Join us on the road to our “I do”!

Tacia's How We Met: Swipe left, swipe left, swipe left, swipe…wait a minute! I came across a dating profile of a man named Korrie. My first thought, “This guy has a really great smile”. In that smile, I saw the joy of a guy who likes to have fun and the laughter of a person with a good heart. As we started messaging, I was interrogated on what I brought to the table, and started to wonder if he was another one of those “guys that work for the government” with a big head (you find a lot of those in DC). Intrigued nonetheless, I continued to get to know him and soon, intrigue turned into interest. What first appeared to be arrogance, I realized was a man with intention. One day, we spent so much time on the phone, we decided to have an impromptu first date. It being January of 2021, we were still in the middle of a pandemic, so being out in public was a bit risky, so we decided to drive around...and we drove up and down the 495! We asked each other all the questions we could think of and learned so much about one another. We had such a great time, that when he dropped me off at my apartment, we decided to take another loop around the highway, just to talk some more! We ended the night with our first kiss, and from then, I knew this person would always be in my life. Korrie's How We Met: First let’s set the stage: It’s Jan. 2021 and we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything is shut down, vaccines have just been announced, and we just witnessed the biggest riot on the U.S. Capitol in history. Given this, you would think it would make it tough to get to met someone, but I guess when the universe aspires to bring people together, then there is nothing that can stop that. So, I’m on Hinge, Bumble, and BLK, swiping left and right all day every day. Not much is going on at work, so I just have so much free time to think about what I want next in this dating scene. At this point, my priorities are starting to shift, no longer am I interested in showing women why I’m a great guy but rather, what do you have to offer me? So now I’m dating and talking to women with a fine-tooth comb; “Who are you, what do you want, and why should I care?” This was the mentality that was starting to dominate my ideological paradigm. Then enters Tacia Colon-Martins this (who I thought at the time) was just this young tenderoni who thought she was ready for happiness, but I didn’t believe it. I didn’t believe this young thang could even fathom what it meant to be in a relationship let alone a relationship with me! So, I put her through the ringer; Who are you, what do you want, and why should I care? She told me her 5 year plan, I showed her that I have already completed that 5 year plan (arrogant right?!?). I took her house hunting with me just to add more pressure. My thought process was “You think you’re ready for a REAL relationship? Prove it, come make a HUGE life decision with me and help me decide on a home.” Little did I know, I was really learning how a person can show up in your life and INSTANTLY make your life better. No matter what question I threw at her, it didn’t lead to insecurities or boring answers but deep hour-long conversations. Even buying a home, she was the one that suggested I look into condos. In fact, she was the one that ended up picking the condo that we live in now! But at this point, I was no longer trying to put pressure on her, all the pressure was on me to lock this woman down! All the “pressure” I thought I was applying only showed me that I found someone who I could rely on, someone I could respect, someone who could add value to my life, and someone I didn’t want to walk out of my life. It was creepy, scary, but so exciting to meet someone who could add so much that I didn’t know I was missing in my life! So, at that point, I made it my priority that I would not let her escape. So, Jan. 17, 2021, we matched on Hinge, Jan. 20, 2021, we went on our first date and Feb. 21, 2021 I asked her to be my gf!

Korrie can not keep a secret from me…at all. And I think he knew it too, which is why he played to his strengths…planning and organizing! In 2022 we got more serious in our talks about the future, we talked about kids, a house, and marriage. It seemed like a lot of these things happen so fast, and since we’re the planner types, it was comforting when Korrie told me to expect a proposal sometime in Spring to Summer of 2023. Our focus, in the meantime, was to save money and get ready for the back to back excitement of our future together. As the holiday season rolls around in Fall 2022, around October, I notice Korrie is acting a bit off and kind of tense. I love watching romance reality shows and Korrie was so critical and judgy about how the men on the show proposed. That, to me, wasn’t crazy because he can be very competitive and particular, especially on the subject of marriage and relationships because that’s what he has his PhD in. He had such a hard time sleeping... but just started a new job…nerves I guess! And lastly, he asked so many questions about what I thought he was planning for our engagement…this is when I knew he was trying to guess where my mind was, which let me know he was planning. Where in the planning process, I still had no clue. In November 2022, Korrie suggested we have a date day, to spend some time together before visiting our families for the holidays. We decide to go to our first (in-public) date spots for brunch, and finally check out this park that Korrie had been telling me about for weeks (but that we “never got around to going to”). We have a great meal, then we headed to this beautiful park. He takes me around, showing me the different areas of the park. As I’m reading a historical plaque, with my back to Korrie, I feel him walk away from me and I thought he was walking to the next spot he wants to show me. When I turn around, he grabs my hands and shares a heartfelt story of a husband who traveled great lengths, through that very park, to reunite with his wife. Neither of us being from Maryland and following our own journeys, felt like the road to each other. He got down on one knee and I immediately was in shock! I thought this was our typical date day! Seeing him down on one knee I was overwhelmed with emotion as all my thoughts started flashing from earlier in the day, and the past week, and that I had been gloating that I knew he was going to propose in Memphis on thanksgiving the following week. I thought “No way... THIS is the plan! I’m IN the plan NOW!” But all that came out of my mouth was “No, No, No, No”. After the fourth “No” I caught myself and focused on Korrie’s face. Judging from his bright confident smile, I could tell he knew I was mostly shocked that he’d successfully fooled me! And that made him smile more! When he finished asking the question, there was no other word in my mind except for “YES!”.

