We're (FINALLY) GETTING MARRIED!

Caroline and I met using the online dating app, Hinge. Although we wouldn’t meet in person for another few days, we have always considered our official anniversary as being Monday, February 12, 2018 because that is the first day that we messaged each other on the app—and we’ve been talking all day every day since. I was at my office in downtown DC when I got the first notification of a message from Caroline Lindsay Bovair. She said, “I have a one eyed cat named Tobias”, which was in response to a picture on my profile of me dressed as Tobias Fünke from Arrested Development for Halloween. It was a cute thing for her to have noticed since the typical messages I’d gotten were asking for me to "tell a joke" since one of my photos was of me performing standup. Before I sent a message back, I took a look through her profile to see what she was like and I quickly realized that I had either found something extremely special and unique or this was someone trying to catfish me. Everything in her interests made me smile, like the pics of her doing improv or going out with friends. She even had a pic of her after running a half marathon and she looked so cute! I honestly couldn’t believe that this woman was even talking to me, so I got really nervous and did my best to play things cool in my messages back to her. The funniest part about our “how we met” story is the fact that I actually went on a date with somebody else that night, after having spent the entire day at work sending messages back-and-forth with Caroline. The date had already been scheduled and rescheduled a few times, so I felt bad about skipping or cancelling, but I spent the entire date buried in my phone sending and receiving cute messages from Caroline. I never did speak to the woman from that date after that evening, but I have a feeling that she could sense that my head and heart were just somewhere else during our date. Sorry Becky! (Her name really was Becky...)

Cameron and I had plans to go out on our first date, and he cancelled last minute. He said he wasn’t feeling well. I said okay, and we made plans for the following night. I was SO excited. It was February 20th and we had been texting constantly for 8 days straight. I was absolutely dying to go out with who I thought could be my person. Early that evening, he texted me again that he wasn’t feeling well and had to cancel. “HE HATES ME OMG,” I thought. Feeling rejected and like he actually didn’t want to see me, I messaged him. (this is a dramatization) Me: If you don’t want to hang out with me you can just tell me. Cameron: No! I really want to see you, but I don’t want to get you sick. Me: I don’t know… I think you just don’t want to hang out with me and you’re using this as an excuse. Cameron: Not true! And I do want to hang out with you. Let’s go, but I will be sneezing and coughing if thats okay. Me: Uh-huh, sure… We met at Bier Baron for an open-mic night. The first few comedians were cringey and rather than laughter, all anyone could hear was Cameron coughing and sneezing. I felt SO BAD! I believe I thought he didn't want to hang out with me. He clearly did. It was really sweet. The show ended and we stayed at Bier Baron until we were the only two left. We weren’t ready to say goodbye yet, so we went to Pizza Paradiso down the street to extend our date. It was too late to even order food, so we just ordered whatever we could as an excuse to have somewhere to sit together. Then Pizza Paradiso closed. So we went to the Big Hunt because we still weren’t ready to say goodbye yet. It was the middle of the winter, but we sat on the roof in the snow and talked for another hour. We almost kissed when Cameron reminded me he was sick and didn’t want to give it to me. I said I didn’t care about that and we kissed for the first time. 12 days later I was in the hospital for viral tonsilitis and severe strep throat. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Cameron and I formed a tradition in quarantine to do fancy dinner dates in the living room. We'd sit at the fancy table, light some candles, get dressed up, etc. Cameron would order from a nice restaurant and create a whole "vibe" for the evening complete with a themed drink, music from our "Vinyl Club," and old timey cartoons muted on the television to complete the vibe. Cameron had been acting odd on this particular day. He asked me if it was weird for him to "go for a drive." "No, not at all," I thought. He had barely left the house in months, so I could understand wanting to get out. The moment he left, I thought to myself "wait where the hell is he going? He's doing something. He's picking something up!" And then it hit me, he's getting an engagement ring! I knew it was top of mind for him, as I caught him shopping for rings one time in bed in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. Sure enough, Cameron returns about an hour later. As he walked in the door, I started looking at him, trying to see if I could see a little box in his pocket. However, Cameron hid it well. He brought in a bunch of supplies like toilet paper, paper towels, food, etc., that he told me he picked up from his parent's house. I thought "nice cover up, I know what you're doing!" And then he asked me if I wanted to do a dinner date that evening. Cut to dinner that night - Cameron was acting flustered. I had a feeling he was going to propose and that he was thinking about that more than the food, hence the dinner being served backwards - main course first, and then appetizers. It was cute! He was nervous! The dinner ended and I was still popping some olives into my mouth when he got up from the table and reached for something near the record table. "THIS IS IT! SWALLOW THE OLIVE IN YOUR MOUTH AND FOCUS CAROLINE," I thought. Then right then and there, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was such a special moment, even though I was onto him from the start!