Let's get this party started!!!

Dave and Cari met in high school in, what was remembered to be, their 9th grade Spanish class. Over those four years, they became really good friends as they had a lot of mutual friends. They used to do everything together as friends. They would play street hockey after school on the tennis courts down in Summerville, go to IHS hockey games, go to school dances, and party (or as they told her parents "watching movies" all night), all while trying not to cause or get into too much trouble. Cari always had a crush on Dave, but they always seemed to be not only on different pages, but in two very different books. After high school, they both went their separate ways. Cari went off to SUNY Oswego for what would be about 6 years of education, and Dave stayed in Rochester to attend MCC and to enter the work force. With a random "happy birthday" text, or a "hey, how have you been?" they tried to stay in touch...

...The space they had away from one another was a God's send though. Over those years apart, they grew to know who truly they are as people and they grew to understand what they truly wanted in life. In December of 2014, shortly before Christmas, they went out for drinks at Richmond's to celebrate one of their friend's birthdays. Dave and Cari instantly started talking and catching up about life and all the things that had changed since they had last seen each other. While talking, Dave asked Cari if she would like to go to a wedding with him. She said, "sure," thinking the wedding had to have been right around the corner, and he needed a last minute date. When she asked him when it was, he responded, "May." She was taken aback because he was asking her to a wedding so far in advance. After she said "yes" to being his date to this wedding, he asked if she "wanted to hang out sometime." Thinking back to their many times over the years of hanging out, she said "yes." Dave texted her the next day to see if she wanted to go see a movie. (Dave and Cari had gone to see a few movies in high school together, including King Kong for one of their senior English class requirements.) She said that it sounded like a plan and asked if he wanted her to meet him there. He said he would pick her up, and her first thought was, "Cool, we are carpooling." Dave opened the door for her as they entered the movie theater, but again this was nothing new as he had always been a gentleman to her. When they got up to the ticket counter, Dave stepped up and offered to pay. It was at this point she was finally clued in that they were on their first official date. They've been together ever since! What a crazy, fun ride it has been so far!

Dave kept mentioning how he really wanted to go watch a sunrise for a couple weeks leading up to their vacation. While they were unpacking their bags in their room at the OBX house the first evening, they started talking about Dave's wanting to see a sunrise again. They checked to see when the sunrise was supposed to happen, and given it was anticipated to rise around 5:51AM, she suggested that they go on Saturday (the next morning) because they would have already been accustomed (kind of) to getting up early from the drive down and made the point that it may have been more of a feat later in the week if they got in the habit of sleeping in. The next morning, they got up, got ready, and got over to the beach and looking at the ocean by 5:45AM. What a sight! The sun wasn't even peaking over the water yet, but given the way the clouds were and based on how the sky was already lighting up, they knew it was going to be a beautiful sunrise. Jen, Dave's sister, and Jen's husband, Mike, shortly appeared on the beach access pier. Dave said they mentioned they also wanted to watch the sunrise. Cari asked why they didn't join us on the beach, and Dave said he thought they didn't want to get all sandy. Made sense to her. He started playing with and pointing out all the different crab holes in the sand. He kept talking about how the sunrise was late. Anyone who knows Dave, knows he gets fidgety and can't stand still for too long. She thought nothing of it. It was just past 5:55AM, when the sun started to rise. Dave wrapped his arm around Cari, and he started telling her how much he loved her and how lucky he was to have her in his life. Not unusual. Then he started to tell her how he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with her, "Which is why I have to ask you a question," down onto the knee he went, "Will you marry me?" She started to cry, "YES!" What a beautiful sunrise it was!