Brian's Aunt Tammy told me to friend request her nephew, Brian, on Facebook because she noticed we had a few things in common, so I did. Three days later, he asked me if I would like to go for coffee somewhere. He told me some of his favorite places, and due to time constraints of moving apartments that morning, we decided to meet at Cafe Florentine at 3 pm. Later on, he told me that the only reason he chose that café was the free charging nearby for his goofy electric car he nicknamed "Baloo." True to form, I showed up a couple of minutes late and went right to the counter to order coffee. This strange man with wild hair and a mountain beard walked up to me and introduced himself as Brian (I do love a good beard.) We shared coffee, and a few minutes later, I got the "are you ok?" (911) text from one of my friends. But when I looked at my phone, it was 5 O'clock! When I used the restroom a few minutes later again, I noticed it was 2 hours later. After returning to the table, I told Brian I was hungry and asked if he would like to continue our conversation or go our separate ways. Either way, I was hungry. Brian agreed to dinner, and we started listing off places we could go. I looked him square in the eyes and said, "I. Need. Sustenance!" He picked Red Samurai because he had never been there before. It turns out we closed down the place and ended up with a 7-hour first date. In the end, Brian asked if we could see each other again before his departure on his road trip across the United States, and I agreed. We had our next date at Wanna Play Café (permanently closed) in North Utica three days later. Closing down that restaurant once again, we continued to talk in the parking lot for 45mins in 30-degree weather. And the rest was history.

Brian and I love going on adventures together so we decided to go for a hike. We drove to Panther Mountain and started on the hike. As we were walking to the start of the trail I caught my foot on a root and fell with both knees on a rock. I got up and we started on the hike. When we got to the top of the mountain the view was beautiful and he stood behind me. Brian asked me if I was ready? When I turned around and asked “for what?” He held up the ring box and said “this!” Brian started “after our first date I knew a woman like you doesn’t come along every dynasty” affer some more sweet words Brian got down on one knee and said “will you marry me?” Of course I said “yes!” Then we hiked down the mountain.