We met during our sophomore year of high school after Lewis moved to the small town of Monticello, IL. Our relationship, built upon a strong friendship, continued to grow throughout high school. When we began the navigation of the where's and what's of college, we ultimately decided to continue our journey together at Xavier University. This is how we've found our way to Cincinnati, OH. We love it here & we hope you love the little taste of our newfound home in May!
The proposal was meant to be very intentional because I (Lewis) enjoy making sure everything that happens has a meaning behind it. I began the ring shopping process in December of 2022, and had been in talks with the local jeweler in town to have the ring I envisioned become a reality. Working with her was amazing, as she knew exactly what I had in mind after telling her my ideas and ensured to me I would get the perfect ring in the end. After this reassurance, I got to planning what this proposal might look like. I knew one thing for certain: our families needed to be there following our special moment. After talking with them both, we finalized a weekend where they could all come to Cincinnati and celebrate with us. I made dinner reservations at one of our favorite Italian places and I also began thinking about how and where I wanted the proposal to happen. Our faith has always been a big part of our lives and relationship, and I thought a great place to pop the question was in the church that we attend. I thought this was especially clever since we would be getting engaged and married in the same place. I had also talked with a priest at the parish in order to arrange for him to give us an engagement blessing shortly after. And of course, I knew I wanted the moment to be captured, so I asked our friend Nicki, who takes pictures as a side gig, to be there. With a spot picked out, plans in order, and families on board to visit for this special occasion, the only thing left was to get Sarah to cooperate. I told her that I made dinner reservations for us at the restaurant that I had picked out, and she was a little skeptical of the reason for this date. I assured to her that it had been a while since we had been on a date and I thought it would be nice to have a great meal together for the first time in a while. Despite this attempt to cover the true meaning behind this event, she continued questioning the purpose of why we were going out without any occasion to celebrate. I reassured her that nothing was happening, so much so that she stopped talking about it altogether and only took 10 minutes to get ready for the date that night. Leading up to the big day, I had to told her we could stop in our church before our date to say some prayers with the extra time that we had prior to dinner. When arriving, everything was going smoothly. Nicki had already been there for a little awhile, camping out in the back so that we wouldn't run into her. After finishing up our prayers, I was ready to get down on one knee and ask the big question. Sarah, however, had other plans. She told me that she was going do some further prayer alone. Slightly panicking, I agreed with this request and sat patiently for her to finish up. While she was walking around, I made eye contact with Nicki to make sure she was ready to go as well. After she came back, I told her that she needed to take her coat off. Confused at this request, I insisted again and she went along with it. Once I got this obstacle taken care of, I finally got down on one knee and asked the question. While I was pouring my heart out, she couldn't believe it was happening and was overjoyed. After finally getting the ring on her finger, we went and said hi to Nicki, received our an engagement blessing, and went to dinner where we were met by both of our families, just as planned. We had a great rest of the evening around the dinner table, reminiscing on all of the wonderful moments we had in our relationship until that point. At the end of the day, we were surrounded by those who loved and cared for us most and are so excited to continue our journey of life together :)
We consider ourselves "old souls" who love board games, jazzy music, and intentional relationships kindled around a yummy meal. We both grew up with delicious food at the center of family, so discovering new places to eat & recipes are one of our favorite pastimes.