We're getting married!

A modern love story - we met online, of course! While I was enjoying a relaxing vacation in Georgia with Val (my maid-of-honor) and all our doggies, I decided to kill some time by swiping on Hinge. Stepping out of my comfort zone, I swiped-right (said yes) to a guy with kids. There was something about his pics and profile that made him seem genuine and kind - plus the kids were really cute - so it was worth a shot! We matched, immediately started talking, and continued talking all day. By the end of that first night, we had texted and Facetimed for hours, and we both knew that we may have a real connection here.

I got back to Ft Lauderdale from Georgia two days after we matched online, and we couldn't wait to meet up. My apartment building Motif had a really nice roof top amenity deck (a memorable spot!) with free beer and wine, so we decided to keep it casual and meet up there for a drink. We spent hours chatting and quickly learned we had shared core values but very different livestyles! But as they say, opposites attract, and we certainly had the chemistry to get us excited for our next date. And all the ones after that.

A few weeks into dating and after spending some time with Laila and Jameson, we decided we were ready to take the leap and become "official". And within the next two years, we met family and friends, spent holidays together, started a new career, had plenty of disagreements, took vacations, threw kids birthday parties, bought houses, moved (twice), and grew closer to each other and as a family every day.

I like to think of myself as an observant person, but Andrew proved to me that I am actually clueless! I was completely surprised by his proposal - so surprised in fact I thought I was walking in on someone else's proposal and almost turned around to leave! Andrew, Val, and some of our closest family and friends were all in on this special night, and nobody spilled the beans. It was our 2nd dating anniversary but I had plans with Val to grab happy hour drinks right after work. At some point, we got a text from our friend Alexis at my old apartment saying she was having boyfriend troubles and could use a friend (which I now know was a lie, but thank you Grant for allowing us to get mad at you to make it seem real haha). We decided to swing by Motif to talk to Alexis and have a drink with her on the rooftop - if you recall, a very memorable spot! We got to the rooftop and I see a silhouette of a man in a suit with a dog, and candles all around them. I knew immediately it was a proposal and almost turned around to give them privacy, because it took me a minute to realize it was Andrew and Zoey, and I was the one getting proposed to! It was a beautiful, private proposal in the spot of our first date, and I of course said yes! As if that wasn't a big enough surprise, once we walked back inside the clubhouse, one-by-one our family and friends appeared out of the woodwork. Our closest family and friends got to celebrate with us during that special moment, with many laughs and a few (happy) tears, and it could not have been a more perfect night.