Although we don't exactly agree on which date was the "first date," we do agree that the 21st night of September will always be special to us (shout out to Earth, Wind & Fire). We ate dinner at Rubirosa, a small Italian restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of NYC, and then attended the San Gennaro festival. Talking, laughing, and strolling under the lights of the festival made the night something we will never forget. We celebrate our "anniversary" on the 21st every year, sometimes with a visit back to the festival. We wanted to have our wedding on September 21st, but since it falls on a Wednesday, we picked September 23rd as the next best date!

A month or so after we first became "official", I decided to show Tom my southern side by taking him camping. It definitely wasn't my best idea as it was late December, and I was planning a trip to upstate New York which was sure to be a frigid camping experience. Well the weather far exceeded my expectations and it ended up being negative 15 degrees on our second night there. It was so cold that we couldn't start a fire and our backup heat supply stopped working. We also found that several critters decided to join us in our yurt to stay warm. Although everything that could go wrong went wrong on that trip, it is still one of my favorite memories we have together. We have travelled to some amazing places - Spain, Morocco, Costa Rica, and Mexico - and I can't wait for more trips together.

Once upon a time, Lisa and I both worked at Deloitte on the same client. Since we were working in different departments, we rarely crossed paths. It wasn't until I joined the Deloitte softball team that Lisa also played on where we really got to know each other. After one of our games in Central Park, we decided to walk home together. It was on that walk that I learned a little more about Lisa and summoned up the courage to ask her if she wanted to meet up for drinks later that week. I guess you could say the rest is history. Fast forward a few years, I popped the question at the softball field in Central Park that was most memorable to us and from which we walked home together that first game. She, thankfully, said yes. Shout out to Lisa's brother, John, for helping me plan the proposal and to Andrew Flanagan and Connor Dugan for their valiant efforts to capture the moment.