Picture this... It's 2011 at Wallkill Senior High School in gym class. Two teenagers playing badminton in the same friend group, never speaking more than two words to each other - the ultimate love story. It was my junior year and his senior year. At the time we were both in different relationships paying no mind to one another. The summer following that year on my birthday, I received a Facebook message from Anthony wishing me a happy birthday and telling me how I made gym class "bearable" (remember we never spoke more than two words - real smooth). That Facebook message turned into one movie date, then two, then three, then 1.5 years of playing the "oh we're just friends" game. Until someone had caught feelings (me, I was someone) and had enough. Back and forth figuring out what we were doing, I decided that I didn't want to play this game anymore, leaving Anthony to think about what he wanted. Well, he finally came to his senses in 2013 at Gold's Gym on the stationary bike when he asked me to date to which I kindly responded "no". I'm sure you can guess how that turned out. Fast forward through 3 years of college, a fur baby, and eight years of dating - we are forever thankful to that high school gym class and can't wait to begin the next chapter of our crazy love story!

A romantic stay in Vermont. The crisp cool air howling through towering evergreens and the forest surrounding us wrapped in a veil of snowy silver-white. Sounds like the perfect proposal, right?! I thought so too. But as fate would have it, we would never make it there. #ThanksCOVID. I didn't know what to do after our Vermont trip was canceled. But I did know one thing, I 𝘩𝘢𝘥 to do it by Christmas. I mean we've been dating for 7 years prior to this! I'm not waiting for another opportunity to conveniently roll by. But how do I do it? I got it! I'll plan a trip up to Saratoga with our closest friends. I quickly scramble a group text to invite all of our friends to a little Christmas getaway. All of our friends are all geared up and ready to make this engagement happen, I have a plan in motion on how I'd like to propose; things are finally looking up, right?! The week of the engagement I get a text saying a majority of our friends have been exposed to COVID. Awesome. Plan B is done, kaput, it's over. Christmas Eve is in 4 days and I'm back at square one. Plan C: Kacie and I will just go ourselves and I'll do it then. I already have things booked and ready to go, screw it. But wait, there's more! Naturally, my Mother and Future Mother-In-Law tell me they would love to be there to experience it with Kacie. FINE! Plan D: I'm proposing on Christmas Eve, at my Future In-Laws' home. That's final. But how do I even make this special? Well the last time I bought Kacie a ring, it came with a promise. A promise that she will be mine and I will be hers. A symbol of commitment and fidelity. With that promise ring came a letter detailing how much she meant to me. I wrote another letter outlining our beginnings and how she had won my heart. A letter to follow up on the promise I had written years ago. Next, I painfully slammed my knee against the ground and asked the love of my life to marry me, and now we get to invite all of you to a big party to celebrate!