Reanae had known Max for about 10 years and I had known him for less than 6 months when the long standing annual ski trip was announced. Max invited me to attend the most "fabulous" ski getaway complete with killer house, outstanding food, booze, skiing, partying, cool dudes and hot girls. I told Max that I am a huge fan of all of those things, but there was one significant problem. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SKI!!! To help sell the trip Max decided to pull out the big guns and show me a picture of the trip organizer, Reanae the "exotic beauty" from Chicago. If you know Max then you can imagine the list of adjectives he used to describe her. Ha-Ha! Ultimately, I passed on going that year. Nonetheless, Max continued to invite me every year using Reanae as the bait even though she lived a thousand miles away and likely had a boyfriend at the time. Fast forward to 2018: The ski crew returned from another spectacular trip and one evening while smoking a cigar with Max and Zach they started telling stories and showing pictures. I was being inundated with details when the subject of Reanae was brought up. Jordan, did you know that not only is Reanae moving back to Dallas but she is also single? At that moment I knew I had to meet this intriguing woman so I naturally started stalking her social media and when I saw that picture from the ski trip on her profile where she was wearing a white coat with a fur hood pulled over her head all you could see was her beautiful big brown eyes and sweet smile. I found my opening so I messaged her: How was the ski trip this year? The rest is history!

** MAR 31 2015 – I moved to Chicago. After 30 years of living in Dallas I had a severe case of home sickness. In the first four months I flew back home three times and had 10 visitors but was still missing Dallas. I got my fill by looking at photos on social media. And that’s when it happened. I noticed someone new in photos. ~ Inner Thoughts ~ I left town and poof - there's a new guy in the group. And he’s cute. Of course. That’s my luck. Well, I wouldn’t date him anyway because he’s in our friend group (my own rule). But does that count? He’s a new guy. He’s not actually a friend so I could date him. Wait - what am I thinking? I’m in Chicago! And I don’t even know him. Ok back to reality. ** DEC 31 2017 – I met new guy on NYE in Dallas but I was on a date. So he tells me… ** JUNE 2018 – Around this time I had decided Chicago wasn’t my forever home. I started the process to move back to Dallas and work from home. ** DEC 2018 – I moved back to Dallas on the 20th, one week after Max’s Christmas Light Bus Tour. I knew I was missing it and was bummed because it sounded like so much fun. I saw the group picture and new guy was there. Alone. I finally asked someone about him and was immediately dissuaded from even considering him because he wasn’t “my type.” No surprise. They rarely are. ** FEB 2019 – By now we had returned back from the annual ski trip and I met a lot of the new people (to whom I was the new person). I was glad to be back in Dallas. <<MESSAGE ALERT>> “How was the ski trip?” It was new guy and this was our first interaction. I was friendly but had my rule and apparently he wasn't my type. Plus I wasn't looking to date. I had JUST moved back! He asked me to lunch. I told him I was working from Sixty Vines the next day and he was welcome to join (re: Free Lunch). That lunch turned into coffee, then happy hour, then dinner. We saw each other a few times before telling any of our friends. ** TODAY – Still not looking to date. Looking to get married.

I wish I could tell you that I pulled off the surprise proposal to end all proposals when I popped the question, but COVID didn't make things easy on me. I brainstormed ideas for weeks and even brought in a couple of ringers (my sister, Hilary & Zack/Diana Wohldman) to come up with ideas. Where does a guy propose to his lady when most of the traditional proposal venues are closed and neither of us were comfortable going into a restaurant? In the end I decided to keep it intimate by proposing to Reanae in the dining room with our two dogs Henry & Sophie as witnesses. After she said "I do" I told her there was one more surprise waiting outside. I walked her over to the dog park where we were greeted by several of our close friends and their puppies.

Tuesday - I've been taking social distancing very seriously, so when I told Jordan I took Thurs & Fri off he knew I had no plans and asked me why I would do that. (Clue #1) Soon after Diana sent me a text: “Nails Thursday at 4:30pm & swing by Lowe's?” I was really busy; without thinking I agreed. She quickly replied, “Booked!” Later I thought it was odd since we had no place to be with our pretty nails. (Clue #2) Thursday - Jordan asked why I was vacuuming dog fur “today of all days” & told me to leave him alone in the guest room. (Clue #3) Diana picked me up for our manicure. When we wrapped up I texted Jordan that I was starving. His response: “Got it covered. Steak & lobster.” (Clue #4) We got in the car & I blurted out, “I wanted it to be a surprise. Now my mind is racing & all these feelings should be happening with Jordan, not with you! Tell him he can’t do it today!” She tried to play dumb & finally snapped at Lowe’s, “Stop it! You can either go to Jordan’s to see if you’re right or you can stop because you could be wrong!” I walked away, convinced myself he wasn’t proposing & came back with some plants. Diana looked at me like I was crazy. She dropped me off at Jordan’s. As I walked to the door, plants in hand, I saw a green dress from Portugal at the entry, make-up, shoes, champagne with candles & petals everywhere. I turned around. Diana was gone. A card said to get ready & go upstairs. I did. I noticed a laptop recording us when he stuttered about giving the dogs a mother. Was that the proposal? No ring? Looking for a dog mom? I looked at him funny & asked if he had something in exchange for a response. He dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring box, & gave the proposal he planned. (Nothing about the dogs.) PS- 1) There was no steak & lobster. 2) Before calling our families, Jordan revealed another surprise – some of our friends were downstairs & I should act surprised. He really can’t keep a secret.