How We Met: Ivy is my best friend, and she also happens to be Johnny’s step cousin. At the time, Ivy and I were living together in NC – and one day she randomly said to me, “I can’t believe I never thought of this, but you and Johnny would be perfect for each other” – (something along those lines). Although the majority of Johnny’s extended family is from my hometown of Ashtabula, OH – our paths never crossed. Johnny grew up in Missouri then Cincinnati, so his visits to Ashtabula were seldom.
My immediate reaction to Ivy’s off-the-wall recommendation was a blend of excitement and doubt. Firstly, because she has never tried to hook me up with someone. Secondly, because Johnny and I lived in different states and it didn’t seem practical. So… naturally, I brushed off the spontaneous suggestion because I wasn’t trying to waste time with someone I couldn’t even spend time with.
Well… (thanks to Ivy’s resilient efforts)… Word got around. And soon enough, Johnny was receiving calls from his parents asking about me. Ultimately, he caved in and sent me a Facebook message. Soon after, we exchanged numbers and began talking for 1-2 hrs every night. I was literally falling head over heels for this man I’ve never met. He was mature, had a great career, attractive, articulate, intelligent, the right dose of attitude & passion, loving, committed, and to top it off – he’s incredibly talented with music. Every morning I awoke to a newly self-recorded video via iPhone of him jamming out on his guitar or piano – and blowing me away with his soulful, bluesy voice. I mean… butterflies don’t give it justice. I was completely smitten.
After 4 weeks of this heavenly dream continuing to unravel – it was time to meet in person. I feared that we would have a great intellectual connection – but the physical chemistry would be lacking. So… I packed my bags and drove to Cincinnati.
We thought we knew each other pretty well after speaking for 50 hours about life, love, ambitions, heartaches, and everything in-between. But we quickly realized it was just the tip of the iceberg, and there was so much yet to learn about one another. So, we took that weekend to get to know each other on a different level… to figure out each other’s bad habits, pet peeves, likes & dislikes, body language, etc. That weekend woke us both up to reality, and trust me – it wasn’t all peaches & cream between two strong-minded Italians ;) But it made us even stronger. It made everything more “real”.
A couple of months later, I decided to move back home to be closer to my family. I traveled between Cleveland & Cincinnati for several months to spend time with Johnny, and our relationship quickly steamed up. We began discussing our future, and both agreed it was meant to be with one another. So… I moved to Cincy, we got engaged, bought a house together – and now we’re in the midst of wedding planning. Everything just fell into place so beautifully.
how they asked: I was convinced I would know when Johnny was going to propose… So he made it his mission to ensure it was the last thing on my mind. We were in the midst of house hunting, and he chose a day we had 10 showings. Of course, my mind is on buying a house and nothing else. He recruited our realtor in on the plan, and had her arrive early to the first house to set everything up (he also had her secretly recording me). There were envelopes on the kitchen island that read “Future Homeowners” – and the letter inside was written as if the actual homeowners were writing to potential buyers. The first page was all about love and it truly took my breath away… I even said out-loud, “Okay, we have to buy this house!” Then, I flipped to the second page where it was addressed to “Katie”. Immediately, I was completely puzzled as to how these people knew my name! But as I continued on, I realized it was a beautiful love letter… and with each word, my heart was fluttering a little faster. And just like out of a movie… he got down on one knee and changed my world forever. The best part is… we ended up BUYING that house!!!