The greatest love of my life and our fun little story!
I met my husband online (you know, the "cool" way) in September of 2015. I was looking for something casual, but that didn't quite work out once we met in person. We've been together since.
I could tell something was different about Christian from the first time I talked to him. He was kind, intelligent and funny. He was respectful of my time and opinions and was honest about his past. Our first date, at the Gwinnett County Fair, was very telling.
He ate a corn dog in the strangest way I'd ever seen, proving he was his own person and didn't care what anyone else thought - even me!
He rode the dangerous rides for me and kept me laughing for hours. We talked so long they turned the lights out on us!
Since then, we've been adventure partners, Liverpool supporters, Georgia Tech fans, Atlanta United season ticket holders, hiking/fishing buddies, parents to fur-babies, and homeowners together and will soon be husband and wife!
The Proposal
Before we begin, it's important to note that I have "man hands" (#SeinfeldReference) - according to Christian, they are chubby, little boy hands. I've always been a little self-conscious about them and I was worried that when he proposed, the ring would look awful on my hand. So we started to hunt.
We had been casually looking at engagement rings for a few months, with little success in finding anything that complimented my hand (they honestly all looked awful). A few days after Christmas, however, we finally happened upon the perfect ring by the designer Ritani. I couldn't remember the name of the ring (still can't), or the designer, so we dubbed the ring the "Rigatoni". I dreamed about that ring for weeks.
It's also important to note that I don't really care for jewelry like diamonds or pearls. so it was a big deal for me to put that much mental energy towards something so material and "unnecessary". But man, was I in love with that ring - and Christian knew it.
I knew the Atlanta United (our hometown soccer team and MLS Cup champs of 2018!) home-opener at Mercedes Benz Stadium was on March 11th, so I threw a few jokes around about what a perfect day and location that would be for a proposal. I kept the joke running for weeks as Christian laughed it off, thinking I wouldn't see that ring for at least a year.
March 11th came around and I made several jokes on the way to the stadium: "Today's the day!", "You'd better be ready with the ring", etc. Again, just thinking I was being the typical annoying girlfriend he had come to adore.
We arrived at the stadium early, under Christian's guise of "beating the crowd". We sat with our good friends, Tyler and Emily, and caught up a little. Christian and Tyler left to "use the bathroom" as Emily and I sat chatting. Turns out, Tyler had brought the ring box in with him through another gate so Christian wouldn't have to show it to security, and they were making the switch. The boys finally came back and Tyler left with Emily to "grab food". As they took their posts behind us, with their cameras ready, Christian and I sat and talked about the start of the season.
Our other season-ticket-holder neighbors, Ron and Nancy, had mentioned at the end of the previous season that they hoped to see something shiny on my finger the next time they saw me. As Christian and I sat discussing the players, etc., I said "Nancy is going to be upset that nothing happened since we saw them last". Then Christian said, "About that..." and pulled a letter out of his pocket.
I stared at the letter for a few seconds and asked him what it was several times. He urged me to open it and I did - I think I cried from that moment until the end of the match. The letter mentioned how nothing about our relationship was what he had planned. Our first date hadn't been what he planned, our relationship hadn't been what he planned, and the proposal hadn't been what he planned (he planned to propose while fishing). He wrote about his love for me and our life together, and how after all of my [gentle] prodding, how could he NOT propose at the place I'd talked about for over a month? After all, he'd already purchased the ring (a few days after we found it) and the stadium was somewhere that felt like home.
With an open-ended question at the end of the letter, I turned to look at him as he got down on one knee. I gasped as he asked, and said yes through my tears. Our sweet friends came running down the aisle with their cameras to capture our reactions as we kissed and hugged and cried.
It was our place, in our seats, with some of our favorite people, and a ring we named after pasta. It was unexpected and glorious (and then our team won!).
For details and photos of the wedding, check out my Wedding Fun! page. It was the BEST day!
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