We met on Tinder. We kind of wish we had a more romantic story to tell people, but that's life. We met on Tinder. A couple swipes right (and some dog photos to catch each of our eyes and act as a great conversation starter) and we were off.... sort of. We met at the first Rutgers game of the 2017 season and had our first date later that week. Annie and Sam had their first puppy date just a week later. One more date and Eric thought it was going really well and Katie panicked .... Hello Friend-Zone (Sorry Eric!!!) Thank God Eric knew there was something more there, because he didn't get (too) discouraged. And a good thing too, because within the next 2 months (possibly helped a little bit by post surgery meds clearing her mind), Katie came to her senses, and just in time for Eric's birthday. Buffalo chicken dip, Steelers football, beer, and puppy date. That's all it took to seal the deal. (Happy Birthday Eric!)

For well over a month, Eric planned the best possible proposal and managed to keep the entire thing a secret from Katie (and yet no one else). Katie does all the planning for everything. EVERYTHING. So for Eric to be able to plan a surprise proposal, he knew he had to get the families involved to help him. She knew it was coming (and was confirmed when she found the receipt!) but didn't know when. Down the street from where we will be getting married, Katie was "bringing Eric" to a family birthday dinner. So when Eric stopped her on the street to start kissing her, she didn't suspect a thing and only thought that he was taking the moment of calm before the "storm" of loud craziness that the family can be. And then he got down on one knee. And no words were spoken from either of them! They were both all smiles and nodding heads of yes and starting to get visibly excited, so Eric took that as a yes and started to stand up, breaking the moment and prompting Katie to (literally) push him back down to the ground and reminding him that he has to actually ask!! A quick "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" and "YES!!!" and the celebrations began. And then Eric let her know that they weren't going to hibachi ... but home to her parents where the most wonderful surprise engagement party was waiting for them to celebrate all night.