Jeff always says the moment we met was in 2007 when he saw me at soccer practice from across the field while he was at his lacrosse practice. To be honest, I was so focused on soccer that I wasn’t looking around at anything else! Jeff and I officially met a few months later at a party, but that was not where our love story started. We were both in long term relationships which led to us going a few years without talking. While out for a girl’s night downtown I noticed a familiar group of guys from the corner of my eye. I immediately told my friends I would be right back and grabbed my drink to go say hello. Jeff happened to be one of those guys. We quickly hit it off just like the first time. That night we finally exchanged numbers. A couple days later Jeff had asked me out on a date. I immediately got nervous as I typed back of course! I was so nervous that I had my best friend be there on the date with me! And guess what, he still asked me out again after that! All three of us hit off! Fast forward six years, here we are with two fur kids, and a lovely house that we have made our own and engaged to be married! Jeff proposed on April 19, 2018. It was a typical Thursday morning for me as I was getting ready for work and making my coffee in the kitchen. As I turned around to start heading out the door to go to work Jeff was in his robe on one knee asking me to marry him. It was exactly how I imagined it (minus the robe) being a very intimate personal moment with no one around except our two dogs.

The Romance

Donald and I first met in high school. Donald was a Junior and I was a Sophomore. We dated for a short period of time but stayed friends throughout high school. Even after that we still stayed in contact here and there, but both were living different lives at the time.
  
Fast forward a couple years, we would randomly see each other at the softball fields we both played at. As months went by, we started seeing each other more and more. It was right around the time that I had just turned 21. We continued to hangout and went to the bar several times together. And it was about 6 years ago in our favorite bar "at that time" he pulled me close and whispered to me "I’m starting to get feelings for you". In that exact moment my heart skipped a beat, I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest. I kept telling myself leading up to this moment that he just sees us as friends, and I told myself I needed to be okay with that. But deep down this was the moment I had been waiting for, for years. I remember kissing him after he said that, and it was like I knew right then and there I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man.

We started dating 12-13-14. (I know how cute, Donald waited till that exact day to ask me to be his girlfriend.) For months we didn’t go a day without seeing each other we were in the new couple stages and loving every moment. And like all relationships there comes a time where your love for each other is tested, and it is those moments where you see if what you have is worth it. We had some hiccups along the way but in the end, we always came back to each other.

3 years ago, we decided to get a dog and to me that felt like that was the beginning of our love story, mind you I have never owned a dog ever in my life and Donald was adamant about getting this dog. In a way it was like starting a family and I truly felt our "Maddie girl" (our Dog) is what started the topic of wanting to spend the rest of our lives together. As months went by, we had really started talking about marriage. We were both on the same page. We both agreed that we were ready to spend the rest of our lives together. Donald met me at my parents’ house one day after work to help with stuff around my parents’ house. I had left to go back to Donald’s house while he stayed back. He asked my mother for permission and my dad for my hand, with shock in their eyes they said yes. Donald had a plan to propose in September of 2017 at a softball tournament in Indiana, go figure right? Unfortunately, his niece got a little too excited and told me the whole plan. I ended up telling Donald I knew his plan so that we could still enjoy the experience of him proposing.

Labor Day weekend was in a few weeks so I told Donald that he should propose before we got together with my family for a holiday party. The Friday before Labor Day he had still not proposed, and I was pissed. I'm pretty sure I didn't talk to him the whole night. As upset as I was, I knew we were going to spend the day with my family at my cousin’s cottage in Lake St Clair. It was a gorgeous day and my family really knows how to party; we were all enjoying time together. Little did I know Donald had the ring in his pocket the whole time. Mind you, you have to take a boat across Lake St. Clair to get to the cottage.

After we all ate dinner, we had to take our annual family photo. We all gathered together on the back porch, and had the neighbor come over to take a few photos. As we all started looking forward and smiling Donald turns around and gets down on one knee. As I started gasping for air and filling with so much excitement I just stared at Donald, literally just stared! As I’m still in shock my one aunt says well?? And all I did was grab Donald’s face and kiss him. They all knew at that moment it was a big yes. The neighbor happened to get some awesome photos. We continued to party all night and celebrate this new chapter we were about to begin. The planning started shortly after. We were so excited to ask our closet family and friends to stand with us. We have a total of 10 girls and 10 guys. Asking each one was so special to us we shared nothing but happy tears and great laughs.
  
Planning continued and in a blink of an eye we are a couple short months away from our big day. I personally cannot contain the excitement inside of me at the thought of marrying my best friend. I catch myself imagining that day of him grabbing my face to kiss me after we say I do. I can’t wait to start this chapter of our lives and continue to grow stronger and stronger as a couple. Each morning I wake up to the most amazing man, and every night I get to kiss him good night. Our love story is not perfect, it’s had its ups and downs. But I wouldn’t trade living this crazy thing they call life with anyone else. I have known for a while I wanted to marry Donald and I never lost hope. Donald is my today and all of my tomorrows.