Sometimes you find love when you least expect it, I know we sure did! Let's set the stage for you. The year was 2012 and it was a beautiful and brisk fall afternoon. The environment couldn't have been more romantic, LED lighting, tables everywhere, the slight sense of impending doom- it was the club fair in the UMass Lowell college rec center. Rewind to a couple days prior. Cj was enjoying one (or four) of his favorite drinks at the time, Bunkerhill Blueberry, with a couple of friends at a local brewpub when a question piqued his interest, "So, I have a cute athletic roommate. Would you be interested in meeting her?" Can you believe this question intrigued him enough to stop drinking his delicious beverage? Marissa was in her dorm room talking about relationships and love with her roommate she began talking about a friend she had, "So he is athletic. We played intramural soccer together and he does ultimate. Would you want to meet him?" At the rec center, Marissa was busy signing people up for her clubs while Cj just finished his shift for the Ultimate Club and was talking with his friends. Marissa spots her roommate and runs over to say hi. Her roommate introduces all of her friends, including Cj. Marissa gets nervous, blurts out something about signing a lot of people for her club and runs away. He saw a blonde blur; she saw a nice smile. Neither said hello to each other. A few hours later, Marissa and her suite mates were walking back to their dorm when her roommate asks her what she thought about Cj. Marissa told her she thought he was really cute and, in that moment, Cj texts her roommate saying he thought Marissa was really cute. Just like that, our story began.

After almost 8 years of dating, 6 years of living together and 1 beautiful fur baby, Cj decided Marissa was here to stay. Cj began designing the perfect ring for Marissa in June and with the help of her friends Sarah and Steph, was able to purchase a ring he knew Marissa would love. After sharing the exciting news with his family, and asking the entire Siraco household for permission (not intimidating at all) he began planning out his perfect proposal. On September 10th, 2020 Cj and Marissa drove to the white mountains for a weekend of hiking and camping with two great friends. Before arriving at the camp ground, they decided to stop at Crawford State Park and hike up to the Frankenstein Cliffs. Cj began to run up the mountain with Marissa trailing behind, trying to admire the beauty around them as they went. As they got closer to the top of the mountain, Cj got quiet and Marissa became a bit tired. However, the beautiful view at the top of the mountain was worth the hike and luckily, they had the mountain all to themselves. Cj told Marissa to look out off of a cliff at their campground below but she was having difficulty finding it. When she turned around, Cj was on his knee with a beautiful ring and even more beautiful proposal. Of course, she said yes!