When did I know I was going to propose? The thought first popped up after Christmas 2021. We were driving back from Boston, and I had an 8 hour drive to think while my passenger princess slept. I really had a good time with her family. It was so memorable and so much fun! Even the craziness of getting everyone together was entertaining. When I was driving back, for the first time in my life, I felt like this was something I could get used to...for the rest of my life. When I really started planning the proposal was Feb. 2022. That’s when we crossed the year threshold and as I looked back over the past year, everything was perfect. We communicated so well no matter the topic and no topic was off limits. Every worry she had as my worry, and every worry I had was her worry. Everything just made so much sense! So, I reached out to her family and began planning the surprise proposal! There were so many plans! Proposing on a cruise, proposing in Vegas, proposing in Orlando before the cruise, proposing during the holidays, even proposing during her 30th bday! But as I worked with the Proposal Advisory Committee (PAC), we hashed out all of the details and decided on making this holiday season a whole engagement tour! So, the plan was set, Nov. 19th 2022. I would propose before our trip to Memphis. Now that we had a plan, we needed to figure out how to pull off a surprise for the person who is hard to surprise! First, Sasha visited us and we planned it as a surprise, how would she react to being surprised? How do we keep her from checking her phone? What demeanor did I need to have so she didn’t know I was up to something? There was A LOT of information gathering lol. Little did she know, the surprise was a pre-surprise to her own engagement lol. From there, we knew how to handle surprising her, we knew how she would react and what things I did that gave it away that I was up so something! So now that we had the plan, and we knew how to surprise her, we needed to figure out where it would take place, as well as getting the ring. The where was easy, I had an idea in my head that I wanted to implement. Something that was meaningful to me and something I knew she would appreciate. Now the fun part came with buying the ring and sneaking off to buy it. I like to think I lied without lying lol. I told her that I was going shopping, which I did, I just never told her that I was going ring shopping! It was great, she was tired and didn’t want to go shopping with me all day and so I was able to set up a zoom call with the whole committee as we picked out the ring! So now we have the date, the location, the ring, all that was left was the decorations and the actual execution! Come the day off, I was so nervous, but I knew I couldn’t show any sign of nerves. In fact, I played like the whole day was a random “let’s go be spontaneous” but the WHOLE day had been meticulously planned out. We left the house 30 mins before her family got there, her phone needed an update, so I had her phone on me the whole time, internally I’m going crazy but externally I’m as cool as a cucumber lol. After we left the restaurant (where we had our first official date) we headed to the park where one of her close friends was waiting to surprise her and record her reaction! Now, I couldn’t talk much given I had a ring in my pocket and the nerves were getting to me, so I asked her one of my philosophical questions that I KNEW would keep her distracted (Where are you in life?). Before you knew it, she was in shock from both seeing her close friend that had been avoiding her, and the fact that she was getting proposed to! Little did she know, that her family was waiting for her back home for part two of the proposal! After I proposed, we called Sasha and she kept her talking and distracted as we drove back to our home. By the time she realized I still had a surprise up my sleeve, she was already in tears from seeing her family in our home! The video says it all lol.

We are so excited to share our special day with all of you! Continue to check this website for updates and important information regarding our special day. We love you, and can't wait to celebrate with you soon! Love, The Future Dr. & Mrs. Johnson