We first met on the dating app Plenty of Fish. After talking for a little while, we decided to meet up at my favorite Italian restaurant Tremezzo's in Wilmington, MA. The running joke of the night was that I ordered the steak pasta, without the steak. And a few jokes later, we ended up talking all night long until closing time at the bar. Per the Rose family style, he had met my entire family during an "accidental" encounter on their part at the local T.J. Maxx after date three. And the rest was history.

My suspicions were on high alert when Dave received a call that he had to pick up a package being held a month or so prior to December. Later, the excitement of having our newest family member Lola soon distracted me from this thought, and I forgot about it. We went over my family’s house for our big Christmas Eve feast. I later found out it was supposed to be the night of the proposal-but it didn’t feel right. Christmas Day I struggled with what to wear, having woken up not feeling too well. We ate brunch at Dave’s mom’s house first, then headed back down to my parent’s for Christmas Day ham. I promptly changed into comfier attire. My sister (maid of honor) signaled that maybe I’d want to wear something nicer for the family photo? I shrugged it off and followed everyone upstairs to gather around the tree. My sister suggested Dave and I take a photo together. At that moment my eyes caught the shape of a small square object in the back of Dave’s jeans. Tears welled up in my eyes, Dave got down on one knee, and the rest is history!