Our Adventure Begins!

After Erik spent many trips walking past Olivia's desk at Vanguard, hoping to spark a smile and too shy to take the leap to introduce himself, fate finally brought the two together when Olivia joined Erik's team at work. Spending more time at the office than not, they got to know each other well. Erik even managed to convince Olivia that he was qualified to tutor her in GMAT mathematics (he was not). After months of debating whether to remain simply cordial work friends, or to take their relationship to the next step, Erik finally built up the courage to ask her out on their first date. A little more than four years later, he asked the most important question of their relationship....

On a weekend getaway to celebrate Olivia's graduation from her MBA program, Erik and Olivia were excited to relax and unwind. Little did Olivia know, Erik had a surprise (or ten) in store for her. Filled with nerves, to say the least, Erik drove to what seemed like a normal lunch to start the weekend in Newport, RI. After lunch, Erik and Olivia headed to a nearby cliff to explore some natural beauty. Hidden in plain sight, a photographer stood in the distance to capture the moments to come. Erik began his well-rehearsed speech and started to talk about the time they first met. Olivia noticed something was awry and her suspicions forced Erik to quickly veer from the planned speech, drop to one knee, and ask his question with bated breath. After moments of total shock and awe, Olivia said "Yes!" Erik learned a life lesson that afternoon that he will take with him forever—things do not always go exactly as planned, but they work out exactly as they should.