The day we met was nothing short of God's plan. I am beyond thankful for His goodness and so honored to be on the receiving end of the gift He's given me in Jason. Jason and I met in April 2019 through an online dating app. I was already familiar with who Jason was because I had met his mom, Bonnie, at Mill City Church a year prior. Jason and I chatted online for a couple of weeks before he decided to ask me out. Our first date consisted of meeting up at the Sunset Lounge; a smaller, intimate bar inside of the Elizabeth Hotel, that provides a beautiful view of the mountains. I was waiting on the steps outside of the hotel for Jason to arrive, and as soon as he walked up, I knew I was in trouble. So handsome. We went inside, chatted over a drink, and then made our way to Jay's Bistro for dinner. We continued to get to know one another through sharing stories of our past, photos from our phones, and details about our jobs and hobbies. After dinner, we walked down to Tap & Handle to listen to some live music. We talked some more and all I knew at this point was that I wanted to see him again. When we left the pub, Jason asked if I wanted to go in to Ace Gillette's; an underground jazz bar. I replied, "Well, I'm not ready to go home." Now, keep in mind...it was almost 10:30 pm by this point. And for any of you who know me well, know that I prefer to be in bed around 8:30pm. Anyway, we went inside. Chatted. Listened to more live music. Jason finally walked me to my car (like the gentleman he truly is) around 12:00 am. We hugged and said goodnight. By the time I made it home, I had replayed the night at least 3 or 4 times. I was so excited to find a text message from Jason when I went to charge my phone for the night. As they say...the rest is history.

All throughout dating, Jindy gave me subtle hints like "I want to go to New York City so bad to see all of the Christmas lights." She even has a beautiful picture in her condo of a famous bridge in Central Park. So when I started to brainstorm about where and how to propose, there was only one clear option. We already had a busy Christmas lined up; flying out to California and Arizona to spend time with both of our families, but I knew adding in a few extra miles would be worth it... And it was. I told Jindy a week before our flights that we were going to NYC as her Christmas present by giving her a New York City themed coffee mug. We flew in on a Friday night and just had a quiet evening reminiscing over the last 8 months. Man, how time flies. The next morning, we grabbed some coffee and muffins before watching the Rockettes (which we highly recommend). Afterwards, we grabbed a quick lunch before walking over to Central Park, where I had scheduled a photographer to capture the moment on the same bridge from the picture in Jindy's condo. As we were strolling, I realized that we were about 10 minutes early and started to panic that the photographer wasn't going to be ready. I frantically looked around for someone wearing a "bull" hat (thinking Chicago Bulls) but instead found someone wearing a large fur hat with two bull horns sticking out the sides. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and chuckle a little at the sight of such a ridiculous hat. The photographer and I made eye contact and she signaled she was ready. With Jindy's back to me I got down on one knee. Jindy was looking over the side of the bridge at some ducks for what felt like an eternity, so I tapped her on the side to turn around. Her reaction was priceless; we were both overjoyed and as soon as I could get the words out of my mouth, the woman I love the most said "yes."