Ringing in the new year!

Stephen and Tara met while attending the State University of New York at New Paltz, while studying microeconomics. Stephen sat in the back of the class and Tara sat in the front, so neither ever noticed each other. That is, until the professor offered an extra credit seminar towards the end of the semester. Tara was running late to the seminar and Stephen was cutting out early, and it was at that moment they noticed one-another. Tara asked, "Is the professor in there? I don't want him to see me coming in late." Stephen replied, "Nope!" As Tara went to open the door, she noticed the professor sitting right there. She turned, surprised at Stephen's audacity to be so confident in his clearly wrong answer and said, "Are you kidding me?! He's sitting right there!" Well, Stephen had a plan. He offered to send Tara his notes, for which he'd need her number. A sly move. Upon receiving the chicken-scratch, poorly written notes Tara replied, "You can stop texting me now. These are terrible." While the note sending seized, the texts continued well after that semester. Let's just say they both earned an A+ on the extra credit.

Picture this: Labor Day weekend is approaching. You've booked an AirBnB on Schroon Lake with all of your best friends for a celebratory birthday weekend. It's Thursday, two of your friends are coming into town a night early to grab dinner before heading out for the weekend. You have dinner reservations at the Mill House in Poughkeepsie. Your friends text you that they are dressing 'cute' for dinner and text photos of their outfits as well as their fresh manicures. Stephen's mother texts you not once, but twice, asking if you want to get a manicure and you decline because you have to work late. You wonder why your future mother-in-law is being so persistent. Now Thursday night has arrived and you feel a little self-conscious about your less-than-perfect nails, and you run to CVS and buy press-ons (something you haven't done in over 10 years). You arrive at the Mill House, Stephen greets you at the door and says he'll bring you to the table, your friends are running a little late. Thinking nothing of it, you begin walking up a flight of stairs, and another flight, and another. You say, "I think I need to speak with the hostess, she put us in the attic!" As you approach the landing, you see petals on the floor, then candles, then a table for two and flowers all around. As the moment sets in, you turn to your soon-to-be fiancé who is on one knee, and he proposes. The entire top floor is dedicated to just the two of you. Your table is nestled between french doors that are open and you can feel the warm air of the late summer evening. You look over the City of Poughkeepsie, elated with love and joy, and you savor the candle-lit evening with your new fiancé. You spend the entire weekend celebrating with your closest friends at Schroon Lake, which you later find is the same place your father proposed to your mother. How was the proposal, you ask? He 'nailed' it!