I always swore I would never use a dating app to try to meet a man, but after a year and a half of being single, I finally caved. After many failed conversations, on Feb. 24th, 2019 I came across a handsome man whose profile read the following: "Family first, nerdy but easy going. I enjoy kayaking and exploring. I'm up for anything from movie nights & video games to rock climbing & road trips with the top down. I love animals and being outdoors." It also said he was a Christian, interested in a relationship, and wanted kids someday. To say I was smitten would be an understatement but being a cautious person, I wasn't trying to jump in too quickly. Somehow he wasn't scared away when I turned down meeting him because he asked too soon. I finally agreed to meet him for dinner on March 8th. He had to work at 11 so I asked my friends to check in with me by 11 to make sure I was still alive and well. Fortunately, we had a perfect night talking nonstop. At the end of the night he walked me to my car and being the perfect gentleman that he is, asked my permission to kiss me before we parted ways. It was truly a magical evening. On March 20, 2019 he asked me to be his girlfriend officially! When the pandemic began, we decided to quarantine together since we weren't sure how locked down everything would be. I highly recommend quarantining together to truly decide if you can survive with someone forever.
On Nov. 27th, 2020 just a few weeks after my first leg surgery and days before my second, my family was in town for Thanksgiving. They decided it was the perfect night to put the Christmas Tree up and take some Christmas pictures. Needless to say I was not thrilled to be spending my final day before surgery putting up the Christmas tree but I finally agreed after some persuasion. I had the bright idea to take pictures in our matching Christmas PJs because I thought it would make for a cute Christmas card. Nobody bothered to try to convince me to that dressing up would be better even though they knew Josh had plans beyond Christmas pictures. In the middle of taking pictures, Josh said he had one more ornament for me to open. I opened it and it said "Our First Christmas Engaged"! Before I knew it, Josh was down on one knee asking me to marry him! Of course I said yes! I had absolutely no idea that he had picked out a ring and no idea that he was planning to propose since we had just discussed waiting until closer to the "end" of the pandemic. Unbeknownst to me, Josh picked out a Ring that embodied everything I had mentioned that I thought I wanted. We never went to try on rings, I sent him very few pictures of ideas and yet somehow he knew exactly what I would love! While 2020 was a very challenging year with 3 surgeries for me and a pandemic-induced layoff for him, Josh certainly rounded it out with the best surprise of my life! Now we're just hoping that Covid restrictions are lifted in time for our dream wedding at Huber's Winery on June 25, 2022!