We are a post covid world, online dating love story! Just as we were both losing hope in the online dating community, we both decided to give it another go and expecting to go on another awkward first date. We decided to go on a little local hike on the trail at Cold Spring Harbor. My friends made me share my location on my phone to make sure Anthony wasn’t going to murder me in the woods but my gut said I didn’t think we have to worry about this one. To both of our surprise conversation flowed and it wasn’t awkward at all. We found out pretty quickly that we were very similar people raised by similar families. Anthony was a gentlemen the whole time and walked me back to my car and asked if we could do this again sometime. He turned and got into his 2005 Toyota Camry and wondered if I was quietly judging. He later asked me what I thought of his car after the first date and said I didn’t even notice. All I could think about was when I was going to see him next.

On our beautiful vacation in Switzerland, Anthony popped the question! Anthony was calm cool and collected that day, showing no signs of nerves. I questioned why Anthony wore his nicer shorts on a hike and he replied “I like them.” Not thinking anything of it but then later learning he chose those shorts because of the pockets. We went the most scenic hike we’ve ever been on over looking Lake Oeschinensee. Ironically, I started a conversation about how cool it was that our first date was a simple hike in Cold Spring Harbor and comparing it to how far we’ve come on this hike in more ways than one. The hike was strenuous, sweat pouring down both of our faces and Anthony wiping the sweat from my eyes. I now laugh looking back at how not glamorous this was just prior to an engagement. During the hike Anthony was trying to find some private alone time away from the other hikers. He wanted to propose when we got to the peak overlooking the beautiful lake but there were too many people around. He said to himself maybe another day during this trip. We hiked all the way back down enjoying the view and saw a couple standing on a huge rock much closer to the lake. I said that would be a great photo op! He agreed and thought this was his moment to shine! I took photos of him on the rock then it was my turn. He told me to turn around and face the lake and he’ll take some photos from behind of me looking at the lake. He then said “okay now turn around.” When I turned he was down on one knee I gasped, and was totally stunned! We’ve talked about this moment so many times but when it finally came I was truly so surprised and so overjoyed! We had our little moment and then a kind woman who witnessed from afar came over and took photos of the two of us. After we took a dip in the lake to cool off and soaked everything in!