Two words: alcohol and snacks. It was beach fest spring 2017 and our vet school campus had it's giant semester party on the beach. I had actually noticed Pam around campus for the year prior to this day but never had the courage to approach her. With some liquid confidence and a bag of food, nothing was going to stop me this time. I stumbled through the sand making my way through scattered future associates and groups of friends with the family size pack of Munchies cheese mix. I would say a few words to my friends but my eyes were fixed on Pam. Eventually, I made my way over to her, heart and hand full of cheddary goodness, and the rest is history.

He had me at snacks. I had noticed Alfred prior to actually meeting him, as his face was on some posters around campus (overachiever much?) and my friends and I had talked about how cute he was. However, it wasn't until Spring 2017, at Beachfest, where he and I officially met. If you know me, you know I love snacks and cheese. Well, it was nearing the end of a long day of drinking on the beach and I was STARVING. Low and behold, Alfred shows up with a bag of Munchies Cheese Mix and offers me some. We continued to bond over his love of cooking and our love of eating and the rest is history.

I knew I was going to marry Pam pretty early on in our relationship - I had actually already purchased the diamond nearly a year before proposing. Pam and I eventually moved in together on July 21, 2020, and that was when the three month scheming begun. I first approached Fran, Pam's cousin, an excellent planner with an incredible energy and outgoing, friendly persona, and asked if she could be the one to 'invite' us to Morikami Gardens (where I proposed). Fran went the extra mile and invited us for dinner one month ahead to start planting seeds about wanting to go here, and had asked Pam every other day since to ensure that we would be able to make that date. Pam, the hard working machine that she is, had picked up additional shifts during her month off to make some extra income, and they had originally scheduled her to work October 10th. So, I then reached out to one of her best friends, Lisa, who works at the same hospital, to talk with the scheduling person to cancel her shift. Fast forward two weeks and we are at lunch with her mom, who casually asks what she will be doing during her time off. My ears satellite in as I carefully listen in to how Pam was miraculously removed from the 10/10/20 schedule, BUT had made then other plans to her other best friend (Kara's) birthday party. So, I then had to privately message Kara and she was kind enough to tell Pam that her party was cancelled. Kara was amazing and was able to hide the secret, even telling the entire friend group not to post pictures on social media of the party until I had proposed. Fast forward to the day of, and Pam wants to go surfing...delaying the proposal by three hours. We get to the Japanese garden and I subconsciously walk ahead, inching closer to the proposal spot. Pam lagged behind and wanted to stay close to our friends. When we finally arrived to the platform behind the bonsai trees, I popped the question, but not without inducing a little stress into her veins first.