with this manicured, cotillion-taking, Chonga-hoop wearing, club-going city slicker from Miami. Fires would continue to bring us together, as the very next weekend we were at a bonfire in the woods in Florida City where the kids from The Keys would cross paths with those from Miami. I ran into Danny that Friday night, barely remembering him, and he asked me for my number. For the next two days we never stopped talking, and on that Sunday we each laid on our respective driveways at 4am watching an eclipse. As I lay there with pebbles under my back and pavement all around me, I could feel us staring up at the same sky at this beautiful phenomenon, and I knew I wanted to be with him. We begged our friends to drive us back and forth to see each other, and just two weeks after meeting, on January 8, 2011, Danny asked me to be his girlfriend, and then told me he loved me on the SAME day! How many girls can say that?! For the next year we would drive to and from Miami and Key Largo until I moved to The Keys. We rented a room together in 2011, then our first place in 2012, moved to Orlando from 2014 to 2017, and then finally settled on buying a home where our hearts truly lied...back by the water. Now having lived in Sarasota for over four years, we've built a home and opened a business together. After 11 years, 3 months, and 15 days of ups, downs, and adventures together, we can't wait to celebrate this joyous occasion with you that has been a long time coming!