Let's rewind it back to the spring of 2016. Michelle was wrapping up her second year as a third grade teacher at Holy Spirit School in Huntsville. She had recently met her future coworker for the upcoming year, a.k.a. Kaci, a.k.a. one of her future best friends. Kaci invited Michelle to join the young adult book club at St. John's because they were about to begin a new book. Luckily, Michelle went. Because if she hadn't, you probably wouldn't be reading this amazing love story here today. Over the course of the next year, the other book club members would bounce around the book title, "The End of the Modern World" from time to time, and make lighthearted jokes about how some former member named Adam had suggested they read this "rough" book, and then subsequently moved off to Virginia. After hearing his name mentioned dozens of times, Michelle's initial thought of, "Who even is this guy?" slowly transformed into, "It's too bad I never had a chance to meet him because he sounds like a pretty nice guy." Fortunately, Adam wasn't too fond of his new job in Virginia and accepted a position which brought him back to Huntsville. By this point, Michelle knew what Adam looked like from classic Facebook stalking, and she'll never forget seeing him in person for the first time. It was November of 2017 inside the chapel of St. John's. She thought, "Wow! It's THE Adam! I can finally meet this guy." They officially met in the lobby of the church, just outside the chapel, when they were both chatting with a group of mutual friends. The first words she ever said to him were, "So you're the infamous Adam!" and how she's STILL hearing about "The End of the Modern World" because of him! Over the next couple of years, Michelle and Adam would see each other from time to time at various friend's events. It wasn't super often because even though they were both part of a larger group of friends, their closer friends were in different circles. Everytime Michelle would see Adam, they would always share an enjoyable, lengthy conversation. In December of 2019, Adam asked Michelle out on a date face to face! Michelle was very impressed because no one had ever asked her out this way before, but also because Adam acted quite confident and direct. No one does this these days, so Adam definitely earned some major brownie points for that one! Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right because Michelle was currently dating someone. Jumping to August of 2023, a single Michelle realized she had a mini crush on Adam, but she was stuck on what to do because she rarely saw him. Coincidentally, they both planned on going to a trivia night with some mutual friends. During this trivia night, Michelle tried to casually strike up a conversation with Adam by asking about his weekend plans. He told her he was going to Shakespeare in the Garden at the Botanical Garden the next day. Out of a whim later that night, Michelle sent Adam a message through Facebook stating that the Shakespeare event sounded pretty neat (it didn't!) and to let her know if he'd like some company. Nervous for the outcome, she instantly regretted this as soon as she hit send. She even had a dream that he declined her company. Luckily, she happily woke up to a message stating the exact opposite! They both attended this Shakespeare event that evening on August 12, 2023, though Michelle understood none of it, and now refer to this night as date zero. Having their upcoming reception at the Huntsville Botanical Garden is so special to them because it's where it all began! After the event, they spent some time talking in the parking lot. Michelle worked up the courage and took her chance to finally say, "If you're still interested, I'd love to go on that date!" Adam ended up accepting, and they both enjoyed a lovely first day at Gold Sprint Coffee on August 26, 2023.

One of our first trips together was spending a long weekend in New York City in March 2024. Michelle is a long time fan of the Big Apple and I quickly fell in love with the city too. At one point, Michelle shared with me that her dream engagement was to be proposed to on the historic and beautiful Bow Bridge in Central Park, NYC. So when we began seriously discussing marriage and planning another NYC trip in the autumn of 2024, I knew exactly when and where. We spent the morning of The Big Day exploring the city and enjoying lunch at The Little Owl (above which is the apartment building used for B-roll shots in Michelle's favorite TV show, Friends). Needless to say, I spent the whole time checking, double checking, and triple checking that I had the ring with me. After lunch we had planned on taking out a paddle boat on The Lake, but unbeknownst to her, I had plans. I suggested taking the "scenic route" to the boathouse, a route which "conveniently" took us over the Bow Bridge. In a now-hilarious but then-horrifying twist, my plans were almost foiled that day by a film crew that was shooting a movie on the bridge when we arrived! Thankfully we managed to sneak through and enjoy the far side of the bridge for a few moments. A short conversation of idle chitchat later (during which I was thoroughly freaking out inside) and I popped the question! Of course she said Yes! and the rest is history!