Our story began four years ago when we had both gone out with separate groups of friends to the Venice in Kent, OH. Diana was out celebrating a friend's engagement party, and Steve was out with friends practicing for a pinball tournament that was occurring the next day. We had a mutual friend, so when Diana spotted Steve from across the bar and also heard from her friend that he was a great guy, she knew she had to meet him. Steve was engrossed in his pinball game so the best way to meet him was to start "playing" a game nearby. The plan worked because we quickly started talking and the rest was history.
After we met and hit it off it took a few weeks before we officially went on our first date. Both of us were frequently away for work which made it hard to connect. On our first date, we went to The Melt Bar and Grill in Akron. Steve had made sure to dress to impress for this occasion. We spent the evening talking and truly getting to know each other, it was a perfect first official date.
My parents and I take an annual ski trip every year. The first winter after we met, Steve surprised me by showing up at the resort. Little did he know my parents and I got a late start so he was there hours before we arrived, spending a lot of time at the lodge alone. Arriving to find him sitting in the lodge was one of the many things that made me know he was the one.
Steve and I traveled to the Dominican Republic in November 2018. We had a wonderful week together staying in an Airbnb right on the beach that happened to be in a semi-abandoned resort; nothing like having the place to yourself. :) During the trip, Steve made me a ring out of a palm tree frond. He had carried it back from the beach after I had fallen in love with this tiny little palm tree. Little did I know that he would use it to help size my finger for my real ring to propose with seven months later.
Steve had been trying to find the right time to pop the question without me knowing what was happening. In July he noticed that Brew at the Akron Zoo was scheduled for the weekend before his birthday. He mentioned that it would be a good way to celebrate his birthday and let Diana take it from there knowing that she wouldn't suspect a thing. Diana reached out to our friends to throw what she thought was a birthday gathering for Steve at Brew at the Zoo while Steve let the friends know that this would be much more than a birthday celebration. The day of Brew At the Zoo was incredibly warm, well into the 90s. Diana could not figure out why everyone was still so committed to going outside to sweat and drink. Our friends arrived and we started our night off stopping at HiHo Brewery and then headed to the zoo. There was a new lion exhibit that Diana was looking forward to seeing. Right before the entrance of this new exhibit Steve got down on one knee and proposed. There was disbelief, tears, and total excitement. We celebrated afterward by popping bottles of champagne in the zoo parking lot. Another brewery attending the event invited us to their location afterward for another bottle of champagne and dinner. The engagement was perfect in every way.