How We Met
It was the Summer of 2015 before my sophomore year of college. I had been on Tinder a few times while I was back home in New Jersey. I had met a few guys on there, but like most guys on dating apps they turned out to be jerks. Around July, I came upon Justin and when I saw his pictures the first thing that went through my mind was, “there’s no way this guy is real.” But I took a chance and swiped right to him and to my surprise we matched! (Thanks Tinder!) All I could think about was, “how could a guy this attractive think I’m just as attractive?” (Lol)
Justin messaged me first, (cause I’m a chicken and don’t like messaging guys first lol) and we talked on and off for over a month. At the time I had just ended things with a guy I actually also met on Tinder prior so I definitely wasn’t so quick to meet any guy, so I made Justin work for it lol.
Fast forward, a month after talking and a week before I was supposed to head back to school for my sophomore year, I agreed to meet Justin for the first time because I told him I was planning on deleting Tinder. The crazy thing about our first meeting was Justin didn’t have a phone so he was using his iPod. So he could only communicate with me on Snapchat at one point. But it all worked out and we agreed to meet in this cute little town outside of his Aunt’s Spa.
Our first meeting was pretty awkward, but he made me laugh and we just talked like we did on Tinder. But all I kept thinking about was how I was going back to school in Rhode Island in less than a week so what would be the point of this? Maybe we would stay friends? Or maybe he’d just try to hook up with me and never talk to me again? Lol. But Justin surprised me as he always does after I explained to him how far of a drive my school was from Jersey he instantly said, “Oh Rhode Island? That’s not that far, I’d drive up there to come and see you.”
And from there he continued to surprise me by actually coming up to see me at school once a month and the rest was history. We have been together for 3.5 years now and every day he amazes me. Justin is kind, he is loving, and he truly strives to give me the world.
How They Asked
Justin is on his way to joining the U.S. Air Force, and with that, we knew at this stage in our lives we were ready to take the next step and tie the knot.
Justin and I always go to the reservoir at his house. We would go when we just wanted to get away from it all and talk about our future. No matter the weather that became our spot to just be together and not worry about any care in the world. So it didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary for him to want to go there to take pictures together on a Sunday afternoon.
I did notice that he was acting a bit weird and asking me what outfit I was thinking of wearing, but I didn’t think much into it cause that’s just the way he is. He told me he would be going out with his sister Michelle to grab a couple of things for the photos so I should hang out with Abby (Michelle’s girlfriend) while he was gone.
Abby the lifesaver she is, helped me get ready and helped me do my makeup only because I personally did not think I needed to be that dressed up. Once I was ready, I called Justin and he told me to make sure I peed before leaving because my tiny bladder would 100% need to go in the middle of the photoshoot lol.
When we arrived at the reservoir Abby and I walked across the bridge that would lead to the beach area of the reservoir. At this point, I became a bit weary but I was so excited to see him I couldn’t even keep my thoughts straight. Hikers on the trails kept smiling at me as we got closer to where he was and my heart was racing because of my excitement.
And when I saw him I smiled so big that my cheeks already started to hurt! I walked up to him and he turned around with a bunch of roses in his arms. At this point, I knew and was every emotion possible.
He started by saying, “Chelsea you know I love you with all my heart, and you know that I want to marry you.” And when I saw the tears in his eyes I basically blacked out and have no idea what happened next until I heard the words, “Will you marry me?” And I simply said, “Yup!”
We celebrated together over dinner at one of Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in Somerville.
Justin will be shipping out to Basic Military Training with the U.S. Air Force at the end of April. When he discussed him enlisting and our future after I graduated college, we both knew that we wanted to take the next step in our relationship. We’ve known that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together as early as a few short months of dating. This will allow us to begin our lives together and truly learn and grown apart and together.
Looks like I’m #GettingHayes2020