We can't wait to share the best day of our lives with you!

Joe & I met at Providence Coal Fired Pizza on a Thursday night. We walked through the mall to get there and exchanged some small talk, then my flip flop broke in the middle of the road and I tried to hide it as best as I could possibly hide a broken piece of rubber not actually connected to my foot. We shared a pizza, we had some drinks and we laughed about family, childhood and friends. The dinner was coming to an end but we both wanted to continue our chatting so we walked around the city for a bit longer (with a broken flip flop) and immediately set our next date--for the next day. We went out in Foxboro and continued chatting, dancing, laughing and getting to know most of each others quirks. Saturday, Joe was going on a family vacation for a week. Fast forward 3 days (yes, three). He invited me up to enjoy a night at the lake house. So what did I do? I took Monday off of work, accepted his invitation to go crash his family vacation and meet the 11 others of his immediate family and drove 4 hours through rush-hour traffic to New Hampshire. We sat on the dock, we laughed, we watched the rain, we went on a boat ride, and we (I) was embarrassed playing a board game in front of the entire family. We very quickly became the best of friends. & the rest is history.

End of summer cookout? Sounds amazing! Joe’s parents invited all of the immediate family over to the new lake house for a cookout to celebrate the end of summer. They had also asked me to invite my mom, sister & grandparents to come and see the lake. When I asked, my weary-of-traveling grandparents and my busy-bee mother immediately said YES. Fast forward a few weeks—hurricane on the radar. First, we (the family) went back and forth for a few days deciding what to do with the gathering and an upcoming hurricane. Then, we cancelled. Finally, we decided the cookout needed to happen so we would hold it indoors if needed. Apparently this was the only upcoming weekend that everyone could get together —and it was imperative to do so. I remember being so skeptical of why it was so important to keep the party going in potentially severe weather and also why my mother was so willing to go out in a hurricane—let alone light rain. I had asked Joe one day why this was a big “family cookout” but only my family was invited and not the other in-laws’ parents. While I expected a little hesitation, he immediately replied “my mom asked—they are on vacation and the others are going to a wedding”. Well played!! A few days before the weekend, my best friend asked me to get my nails done with her to which I replied “did Joe ask you to do this?!” And she also played it off well by giving me the meanest side eye you’ve ever seen and telling me she also needed to get her nails done. Shut me right down. The night BEFORE my soon-to-be favorite day, I was actually staying at the lake house with some of the kids while Joe’s parents and siblings went to a wedding and stayed overnight in Boston (he was working). Once again I remember thinking—why were we having a very important cookout in the middle of a hurricane while everyone just went out overnight in Boston? Sure enough, everyone arrived around 11 with bells on! I chose to fashion an orange turtleneck, the oldest pair of leggings I could find, washed my face clean of makeup and didn’t brush my hair (very CLEARLY expecting a special day). To add to the skepticism, Joe appeared extremely anxious and jittery and then disappeared with his mom for about half an hour once he got there. I remember wondering why Joe and his mom were so stressed out about the music and the food timing. Additionally, Joe had his phone on the counter and when a text comes through, it lights up the screen and therefore caught my eye. I remember it being from my best friend saying “tell Lid (my sister) to text me”. Odd. Then another message that lit up the phone a few minutes later from a random number—but identifiable to me because my other best friend has a very distinct number—that said something along the lines of “2 minutes away”. Now I’m skeptical, Joe’s even more anxious than before and everyone is congregating in the living room which is not the norm. A few seconds later, my 2 best friends walked through the door and before I could say hi—Joe grabbed my hand to walk me over to the middle of the room and asked me to marry him with the most beautiful ring while surrounded by my friends and family. All I could have ever asked for! We took some pictures, hugged for hours and ate lots of food. So grateful for Joseph & all of the family that made it there for us in conditions that would have deterred everyone on another occasion.