Ben and I met through a mutual friend in December of 2015, three months before I graduated college. When we met I didn’t think much of it other than he was a nice guy but I’d probably never see him again since he was in New Jersey and I was still in school and had plans to move back home in Pennsylvania. We exchanged numbers and kept in touch over the next couple of weeks until he asked me on a date. Ben made the drive to my hometown of Springfield, Pennsylvania to take me out on our first date. When he arrived, I was in complete shock because he had brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I had never been given flowers on a date before and I instantly knew this guy was different, in the best way possible. After a few months of talking and casually seeing each other, I finally committed to being Ben’s girlfriend, after he asked me multiple times (which he still holds against me to this day), on March 26, 2016. We committed to being in a long distance relationship for the next year, and it was by far one of the hardest things we ever had to do. Thankfully, I was able to make the move to New Jersey and we got our first apartment together in May of 2017 and more recently, we purchased our first home in January of 2019! After months of begging and teasing him about proposing, Ben proposed on April 13, 2019 in Jersey City overlooking the NYC skyline. We had plans to go to a beerfest that day (one of our favorite activities to do together) and he suggested we go to brunch before and take a walk by the water. I didn’t think much about it, and was completely surprised when he took my hand and got down on one knee to propose! Ben also managed to pull off two more surprises by having all of our friends meet us at the beerfest to celebrate and he helped throw a surprise engagement party the next day! It was truly one of the happiest days of my life and I’m so thankful for everyone involved.