Neither of us are very outgoing people. So naturally we were on the water polo team at CWU for a whole year and never had a single conversation. Then in 2013, halfway through our second year at CWU, there was a pajama party. We talked all night and started our (still ongoing) reign as beer pong champs. The next week was Valentine’s Day and a mutual friend had a “singles awareness” party. The conversation and flirting continued there and when Will drove me home at the end of the night we had our first kiss.

That morning, before we left the hotel I could hear him rummaging through the safe where we had been keeping the ring. As I exited the bathroom I noticed the open safe and the ring box still sitting inside. Will proceeded to quickly close the safe. The anticipation was killing me! Even though I knew it was coming by the end of our trip I couldn’t take the waiting. We spent the day traveling through Cinque Terre which is five fishing villages along the NW coast of Italy. In the fourth village, Vernazza, we found a private little patio on the side of a church where we sat and stared out at the sea. As we were taking in the view he popped the question. It was perfect. I found out later that the box I had seen earlier in the safe was not the actual ring box and was in fact a decoy meant to throw me off. Well played.