How We Met
Mike & I met in 8th-grade Spanish class. We knew of each other prior to 8th grade, but we didn’t talk to each other until one day in class. We were having a Spanish quiz and I sat in front of Mike. We were told to pass the tests back, and when I turned around to give Mike his test I caught him covering up test answers on his desk! He immediately said, “Please don’t tell on me!!!” I laughed and told him I wouldn’t. The rest was all history! We were really good friends for a while until one day Mike took me to my favorite restaurant, Carrabba’s which was over an hour away. We were only 14 and 15 at the time so we had to have our parents drive us. He asked me to be his girlfriend while we were at the restaurant and gave me a rose.
We went our separate ways about a year later. Mike and I kept in contact throughout the years. I went off to college in West Chester Pennsylvania and Mike served in the Air Force.
During my last year of college in 2014, we began talking around New Years. Mike wasn’t coming home from leave until April, so we talked pretty often until then. When he came home in April he came to visit me at school, and we stayed up talking until 3 am!! When Mike went back to New Mexico we still talked every single day and occasionally FaceTime.
I decided that over Labor Day weekend I would fly out to see him since he only had a few more months left in the Air Force. When I got to New Mexico I was sooo nervous!! We haven’t seen each other in 6 months, I didn’t know what to expect. Mike picked me up from the airport and I ran to give him a hug and he kissed me! This was our first kiss in over 6 years!!!
Mike showed me around New Mexico the next day and even took me on base. That night he had a special dinner planned for us. We took a 2.7 mile Tram ride up Sandia Mountain. Once we got up there we went to the restaurant on top of the mountain where we shared a bottle of wine and had an amazing dinner. After dinner, we went outside to the observation deck overlooking Albuquerque at 10,000 feet! It was then where Mike asked me for a second time to be his girlfriend! Let’s just say that that trip to New Mexico was one of the best decisions that I have made.
How They Asked
It has been a little over 4 years that we have been dating before Mike popped the question. We moved from New Jersey to Raleigh, NC a year ago so we knew that we would be traveling all over for the holidays. Since his dad and my grandpa live close to each other in Florida, we decided that we would spend Thanksgiving with them.
We became Disney Annual Passholders for my birthday in May, so Mike suggested that we take a ride up to Orlando the day after Thanksgiving. It was only a 2-hour ride and I will take any chance to go to Disney that I can! We were having the best luck that day. I have been dying to eat at Be Our Guest but could never get reservations. We went up to ask if they had any open availability and they did!! This wasn’t part of Mike’s plan at all, but it just added to this special day that I had no idea about! After lunch, we took the train from Fantasyland to Main St. where we walked around.
Since we have started coming to Disney in 2015 I have always wanted one of the Mickey Balloons sold on Main St. We usually fly down to Florida so it never made sense to buy one. The last few times that we have driven down, I have asked Mike if I could get one but he would roll his eyes and say “Do you really want one?! It’s going to pop as soon as we get home!!” So we walked down Main St. and we were passing the balloons, I looked up at Mike and smiled but didn’t say anything. We walked over towards the castle and Mike turns to me and says “Do you really want a balloon? I’ll get one, what color do you want?” I told him I wanted a pink one because that is my favorite color. He told me to stay in the grass area and take some pictures of the castle.
About 10 minutes later I see Mike coming around the corner with the pink balloon in his hands. He looked extremely nervous and that is when I realized that something was about to happen. Mike tied the balloon around my wrist so it wouldn’t fly away and he began to tell me how much he loved me and how he always knew since he was 15 that I was the one for him.
He then took the end of the balloon string where the ring was tied to and put it on my finger and got down on one knee. I immediately started tearing up. I could hear people walking by cheering and clapping, we even had a security guard walk up to us and say it was one of the most beautiful things he has seen. It was the best day of our lives at one of the most magical places on earth. Here is to the begin of our “happily ever after”.
