It's finally happening!

We met at work through a group of mutual co-workers and friends. After getting to know Christopher I decided he was such a great guy and would be the perfect date for my best friend, Val. I was working 60 hour weeks planning a huge company holiday party when I decided to play matchmaker setting up 3 of my single co-workers with 3 of my best friends. In the weeks leading up to the party I had gotten to know Chris fairly well so was shocked and frustrated when he decided at the very last minute that he didn’t want to bring a blind date to the party. As it would turn out in a bizarre twist of fate, my date was a total bust in the most dramatic fashion so I ended up flying solo to the party as well. While we didn’t necessarily go to the party as a pair, we did end up spending enough time together to know that it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship at the very least. We spent the next few weeks getting to know each other as friends because as co-workers, Chris was adamant to not “mix business with pleasure.” His words, not mine. After several weeks of resisting what was so naturally clear, Chris finally caved and admitted that our friendship was so much more than that, it was love. I, on the other hand, had been very aware of this fact very early on…it was on our second “official” date (we had hung out as friends on “non-dates” several times before) over sushi and wine where I was looking into his brown eyes and thought to myself, “this is the man I’m going to marry” and almost 5 years later, here we are!

Christopher managed to catch me totally off-guard, which is surprising considering I had been expecting a proposal for some time now (like for the past 2 years, lol). We were on our way to meet my family for dinner when we walked outside to get into the car and Chris said, "Let's have your Dad take a picture of us, the lighting is good right now." That should have been my first clue that something was up because normally I'm the one who wants pictures of us and he's normally annoyed by my constant need for selfies with him, but he was right...the sun was setting so the lighting was impeccable. My Dad whipped out his phone and took a picture of us and when I turned to go get into the car, Chris turned me back around and was standing directly in front of me holding my hands. I have to admit, he looked a little nervous and I was confused so this next part is a bit of a blur. If I remember correctly, he said something about me being the world to him and loving me more than anything. Then he reached into his pocket and got down on one knee. I was in shock and had so many tears in my eyes that I couldn't actually see the ring when he opened the box and asked me to marry him, but let's be honest, it didn't matter. My answer was an immediate yes followed by a FINALLY and lots of sobs, hugs and kisses. My Dad managed to catch the latter part of his proposal on video, but didn't start recording until he actually got down on his knee. Because he was so darn nervous and I was confused and didn't understand what was happening, neither of us really know the exact sweet things that he said. It shall always remain a mystery, but one thing is clear...we couldn't be happier to finally be engaged and can't wait to start the next chapter of our lives together as a married couple!