Dan walked into his long time friend Kaleo's house when he arrived fashionably late for a Friendsgiving celebration in November of 2013, and the first thing he saw when he turned the corner to the kitchen was Stephanie's twinkling eyes and mischievous smile. Dan introduced himself and made sure to help Stephanie and her friend with their task of making the potatoes for the feast. Dan then sneakily changed his place setting to sit next to Stephanie for dinner, they got to talking, he got her number (she told him NOT to call her), he did anyway, they went on their first date a few weeks later, and the rest is history!

On their second to last stop on their wonderful vacation to Japan last Fall, Dan and Stephanie were staying in a beautiful old European style hotel on the shores of Lake Ashi in Hakone National Park, in the shadow of Mount Fuji. They woke up early on October 7 (technically still October 6 in the US - Happy Birthday to Steph!) to catch a glimpse of Fuji-san, and they did get a great view from afar, but, unfortunately, that was the last time the mountain was visible all day! So, after a lake cruise and a gondola ride over an active volcanic site, Dan had to call an audible, and luckily they happened upon a beautiful park in the town of Gora, and once they saw the iconic central fountain, surrounded by flowers, trees, and mountains, Dan felt the moment was right. So, he "went to the bathroom" to retrieve the ring from its hiding cache deep in his backpack, then insisted on walking back uphill to the fountain, then got a complete stranger who didn't speak English to take a picture. Slightly annoyed, Stephanie looked down to see what Dan was doing as he pulled away during the picture, and she saw him down on one knee.... And, luckily for him, after a few seconds of shock, SHE SAID YES!!!