For quite some time, Ben and Sarah were looking to find someone for them while juggling very busy lives with kids, jobs, and military life. They both joined Hinge with a bit of skepticism, but eager to give it a shot. Sarah swiped right on Ben first, putting the ball in his court to match, which he did quickly. To spark a conversation, Ben responded to Sarah’s unpopular opinion that Little Debbie’s Christmas Tree cakes were not that great, which he vehemently (and rightly) opposed. They had an instant connection and soon made plans for a first date on January 14, 2022. The evening started with a nice dinner at Global Grille in Pensacola, FL in which neither person seemed to be able to hide their nervousness or interest. Following dinner, they went to a Pensacola Ice Flyers hockey game (20 minutes late because the conversation was flowing so well). When parking, Ben did not know that parking was cash only and embarrassingly had to ask for $10, which is still a common inside joke to this day. Though embarrassed, Sarah took it all in stride and grabbed Ben’s arm to be walked into the game. They cheered the Ice Flyers on to victory and had a really good time. After the game, they sat and chatted, unwillingly to let the night end too soon. From that point forward, they have been together through many ups and downs (many more up’s) which led them here to choose each other for their forever person.

Once Ben had decided that Sarah must be his wife, he purchased a ring and began planning the ultimate proposal. From the beginning, Sarah had made it known that she had always wanted to go to New York City during the holidays and he knew this would be the perfect place. He made all of the reservations and held the location a surprise as long as possible. But anyone who knows Sarah knows, she has to be given no less than 10 business days to pack for a long weekend. She was very excited and they waited for the trip with a lot of anticipation. Once the day came, they were greeted with a flight delay that required rebooking into a completely different airport…the absolute perfect start. Undeterred, they made it to Newark, Ubered into the city and checked in to the room at The Towers at Lotte Palace in Midtown Manhattan. Though traveling all day, they strolled to Times Square and took in the sights. Upon returning to the room, Sarah noticed that one of her favorite things about Christmas in NYC, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, was visible from our window. This was the time that Ben let her know that we would be skating in front of the tree the following morning…obscenely too early too. They arrived the next morning for their skate and had a great time gliding on the ice, taking pictures and videos, and just having fun. Later that day they boarded a boat to see the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan. Though not necessarily described as fun, they also toured the 9/11 memorial and paid their respects. They then took a short stroll to the One World Tower and took in the night skyline of New York and the various well known buildings around the city. The following morning, Sunday December 11, 2022, Ben urged her to go look at the Rockefeller Tree again and just stroll through the Midtown area. She agreed and they began to walk there. What she didn’t know was that she was taking her last walk as a girlfriend. Upon reaching the tree, a vision of her dreams of Christmas in New York, Ben knelt down and asked her to marry him. Some how, while everyone else guessed and knew exactly what was going to happen, she was completely surprised and eagerly said yes. What she also didn’t know is that Ben had scheduled a photographer to capture the moment. They then went around to the various Christmas decorations in midtown for a photo shoot and ended the day with a showing of the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular, ending the perfect proposal weekend and beginning the wedding planning process.