Everything You Need To Know!! And Some Extras…

We met in May 2015 at the Hershey Vineyards. This was an innocent meeting, as Jeff was dating Abby’s friend. When things did not work out, Jeff and Abby started talking and things ultimately progressed. Our first date is one that neither of us will ever forget. We planned to go to Irv’s Pub, now called Rotunda Brew Pub. The plan was for Jeff to pretend that he was Abby’s brother, as Abby was on several dates at this bar and the bartender was less than happy since he wanted to ask her out. The plan was to act like siblings, but also creep out the bartender by becoming progressively flirty (totally creepy!). As things sometimes do not work out, the bartender was not working that evening, and instead we had dinner and spent time getting to know one another. We both say that our relationship was so easy at the beginning and did not have the usual awkwardness because we really had no intentions to end up together - Jeff had been dating Abby’s friend, and Abby had a 3 year old son (Jeff was not initially thrilled about this). On July 4, 2015, Jeff was in Canada and Abby was at the beach when Jeff asked that we become exclusive. We spent the next few months traveling to PITT games, going to Air B&B’s along the way, cleaning out Jeff’s house and flower beds, and getting to know each other’s kids. Abby fell in love with Jeff the day he helped her move into her new townhouse. His ability to blend in with her family, and the impromptu meeting with her young son sealed the deal. Jeff fell in love with Abby when they were working to get his yard cleaned up and he realized just how seriously she took weeding flower beds. Filthy from head to toe, with a rash forming all over her arms, he realized that this was true love. We have been fortunate to have had many experiences together along the way. We have watched our children grow and enter new phases of their lives, we have gone on amazing trips, we have created countless memories, and we have overcome difficult times. We have done all of this together. We got engaged on March 6, 2023. Jeff had been thinking about ways to surprise Abby, but was having a difficult time. This is no surprise, as Abby is extremely hyper-vigilant. It had been a rough day for the couple related to their individual jobs. After working after-hours, Abby went and plopped down beside Jeff and said, “Let’s do something that would make us happy, like get engaged.” Abby, who was clearly joking, was quite shocked when Jeff looked at her and responded, “Do you want to get engaged?” After some “feeling each other out”, Abby realized that Jeff was serious. *Let us insert that both of us were wearing sweatpants, Abby had not showered that day, and her nails weren’t done. Jeff gets up and walks away and returned and got down on one knee and popped the question. To us, this was as much of a surprise as it could get. If Jeff told Abby to get dressed up, or said they were going away for a weekend, Abby would have known what was coming. Never in her dreams, however, did Abby think that Jeff was serious in that moment. It worked out perfectly and the surprise was amazing. Jeff was able to avoid the anxiety of pulling off some big surprise proposal, and Abby didn’t have to fret about what to wear!!