How We Met
Justin and I grew up in the same town and went to high schools that were minutes away from each other. I went to Longwood University for my first two years of college and turns out Justin visited his friends at Longwood pretty often so I have no clue how we never ran into each other before we did! Okay now fast forward to fall of 2013! We ran into each other at a bar a couple times and also at a friends party but we were formally introduced by mutual friends from high school. All of our friends had a Sunday ritual of going to a sports bar and watching our football teams play every weekend. Justin just so happens to be a Cowboys fan (Boooo!) and I am a Redskins fan (HTTR!) so every Sunday during football season we would go talk smack to each other about our teams winning or losing that weekend. We hung out as friends for a few months (that’s how long it took him to make the first move!) Fast forward to January 28th 2014- he made brownies for me and on the plate it read, “Lauren, will you officially be my girlfriend?” The rest is history and now we are inseparable!
how they asked
My fiancé proposed to me Saturday January 30th 2016 in a penthouse suite over looking Crystal City, Arlington Va. Justin is my best friend, the love of my life and he planned the sweetest proposal! Justin and I have been inseparable since we started dating. He truly is my soulmate. He came to me a few months ago and told me he was going to enlist in the Army to further his career. I was so proud of him and of course really supportive but it also broke my heart. His training would be 6 months long and I knew that I wouldn’t get to go with him to whatever base they sent him to unless we were married so I didn’t see this happening until after he got sent to a base.
Our anniversary was on a Thursday this month so Justin told me that he had a lot planned for us that weekend. Thursday night we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants close to where we grew up. Friday night he took me to our favorite pizza place and then took me to see a movie. Saturday (the day of the proposal) Justin told me to be ready by 5 so he could take me out to dinner. We made it to dinner and he barely ate, and he was sucking down water like he just ran a marathon through a desert! When we finished with dinner he told me his grandparents were in town from Ohio and that his dad rented a place for them to stay in Arlington. He said we were going to swing by and visit with them for a little while. We got in the car and headed to see them. When we arrived we parked in a garage and walked towards the front of a gorgeous building. After checking in with a fancy security guard we got on to an elevator and rode all the way up to the top level. He lead me down a long hallway to a door for an end penthouse unit. He opened the door for me and I walked in.
The first thing I saw were rose petals scattered all over the floor, little candles were lit everywhere, and all the lights were off. There were pictures of us with hearts around them on an end table. I looked up and saw Justin’s sister taking pictures in a hallway. I heard a lot of whispers so I walked around the corner and saw at least 50 of our friends and family standing there with their phones out recording me. I looked to my right and noticed a dining table full of food and the kitchen was stocked with champagne and lots of wine. When I turned back around Justin was already down on one knee and asked for my hand. I was in shock, shaking, and had already started crying. I managed to hear him say, “Lauren will you marry me”. I said yes and heard clapping and cheering from everyone behind us. The rest of the night was spent celebrating our engagement with our friends and family!
