We're Getting Married!!!

We matched on Hinge (thank you, Hinge!!) and the rest is history. Sam’s profile said he was a math teacher and included a hot take: “Taylor Swift is by far the best artist.” How could I not match with this Swiftie-teacher-boy?? We hit it off right away and took the conversation off the app and onto text. Sam kept things a little mysterious... whenever I’d ask him something, he’d say, “I’ll tell you in person.” So of course, I had to know more! Our schedules didn’t line up easily- just when I’d get free in the evenings, Sam would start tutoring. But we finally went on our first date on Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 at Jeni’s Ice Cream in the Domain. We walked and talked (and walked some more), eventually ending up at the bar at Culinary Dropout. We talked the entire night until it was getting late and Sam said, "Don't you have to go to school tomorrow?" Exactly 20 days later, on March 27th, we made it official. From the moment I saw his profile, I felt confident we’d end up together and Sam has always been sure of me, too. Our love story is one of my favorites.

We had already picked out my ring, and I was pretty sure Sam had ordered it... but I truly had no idea when it was coming. I was driving myself crazy with anticipation, so I decided to just let it go and stop overanalyzing everything (or at least try to!). The weekend before Valentine's Day, Sam and I were having dinner in the Domain with my parents. He casually mentioned we should come back the next weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day and maybe get brunch at Culinary Dropout. I shot that down pretty quickly (wasn’t that impressed with their brunch), so he pivoted: “Okay, we can make breakfast at home and THEN go walk around the Domain.” He was surprisingly set on this plan, but I didn’t think twice about it. On Valentine’s Day night, we went to my sister’s to babysit our niece, Amelia. She grabbed my glasses off my face and threw them onto the floor I forgot they were on the ground, stood up, and absolutely annihilated them. Sam looked at me kind of stunned and said, “Good thing you don’t need your photo taken anytime soon,” which in hindsight… was a pretty weird comment. The next morning, Sam made me breakfast at home: scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, just like we used to make when we first started dating. We grabbed coffee from Cheri Coffee and Flowers (our favorite) and headed to the Domain. Sam made sure to park in the Red Garage, the same one where we both parked for our first date. He insisted we walk the long way around the Domain instead of cutting through the apartments, and I just went with it. We came up on the dog park with Banjo, and I was ready to let him run around with the other pups—when Sam grabbed my arms, pulled me aside on the sidewalk, pulled out a sparkly diamond ring from his pocket, and dropped to one knee. He kept it simple: “Angela, will you marry me?” I was in total shock. Was this a prank?? Was I actually getting engaged at 10 a.m. on a rainy day in jeans with my broken glasses?? But it was perfect, and of course I said yes. We hugged and kissed and hugged and kissed. Sam’s friend was hiding nearby, snapping photos of the moment (which we’ll always treasure). Sam asked if I wanted to sit down and call our families, but I said, “Can we go to Warby Parker? I need new glasses.” 😂 So the first stop as an engaged couple: Warby Parker. Then we picked up flowers from Cheri, called all our loved ones, and soaked in the happiest day ever. I'll never, ever forget it.