Eli and I met on a blind date at the FIJI annual Valentine's dinner. Eli didn't have a date and had asked a friend if their date had a friend he could take. I didn't have any Valentine's plans, so I readily said yes! Eli broke the ice by helping me open my bottle of wine. We were inseparable the rest of the night and ever since - even through years of long distance.

This past fall, Lynnely and I travelled to the United Kingdom. After spending four days in Scotland with the ring buried in my backpack, we took a train down to London where we would spend the next week. We had planned to spend the first night in London at The View from the Shard, overlooking the city. After spending almost two hours looking at the sights, watching the sun go down, and a couple glasses of champagne, Lynnely became increasingly interested in finding a dinner reservation. While finally getting up the courage, (and convincing myself I didn't have a backup plan), I selected someone to take our picture. Our Texan photographer took a picture of us toasting to our first night in London. I asked for one more photo and as I knelt down, the photographer quickly drew everyone's attention by saying "Oh my gosh!, OH MY GOSH!". Lynnely covered her mouth and was taken aback as I asked "Babe, will you marry me?" She nodded in agreement and the crowd broke into applause as we kissed. We spent the rest of the night celebrating and walking all over London in the rain. Definitely a night to remember!