We met at the big blue and yellow octagon when I took a job halfway across the country at the IKEA in the Chicago Area of Schaumburg, IL. The first thing Justin ever said to me was "Hi, I'm Justin. You probably won't see much of me..." and I think looking back now we are both very happy that he wasn't right. We started hanging out outside of work, meeting up weekly at the Fox and Hound Pub; but it wasn't until July when Justin and I went to Wicker Park Fest and an 80's dance party called Planet Earth at Late Bar that we realized while spinning around the dance floor; "we definitely liked each other..." and the rest just clicked.

We had been talking about getting married for a while, we had even gone and looked at rings together. We were also at the time planning a trip out west to see the National Parks of Utah for my 30th birthday; however before our trip, Justin insisted we throw a party to celebrate my birthday with close friends and family. I of course didn't think anything of it assuming that he was going to propose in Utah. The proposal I got was so much better, surrounded by our friends and family near and far he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of our lives together while Toto's Africa played in the background.