"Girl, there is a brother in my hall who you have to meet! He is exactly what you just described and I know for a fact that you are his type!" - Who would have thought that these words would lead to me meeting the ONE. I definitely didn't. I really didn't think much about it again until a month later when my new friends invited me out to dinner. Would he maybe be there? We both really didn't want to go... It was a Thursday night and I worked 45 mins away from home. Then I would have to drive 20 mins to the restaurant after getting ready. But I couldn't not go because my friend was about to go back to Australia!... He was on a hike across the river with friends and they suggested meeting up for dinner in the opposite direction of home. That made no sense to him! But since he wasn't driving, if the group wanted to go, he of course would go too. "Is that him!?" I whispered over to them. My initial impression of Marlon was that he was very attractive and seemed really nice… "When I first saw her I was immediately captivated by her smile and presence. She was very expressive and genuine. She sat down across from me and I was instantly distracted." -Marlon After we had dinner, we walked down by the water. It just so happened that a place there was playing music. My friend (knowing that Marlon and I both LOVE to dance) said to me as a song was playing, “Let’s go dance! The guys will break us up. You will see.” She was right! Marlon quickly came over to me and asked me to dance. It was too perfect! He was literally the best dancer I had ever danced with in my entire life. After an amazing few dances, Marlon and I had a really nice conversation together for a good while. I was so surprised at how easy it was to talk to him and how comfortable he made me feel. I could tell there was really something special about him. Would it be clichê for me to say that it was love at first sight? Either way, that night I had a really good feeling that he was the ONE I had been waiting for after all this time.

The plan: meet up at a local Food Hall for a bite then go to the nearby park for a small picnic. It was overwhelming to say the least. I wanted everything to go perfect. As is the case in my life, something unfortunate always tends to go wrong. I knew I needed to be prepared for anything…I checked my car to make sure tires were good, fluids were topped off… the works. (Regrettably, in my nervousness, I almost blew my car up because I forgot to replace the oil cap). The weather was looking bleak and Kayla (always trying to do the most) was running late from a Metro shift in the city. Nothing was going according to plan. Because of timing, we decided to go straight to the park. Previously, I knew that one thing Kayla and I had in common was that we both liked softball. I proceeded to open the picnic basket I brought, revealing a ball and two softball gloves. I said: "Hey, Kayla! Wanna 'catch up’?" Unfortunately, the joke went obliviously over her head; but she still agreed to play catch with me. We talked and chatted as Kayla had me out of breath, running from overthrown passes and fast pitches. I quickly learned she has quite the arm! To our surprise, despite the overcast and cloudiness, the sun made a timely appearance that evening, revealing one of the best sunsets we’ve ever witnessed! All in all, our first date went better than I could have imagined! What I thought would be a brief encounter between two people turned into a 6 hour first date! It allowed me to spend quality time with Kayla, and helped me realize that what I had felt was real, and the true beginning of something very special.

It was going to rain and I had no Plan B. I planned the proposal at the park by the water where we had our first date. I had invested all my efforts in this one day and was counting on the weather being good. I mean why not? It was summer after all. Little did I know that a rainy summer and poor air quality would almost ruin my plans. 70%, 80%, 90% chance of rain. I had prayed every day since having a date for the engagement that it would not rain. As the big day approached, I was faced with the reality that it was going to rain. Postponing definitely crossed my mind, but Kayla’s mom and sister had already purchased flights to NY. What was more than a month of planning was starting to collapse. I had planned the whole engagement around a sail boat ride on the Hudson. But if it rained, there would be no sail and it would be nearly impossible to get Kayla to go to the park. Seemingly out of nowhere, while we were setting up, the clouds opened up and the sun came out. It was perfect timing! Everyone hid while Kayla and Alexis arrived to the park. Would she be surprised? "I was definitely not expecting it to happen that day. I was actually thinking it would happen a couple days later while we were in VA with my family. Alexis had taken me to this park to study before, so I thought nothing of it to go again. She suggested that her and I go take pictures together on the other side of the park. As we walked over, I could barely make out from afar a silhouette that looked like Marlon. But it couldn't be him! He told me that he was working all day and couldn't leave early... 'Omg, it is Marlon! Is it really happening right now!?' I couldn't believe it! The proposal was better than I could have ever imagined. He put so much thought and effort into every detail. He even serenaded me. Not only that, he surprised me with my mom and sister flying out to be there! I definitely cried. Then he surprised me with a sail boat ride! I loved it!" -Kayla Up until that point I had no idea if the sail was going to happen. We rushed to the dock and barely made it in time! Thankfully the weather had held up and we were able to enjoy a gorgeous sunset on the Hudson.