It was a cold, eerie night in the middle of winter. Snow was up past my ankles and the sun was setting quick around 4:46 pm. I was rushing to beat the crowd for my Luby's Senior Dinner Platter (it was Chicken Fried Chicken night). I had just got off a 9 hour shift at the nursing home when I realized I was yearning for the love and affection of a beautiful woman. The night before, Aphrodite herself appeared in my dream and described the perfect angel I would soon encounter. You wouldn't believe my excitation when this fair skin goddess revealed herself to me in the parking lot across from Luby's at the intersection of Alpha & Midway, right in front of World Decor (they were running their semi-annual clearance sale on all red tag furniture sets). The moment we locked eyes I knew I would never be the same. This was my present and future staring right at me. I started to fumble words out before this kind-hearted queen took pity upon me and asked me to join her for the 2-for-1 appetizer happy hour at Chili's. From that moment and every moment since we were inseparable. I was truly blessed and I couldn't imagine a more romantic first encounter. The only problem is my memory is pretty hazy from my previous propensity for attracting concussions. Come to think of it...I've never even been to Luby's. Maybe just read Nicole's interpretation of this story.

Tinder was what all the cool kids were doing and I thought, “I’m cool, right?” On May 7, 2015, I downloaded the app. Our first date was May 12 and I was feeling like there was no chance in hell I was going on this date. It was a Monday and I didn’t feel like getting dressed to go on a bad date. I was whining to my friend, Andee, about how I didn’t want to go and in an expletive-laden demand, she told me I was going. I lived about 2 blocks from Flying Saucer, where we were set to meet. TJ later told me he picked that place because it was $4 pint night and wanted to have a cheap date. With a groan, I left my apartment to meet with a stranger who woo’d me on the internet with pictures of himself with African orphans (eyeroll). I don’t remember much about the date other than these 3 details: 1. TJ swore that if you salted a coaster, it would not stick to the bottom of your sweaty pint when you picked it up. It never worked. 2. Several hours later, when we were leaving the bar, TJ walked me to my car only to find out that we had the same car in the same color. 3. We talked for hours. About what? Who knows, but probably about the fact that we lived 2 minutes from each other and were both obsessed with movies and music, albeit (entirely) different genres. Our first date was lovely and low-key, but it didn’t incite an epiphany that this was my soulmate. But we kept talking. Non-stop. A few days later, I was having a gathering of some of my best friends over to my apartment for a little shindig. I was feeling bold in this particular era of my life and I decided to invite TJ over in a last-ditch effort not to be the 5th wheel in my own house. To my bewilderment, he agreed to come! What a brave soul. The 2nd date turned into the 3rd date turned into the 7th date and we just could not get enough of each other. I remember being absolutely infatuated and falling in love with this person and thinking this euphoria had to end somewhere. Spoiler alert: it didn't.

Christmas Eve is a big deal for both of our families. Every year, without fail, we go with TJ's mom to Christmas Eve Mass and then over to my mom's house for a huge dinner and white elephant gift exchange. As most of you know, I had been waiting rather (im)patiently for TJ to propose and with each passing day, I was getting more annoyed. However, it didn't even cross my mind that Christmas Eve would be a possibility because we had so much going on and I knew that family tradition trumped my agenda, haha. As I was walking out of our bathroom after getting ready to go to Mass, I asked TJ if he was ready to go and he said, "yeah, I just need to show you something." I probably rolled my eyes because it was going to make us late, but I was 1 glass of wine deep already, so it didn't bother me too much. TBae proceeded to play a video he had artfully edited and cut together of a handful of romantic clips from our favorite movies. This sounds like a lie, but I was completely oblivious. At first I thought, "wow, this is really cute" and didn't even register what was happening. Toward the end of the video, the word "marriage" kept coming up and I thought "OH SHIT, IT'S HAPPENING!" After the video finished playing, TJ (in tears) got down on one knee with the most stunning ring I have ever seen and asked me to be his wife. I'm pretty sure nothing came out of my mouth except a grunt, but he took it as a yes! Needless to say, Mass was canceled and to my utter surprise, our friends and family were waiting at my mom's house for an engagement party. You can view the proposal video here. https://youtu.be/tHbB84I2aCo