We're so excited to celebrate with you!

Well... as many of you know, Michael and I went to school together. Although our older brothers were close friends we had never talked until we were placed in the same class in September 2014 (Opt-Out). I remember being a nervous freshman walking into this classroom where I knew no one. Little did I know that one interaction would change my life forever. From the first moment we met, I knew Michael was something special! We laughed every day in class and played cards when we had no work to do. Over time, he became my best friend. But in his mind, I was not “just” his best friend. Who knew! 😊

Our love story begins after that first year where we became best friends. That following summer we were headed to Italy for the very first time. We were over the moon excited. I could not wait because I would get to travel out of the country for the first time with my BEST FRIEND! From the minute we left, we were laughing every step of the way. We knew this trip would be the start of something great. As you may already be able to guess, everyone except for me knew that Michael had a HUGE crush on me. But he was my best friend and I loved it. After the two weeks we spent in Italy, we came back closer than ever, and our friendship was blooming. Okay, fast forward to prom season. We were in Adam's basement, and the song "Drops of Jupiter" by Train started playing. Almost immediately, Michael appeared holding flowers (& my favorite ice cream) & asked me to junior prom! Now, you would think at that point I would get the hint that he had feelings for me, but I didn't! But of course, I did say yes! After 2 years of "friend-zoning" Michael it was time for him to move on (kind of). The summer after prom he had a new girlfriend. I was so happy for him, but it also meant that we were drifting. Throughout our college years, every so often we would check in with each other, but our relationship was never the same. 4 long years later (Thanksgiving Eve 2017). Michael was out & ran into my good friend Kelsey (of course she told me about the encounter) and it was that moment I realized that I was bothered we hadn't talked in years. So, the next month, right around the holidays, I reached out to him. What happened next was the best thing to ever happen to us! We reconnected & found out that we both worked in the city. So, on January 16th, Michael took me out for dinner and drinks. You would have thought no time had passed at all. It was at that moment I sent a text to two of my friends because I suddenly knew this was it. A month later, after 7 long years we were finally dating!

On the morning of August 12th, 2019, Katie and I woke up in Italy and started getting ready for the day. But little did I know how different today was going to be. Katie told me to curl my hair and put some makeup on. At first, I was kind of bothered. Like, let me just do what I want! Then my mom came into our room because (I guess) I picked out the wrong dress to wear, lol. So, she changed my mind and encouraged me to wear a different (floral) dress. At this point in the morning (still not picking up on anything), I was cranky and moody, but we left for the day and began our journey to the beautiful town of San Gimignano, Italy. We walked around the town, went shopping, and then headed to the San Gimignano Winery. We sat for lunch and began tasting wine. It was wonderful! Half-way through our lunch, my mom and the tour guide (Carolina) went outside and asked Michael to come and help them with something. 20 minutes went by and I started asking what he was doing. At this point, our friends knew what was going on (but not me!). Austin, Peter and Katie were trying to keep me distracted and blocked the window so I could not see anything that was going on outside. (I found out later that the photographer was late, so they were waiting for him to arrive). Finally, my mom came back and asked my dad and I to come outside for pictures before getting a group shot. It was at this point I finally started to feel like something was wrong, but it was not until I made eye contact with my mom that I (finally) knew what was coming! After taking some pictures with my mom and dad, Michael wanted to take a picture just with me, but instead he got down on one knee (in my favorite country!) and asked me to marry him! I guess it was at that point, that I was “Stolen by Nolan”.