How We Met
Ours is a modern romance; it all started with a swipe right.
We both attended the University of Florida and moved to Ohio for work, all before knowing each other. When we matched on a dating app, I was just excited that I met someone to watch football games with. I truly did not think I was about to meet my soulmate. We chatted for a while before I agreed to meet up to watch the Florida game at a local bar. When I met him, my first thought was that he was very cute. I was pleased with my new football watching partner, to say the least. We got to chatting and ended up laughing way too much and basically missing the entire game. We went to a Kings of Leon concert a few nights later and hung out a couple of times a week for the next month or so.
Thanksgiving break was coming up, and we both had a long weekend off work. We decided to take a spontaneous trip to Chicago because I had never been and he was dying to see a DJ that was playing. We had so much fun exploring the city, eating deep dish pizza for every meal, and dancing the nights away. On that trip, he admitted that while he was getting his teeth cleaned a few days before, he asked his dentist (who is also his cousin) for tips on asking me to be his girlfriend. His dentist/cousin told him to keep it cool and casually bring it up in conversation. He did not bring it up casually, but his honesty was so sweet and refreshing. Thankfully, he improved his tactic when it came time to ask me to be his wife…
How They Asked
I am a resident physician, and so my academic year starts on July 1st. On a sunny afternoon in late June, we were at a pool party to celebrate the end of the academic year. I offered to pick up a shift that weekend for a co-resident, who aggressively declined. I later found out that Chris warned them of his plans so that I could have the weekend free. On Friday morning, my chief resident sent me home early, which is rare. I called Chris on the way home. He told me to hurry home and pack so we can go on a spontaneous road trip for the weekend. I figured that he wanted to take advantage of the early Friday and excitedly agreed without thinking too much of it.
I was told to pack one bathing suit and a nice dress. After packing at least six outfits, we hit the road. His cousin let us borrow his convertible, so we enjoyed the ride with the top down. We arrived at Nemacolin resort in Pennsylvania a few hours later. When we got there, a butler ran up to the car and greeted me by name. He told me to leave my bags in the car, as he would be taking them up to our suite himself. By this time, I thought something might be up. We went up to our huge suite (it had two bathrooms and two balconies!) and got settled in. Chris was acting totally normal, but I was still suspicious. He told me that we had reservations for a nice dinner. Our table was right next to the window, which was awesome because there was a lovely sunset. After a normal dinner, we had a normal night out. We went to the casino, where I gambled all of five dollars. Chris dominated the blackjack table until he didn’t, which is when we decided to go back to the room.
We woke up on Saturday and Chris told me that he made spa appointments. I was so excited because I have always wanted to have a spa day like they do in the movies. I was also surprised because Chris isn’t really the spa type. I was booked for a facial, with no manicure. Chris knows to make sure a girl’s nails are freshly painted prior to popping the question. At that point, I thought I was silly for thinking this weekend was anything but a spontaneous getaway. I relaxed and soaked up the day of pampering in the whirlpool and sauna. Afterward, we met at the pool. We sunbathed and ordered a gigantic frozen drink in a pineapple. We were on vacation, after all.
Chris walked back to the room before me and told me we had a small spa credit left if I wanted to use it. I never have my nails painted for work, so I decided to use the time to get a manicure because you never know. With freshly painted nails, I walked back to the room. Resort employees were setting up for an outdoor event that night. They were testing the speaker system, and “Marry You” by Bruno Mars was playing while I walked by, which was by complete coincidence. Chris was napping when I arrived, and I started getting ready for dinner. You know, normal vacation things.
He woke up and told me to be ready by 7 so that we could take a nice picture at the neighboring resort before dinner. Weird for him to offer to take a picture, but I wasn’t going to argue with a guaranteed framable photo. Before we left, he suggested that I wear my grandmother’s earrings. I put them on, and we headed for the car. He opened the car door for me and started telling me about the moment he knew he loved me, which was when we were dancing in Chicago. The rest of the ride was spent reminiscing about our favorite memories together.
We got to the resort, and he started getting annoyed that it was cloudy outside. He’s normally really easy going. I didn’t really understand why he was annoyed and suggested that we walk around a little bit and take the picture so we’re not late for dinner. We started walking along the sidewalk, and he started talking about the clouds, and wind, and windmills. He then asked me to stop and look at the windmills. By this point, I was just confused. I changed the subject and pointed to a table with champagne and rose petals near us and joked about how “that person knows how to live.” He led me past the table, no longer talking about windmills, but about what he loves about me.
I know that people always say that the rest is a blur, but it really wasn’t. I wanted to etch the next line in my brain because it was just perfect He said: “I’ve been thinking about you and what you’re doing for the rest of your life, and I want to know if you would spend it with me.” He got down on one knee, took out the most beautiful ring, and asked me to marry him. The next few moments were a rush of tears, kisses, and laughs from both of us, and a huge “of course!” from me.
I heard clicks and then saw the photographer jump out of some undisclosed hiding location. Chris explained that the photographer suggested we look off into the distance so he could get some “before” shots, hence the windmill talk. We also had to wander around a bit to find the penny that was taped to the ground as our “X marks the spot,” hence walking by the table with champagne. We popped the champagne, took some fun photographs and enjoyed the moment. It didn’t really hit me until we were leaving the resort.
Someone at the door said, “I hope you enjoyed your stay.” I responded, “I did, we just got en..” but had to stop because I broke out in tears. I dried my tears (somewhat) and we made it to our dinner reservation. We had an amazing 7-course dinner with a dessert at the end that said “Congratulations” in chocolate. I did not want to go home the next morning, but could not wait to FaceTime all of my friends to show off my gorgeous ring from my thoughtful, sweet, and perfect future husband.
