- Megan - I was told about Zachary through one of my co-workers. Her husband worked with Zach at Gates Resale. She thought we would fit well together. She wanted to take us both to lunch one day to get the ball rolling. I thought that would be a little too awkward for a "first date." I convinced Steve to come with me to do some recon on this guy. Once we got there, we wandered around for a little and I tried to figure out which one was Zach. Steve and I bought a couple things and checked out and I remember thinking that the guy at the counter was really staring at me, couldn't even look at Steve while he was paying for what we bought. After we left, I found out that the guy checking us out at the counter was in fact Zach. I went back in a few days later to ask if he would like to skip the awkward lunch and just go out on a date. If you ask Zach it goes a little differently... - Zachary - The story of the first time Megan and I met is a story of extreme youth, unabashed attraction, and sheer dumb luck. Megan was sent into my work in a very roundabout way by my ex-coworkers wife, who happened to work with Megan. His wife is matchmaker type and said that a young man at Gates Resale would be a good person for her to check out. She comes into my store with her stepdad Steve; I am acting like a total idiot, completely unable to keep my composure. Flubbing over my words, without the ability to keep from staring at the best looking redhead I had ever seen in real life. I finish up my purchase with Megan and Steve and they leave the store. They get into probably the nicest car I have ever seen in my life, a cherry red Maserati, and ride off into the sunset. I thought I was never going to see her again, not knowing that this was a setup from the beginning. Well Megan ends up coming back into the store all dressed up, I ended up asking her out and the rest is history.

Zach made a weekend of it, and it felt like some kind of magical experience a la Cinderella. We went to West Sonoma County to a little town called Monte Rio and found a really quaint Bed & Breakfast right on the Russian River. There had a balcony overlooking the slow green river and there was a beautiful outdoor area with seating right on the river. We found some delicious restaurants which happen to dot all through these quiet forest towns, including fun dishes like grilled octopus and curried chicken sandwich. Adventure was had when we embarked on a zip-lining tour through the redwoods reaching heights of 200 feet in the air and speeds of 40 miles an hour; the experience is highly recommended. The last day of our trip we kept it leisurely and went to the Armstrong Redwoods State Nature Preserve and went hiking through old growth forest. We may have gotten ourselves lost down stream without a paddle but we had a great time nonetheless. We stopped at a secluded little waterfall that ran into a little emerald pool and sat on some logs. Zach reached into his backpack and told me he had been a slightly untruthful about the rattling going on in his backpack throughout the hike, he told me what a beautiful person I am and how it would make him the happiest man alive if I would be his wife. Then he pulled out a perfect engagement ring, and popped the question. He also packed some champagne in his backpack, so we popped some bubbly and toasted our new engagement.