Love is Blooming

My unforgettable story stems from a cold snowy Friday evening. It was the first weekend of the second semester of my freshman year. My buddies and I were planning our night out which mainly entailed attending a few parties affiliated with kings, however, the plans did not go according to plan and I couldn’t be more thankful. All of the kings parties were lame, so we decided for the first time to embark upon a journey and travel several miles in the treacherous snow to a Wilkes party. After an hour of enduring the harsh cold, we arrived at our destination, the Wilkes soccer house. We were all apprehensive to knock on the door as Wilkes is rivals to kings, so I developed the courage to knock on the door and negotiate our way in. I recall conquering the new territory for roughly 30 minutes, we were all having a blast listening to music and having drinks until I spotted with my little eye the most precious being I’ve ever set my eyes upon. I was never the type to approach girls and have a discussion with them, but something in my gut prompted me to approach this divine woman. So without any hesitation, I walked up to this woman and immediately said that the music sucked here and that we should serve as DJs for the rest of the night. After saying this, I expected to be rejected but instead she reciprocated and insisted that we be DJs. My ears were delighted and so we took the stage, aux, and ran the show for the remainder of the night. It was without a doubt the most remarkable night I’ve experienced in my life. After the party, we exchanged contacts and parted ways. I messaged her the following morning, didn’t hear from her all day and speculated that she wasn’t interested. That very night, she responded and words could not express how relieved i was. “Perhaps I still have a chance I said”. Once she responded, we made plans to see each other again the following day. Upon making plans, the excitement I felt was so unfathomable to this day the emotions are inexplicable. After hanging out for merely two months, I proposed dating, she was as stoked as I was to establish a relationship together. It’s almost as if we knew from the very beginning that we were destined for each other. Now here we are, getting married. Everything we dreamt of has come to fruition and I couldn’t be happier. Before I conclude my note, I should mention that the woman referenced multiple times in my note is named Megan Nalesnik.

Sam and I first met at a college party in Wilkes-Barre. We were technically supposed to be rivals—me attending Wilkes University and Sam attending King’s College—but fate had other plans. The night started like any other until we met each other, and by the end of it, we somehow found ourselves behind the DJ stand, in charge of the music. The connection was instant, and from that moment on, the rest was history. We spent as much time together as possible, never letting our busy schedules get in the way. Sam would come to the Wilkes library to study with me, and even brutal winter snowstorms couldn’t stop us—we’d walk through inches of snow with friends just to see each other. Many nights were spent texting until three in the morning, completely losing track of time. Our first official date was on Valentine’s Day. Sam asked me a week in advance by casually saying, “Hey, do you want to hang out next Thursday?” I remember wondering if he even realized it was Valentine’s Day. When the day came, he suggested Olive Garden, but I wanted Chipotle instead. I still remember how nervous he was fumbling to open the door. Later, Sam told me his friends warned him that taking me to Chipotle would ruin his chances—but it did the opposite. I knew right then that Sam was different. He was, and still is, a true gentleman—always opening car doors, tying my shoes, bringing me flowers, and doing all the little things in between. On March 23, 2019, Sam asked me to be his girlfriend with flowers and Nutter Butters, and ever since, we’ve celebrated the 23rd of every month. That tradition is why we chose May 23, 2026—to carry that special date with us forever. We’ve been together for nearly seven years and have spent almost every day side by side. Nothing stopped us—not security guards, crazy landlords, or living in separate apartments. We moved from place to place, finished school, started our careers, and grew together every step of the way. We’ve traveled across the country and beyond, always learning and evolving as a team. Sam’s proposal was straight out of a movie. Ever since I was a little girl, my dream was to be proposed to in a hot air balloon—and Sam made it happen. He had it booked for over a year, with my engagement ring hidden away the entire time. The trip began with visiting my best friend in New Mexico and ended in New Jersey. On August 23rd, keeping with our tradition, Sam took me to a beautiful Italian restaurant before we met the team for the balloon ride. We were driven to a wide open field where a photographer captured moments of us together. As the hot air balloon inflated, Sam got down on one knee and delivered the most heartfelt proposal. His hands were shaking as I held them, and all I could think was yes—just marry me already. After I said yes, we spent the next hour floating hundreds of feet in the air, feeling like we were living in the movie Up. Even though I had recently developed a fear of heights, I felt completely safe with Sam. That feeling has never left. Sam has always been my safe place, and I know he always will be. As we settle into our new home, I can’t wait to marry the love of my life, build our future together, and eventually create our own little family. We’re so grateful to have each of you be part of our journey

Despite knowing from the beginning that Megan was going to be my companion for eternity, we were dating for merely 6 years and I decided to solidify that status on August 23rd, 2024. Since Megan always had a special place in my heart, I wanted to make this day as memorable as possible. To achieve this required a lot of brainstorming and research. I spent countless hours looking into the best ways to propose to your girlfriend and through the process I stumbled across great ideas but none that satisfied my taste as the queen megan deserves the very best. One day, i had a eureka moment and pondered about hot air balloons and incorporating that into a proposal. I booked our proposal date with a hot air balloon company a year in advance. As time past, Megan planned an abrupt trip to New Mexico to visit her best friend Callie in August. Upon hearing the news I was happy but skeptical because I thought the date would conflict with my proposal but as lucky as I am our return date was the day prior to the proposal. After discovering this, I realized I hit the jack pot, “how awesome would it be to return from an amazing trip then propose the following day”. So, we went on the trip, encountered our first organic cactus in the bearing desert and experienced a plethora of landmarks associated with one of our favorite shows breaking bad. It was a marvelous trip, and rightfully so, Megan was upset to depart but I wasn’t as I knew one of the most important days of our lives was right around the corner. As we were flying back home, Megan was napping and I was relentlessly rehearsing what I was going to say to Megan for my proposal. I recall the flight taking forever as I was so nervous and could not manage my excitement. After deliberating for hours on what to say, we finally landed and Megan awoken. It was nice for her to be up as it served as a distraction from my speedy mind. The next day came, the day I proposed to the love of my life. My mind was racing, I couldn’t stop sweating, the nerves were unbearable. We drove from Philly to Jersey, Megan kept questioning why we were going to Jersey and all I could say was we’re going on an adventure and that it’s a secret. We make it to Jersey, we have dinner and afterwards it was showtime. I take her outside and she was perplexed to see a photographer and a bunch of men standing near a deflated air balloon. She couldn’t believe we were going on a hot air balloon ride but little did she know there was more to it! As the hot air balloon was filling with air, I asked the most dire question of my life, “Megan Oakley, will you marry me”. Without reluctance, she profoundly said yes, I couldn’t be more pleased. I recall hugging her forever, by the time our hug concluded, our ride was ready for takeoff. Now here we are, a few months out from marriage and starting a new chapter of our lives ❤️