We're Getting Married!

This was apparently a long time coming in our future as every single life event needed to play itself out for us to meet. We matched on Bumble just a month after Mark moved to the area. Since Jen didn’t have the best track record on that dating site, she was quite skeptical about meeting for a date. We had many calls, texts, and FaceTime calls before that first date on February 10, 2022. Even after that date, Jen was still a little apprehensive but Mark was convinced we would see each other again and be dating in no time. Well right he was!!! And now here we are!

We had just celebrated our 2 year anniversary of our first date when Valentine’s Day approached. The plan for the evening was a complete surprise for me. You see, Mark can definitely plan things out to make you feel very special. We went to see the Bob Marley movie, One Love after we had exchanged our Valentine’s gifts. I was documenting bits of the evening not knowing there was truly a bigger reason to document this day in history. After the movie ended, Mark was in a hurry to get to the restaurant. I still didn’t know where we were going. I love surprises so having him plan everything is such a treat. I remember him telling me the restaurant wasn’t far from the theater so I couldn’t figure out why he was in such a rush but I went along with it. Of course we got to the restaurant too early for his liking so we drove around looking at all the houses in Clarendon Hills. There were lots of wrap around porches mixed in with brand new large homes on tiny lots. Remember, I still don’t know where we are going. Alas it’s time to drive to the restaurant. We park and start walking to the front of the building when I see the sign…we are eating at Greek restaurant! Woohooo!! He knows how much I love Greek food. If you’re curious, Thassos in Clarendon Hills is a must visit. Of course the place is decorated so nice for Valentine’s Day. The owner, Nick, leads us to our table and I see just how detailed Mark has been for this dinner. We have the ONLY table in the restaurant decked out with decorations and flowers. By now you are wondering if I had a clue of what was coming. NO! Doing things like this, going above and beyond, is just his thing. He did something similar for my birthday our first year of dating so I didn’t think anything of it. I do recall making a comment to him… “I shouldn’t have expected anything different from you.” THE ONLY TABLE WITH DECORATIONS! See the picture for reference. While Mark heads to the restroom, I take a look at the menu and salivate over every dish. I hear the lady at the table next to me tell her husband “She doesn’t even know.” So now I’m leaning a little toward their table to get the gossip…I didn’t know she was talking about me. Pretty soon, Mark is leaning over my shoulder pulling a heart-shaped box toward me and telling me to open it. Well for all you Grey’s Anatomy fans, I had a Meredith and Derek moment when I opened that box and there was a post-it inside asking to marry him!! When I turned around, he was down on one knee with the ring shining just waiting for my answer. After I said yes, the restaurant exploded into clapping and cheers for us. I am not the one for all that attention but Mark likes to do things big so attention it is. He also had my 2 college friends on stand-by…one on FaceTime watching the entire thing and the other was waiting for the thumbs up or down to find out my answer. He thinks of EVERYTHING!