Three time's a charm with us. We first met at the infamous Gasparilla parade. For those of you not familiar with Gasparilla, think Mardi Gras with pirates. In a sea of beads, pirates and cheap "spirits" - we bantered and exchanged an "arrghhh" or two that day, but didn't exchange numbers. For months, we asked around about each other and may have done a social media search or two. A fact Richie denies, but we all know the truth. Fast forward to Halloween, Angela ran into Richie at a party. He was dressed up as Urkel and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Angela walk in as a Pinterest board. As he snapped his suspenders, he said "Gasaparilla girl?" They hung out the whole night, but the Halloween ghouls weren't on their side. Angela rushed off to pickup friends from the airport without getting Richie's number, but she knew she would run into him again. Lo and behold, on Thanksgiving the stars finally aligned and the rest is history.

Richie popped the question on New Year's Eve. The date has always been special to the couple and he wanted to propose in an unforgettable way. He decided to take Angela to Bayshore Blvd to ring in the New Year by watching fireworks. His plans were going semi smoothly until the walk from downtown was a bit much in heels - Richie had already coaxed Angela into getting out of the house that day and couldn’t bear another hiccup! As they got closer to stopping, Angela was relieved to relax, but Richie had other plans in mind. He had brought a bouquet of roses to throw out into the bay to commemorate their families, friends and the recent passing of his beloved Mom. As Richie released the last rose into the bay, Angela noticed a duck all by itself which was very unusual especially at night. At that moment, Richie knew it was a sign his mother was watching over them and was there to witness the special moment. Richie got down on one knee and asked Angela to marry him. With her big eyes, she said that magical word, “Yes!”