We met online and over time kept chatting with one another. He would tune into her radio show and we would text and call back and forth after work everyday. A few weeks later Anthony mentioned that he wanted to change jobs, but there weren't a lot of options. At the time, Alyssa was working at the radio station and they were having a job fair so she mentioned that he could apply for some of the hundreds of job openings up here. She even offered him a place to stay at her apartment if he needed it (she already knew she wanted to date him). Then on August 18th Anthony left the warm start of Florida to make the long journey to Illinois. By August 19th he was here and we officially met in person (and introduced our dogs to each other, Abby and Mickie).

Things were going well and we were getting along great, so one day after dinner Alyssa asked Anthony "So are we dating?" and he smiled and said "Sure." to which Alyssa asked "As in Facebook official?" and once he said yes she updated her Facebook dating status. Cheesy, right?

Alyssa jokingly brought up getting married (because after this long she knew it would happen eventually and liked to tease Anthony about it) and Anthony said "Why don't you just send me examples of rings you like and let me know your ring size?" So she did!

After putting away dinner, Alyssa turned around and found Anthony down on one knee with the ring in the open box. Shocked, the first thing she said was "Really?!" and he laughed and said yes before asking her to marry him. After the initial shock of it, Alyssa said "About time!"