How We Met
Nathan and I actually met in Walt Disney World, we worked together at the Magic Kingdom, operating the rides in Storybook Circus – Dumbo and Barnstormer. We both were doing the Disney College Program, which I am forever grateful for because Nathan is originally from California and I am from Pennsylvania, so the chances of us meeting were impossibly slim, so thanks, Disney! We ended up dating about halfway through the program which lasted about 8 months. At the end of our program, I was staying in Florida and Nathan was moving back to California. It wasn’t easy being apart from each other, but we kicked long-distance butt for almost an entire year. It was actually really fun because I got to go visit him in California several times and I had never been before! He showed me his hometown, the beaches he liked to go to, where he grew up, and all over parts of California that I wanted to go to – San Francisco, Disneyland, Los Angeles, we had so many adventures together.
He was visiting me in Florida for his 21st birthday and on a whim applied to work for Disney again. He immediately got an interview and was offered a job 2 weeks later! It all happened so fast, and suddenly our year apart was ending and our cute little Florida life was beginning. Right before getting engaged, we actually BOUGHT our first house where we live with our two kitty boys. My favorite part about being with Nathan is how much we have grown together in these last 5 years, but how much we love each other just gets stronger every single day. Sometimes I think my heart might burst. :)
How They Asked
On the day of the proposal, we were in Pittsburgh, home visiting my family, and decided to spend a day in the city before going to the Penguins game that night (also my favorite thing in the entire world, Let’s Go Pens!) The morning started out very funny, because I wanted to wear my Penguins jersey around the city since we were going to the game later, but Nathan was trying to get me to wear something a little bit cuter, at the time I had no idea why and just wanted to wear my jersey! He ended up texting my sister and saying, “Text her and make her wear something other than the jersey, she’ll thank us later!” So she texted me out of nowhere, “Wear something cute today, I want some gorgeous pictures of you in the city, okay?” So I finally agreed to at least wear my sweater, but nothing cuter than that! (I was being a massive pain in the butt, but I didn’t know why so I can’t be held accountable!)
Nathan is really into photography so we had gone all over the city taking pictures and exploring little places here and there before we ended up on Mount Washington, which overlooks the entire city of Pittsburgh. Nathan set up his tripod, like he always does while I snapped a couple of shots of the skyline. Then he asked me to stand in the frame so that he could adjust it, which isn’t out of character so I still thought nothing of it. Turns out he was hitting record and making sure I was right where he needed me to be. He came around the front of the camera, stood next to me and held my arms. I can see it like it’s happening right now, he smiled at me and then started to tell me how much he loved me and that he knows I’ve been waiting for this moment, (and that’s exactly when it registered and I promptly burst into tears).
He said, “I wanted to take you to your favorite city, at your favorite spot, with your favorite person to ask you this question. He got down on one knee, pulled out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, and asked me to marry him. I couldn’t say yes fast enough, and I lost the ability to speak, so I just nodded over and over again. Right after he stood up and hugged me a few cars drove past and honked at us yelling congratulations out their windows and I honestly felt on top of the world. He had told my family that he was planning on doing it so I immediately called my sister and she was already crying and I just remember screaming, “YOU KNEW!!!!!” and she said, “OF COURSE I KNEW!”
The rest of the day was filled with more love and congratulations that I even thought possible, followed by going to the Penguins game, and then a small family engagement dinner the next day. He could not have done it any more perfectly, and I will think about this day for the rest of my life.
