We're getting married!

It was Halloween night our Junior year of college, at Haris’ Palisades penthouse. Ylli was creatively dressed as himself for Halloween, while Lindsay put together a last minute costume dressed as a Hula girl. A few mutual friends organized the night and introduced Lindsay and Ylli initially. Lindsay didn’t think anything of it. Little did she know, Ylli was trying to work up the courage to talk to her and get her attention. As the night carried on, Lindsay was talking to Ylli’s friends, getting a kick out of their Albanian accents. Ylli went to join in on the conversation, trying to make his first impression, while Lindsay cluelessly walked away. The conversations continued as the alcohol depleted. The ladies were about to leave and making their rounds of “good-bye’s”. This was Ylli’s final shot before she walked out the door for good. He took a few deep breaths; the seconds were ticking by. Lindsay said goodbye to just about everyone else, and Ylli thought, “I’m next”. But Lindsay was headed right towards the door. Ylli was not set up for success, standing across the beer-pong table, out of sight. He looked straight at her from across the room, smiling from ear to ear, and said “It was nice to meet you”. Lindsay looked back, seeing the twinkle in his eyes and thought, “Wow, that guy’s pretty cute”. The second she was out the door, Ylli went straight to their mutual friend, Annie, and said, “Hook me up with your friend”. The next day, Lindsay woke up to a Facebook friend request from Ylli, followed by a Facebook message saying “Hey, thanks for the add”. He had such a way with words. And the rest was history.

Lindsay and Ylli moved to Chicago in 2016. They have loved getting to know the big city. Ylli has been advancing his career as an Underwriter, while Lindsay got her second degree and is now a Registered Nurse. They had their first child, otherwise known as their fur baby Yanni, in 2018. He brings them so much joy, laughter and a little bit of stress each day. They have made a lot of new lifelong friends here in Chicago.

For any of you who know Lindsay well, she absolutely loves to ice skate. On a random Tuesday, Ylli proposed the idea to go to the Maggie Daley Park and skate at their favorite outdoor spot. Ylli told Lindsay that his coworkers would be meeting them there. When Lindsay arrived, Ylli was already there waiting. Ylli said his coworkers were "running a little late", so they started skating without them. After skating for a while, they were told that the Zamboni was coming on and they could skate just one more lap. While Lindsay was rushing to finish the final lap, Ylli was trying to slow her down. Little did she know, Ylli had gone to Maggie Daley Park the night before and planned out a way to be the only ones on the ice during this time. At this point, Ylli was trying to keep up with Lindsay and keep his cool. He finally got her to slow down and stop. Lindsay knew something was up. Ylli nervously told Lindsay how much he loved her, and got down on one knee. Luckily, their friend Cameron, was hiding in the bushes and captured the moment perfectly. The final surprise was meeting all their closest friends at a nearby bar. They had champagne and balloons waiting for them to celebrate the night away.