Eric and Naomi both attended a mutual friend's birthday party at Top Golf and didn't think anything of it. While Eric is an avid golfer and head girl's golf coach, Naomi's past experience as a cart girl in college didn't help with her golf skills. Eric was impressed by her ability by not being able to hit the ball and kept chatting with her all night long. They exchanged numbers (Eric's first text being "Hola"), and have been together ever since.

On the last night being in Costa Rica for vacation, Eric and Naomi dressed-up to watch the sun set and have a nice dinner. While sitting on the beach, there was a photographer standing nearby, waiting to ask them something. She walked up to the couple and asked if they would like their photos taken with the beautiful setting. Naomi's version: Eric always knew that I wanted pictures of our proposal and I thought this photographer was part of the plan! We looked nice, it was a beautiful night in Costa Rica...for sure Eric must have booked this photo shoot earlier that week and I was supposed to say 'yes'! This was the PERFECT plan for a proposal. Eric was acting all awkward and sweaty during the photo shoot... it TOTALLY was happening! After the photos were done, we had beautiful pictures, but no proposal. Oh well.....now we have awesome photos hanging up on our wall and a fun story to tell! Eric's version: I saw the photographer and thought, "Oh, please don't ask us for our photographs....". Well, 'No' wasn't an option for Naomi, so she dragged me into it. There wasn't enough wine to make me want to do this. Naomi and the photographer were telling me where to stand and what to do... I couldn't wait for this to be over and get on with our night. The pictures did turn out nice, but definitely not the highlight of the trip!

After not getting proposed to on a previous trip (ahem, Costa Rica), Naomi didn't think it would happen on a trip since she didn't think Eric wanted to travel with the ring. She was definitely wrong again! It was dress-up night, Christmas Day, on a cruise and the couple were traveling with Naomi's good friends. The four of them enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and were finishing up dessert, when Eric suggested they all get a picture together. While Eric was moving to get out of his seat, he went down on one knee and popped the question. She said, "YES!" Of course, pictures were taken during the proposal, as well as some "Instagram moments" around the ship. Naomi was absolutely surprised (and thankful she was wearing a cute, sparkly dress to match the ring!) At midnight, the couple got a phone call in their room. They were told they were in close-contact with COVID and needed to be in quarantine for at least 24 hours before being tested. Things were a big foggy during this phone call since they had been out celebrating their engagement. So the next morning, the couple didn't have any idea as to what they were supposed to do for breakfast. The two enjoyed a nice breakfast at the buffet and sat in the sun on the top deck. Overhead, an announcement came over the intercom, "Eric Riordan and Naomi Meredith, please go back to your rooms." With tails between their legs, the couple was greeted by cruise security and were reminded to not leave their rooms until the all clear. The room without a window was enjoyed with unlimited food and drinks, spotty Wifi, and Naomi making a collection of towel animals. Thankfully, there were many days left on the cruise and a proposal that will never be forgotten.