How we met: Chad and I met for the first time on August 6, 2012. Prior to that, we had been emailing back and forth after being matched together on EHarmony. Neither of us were sure of online dating, but we knew we wanted to find someone that would bring out the best in us…or at least find someone to take to upcoming weddings and concerts.
Right away on our first date, I knew something was different. Suddenly, dating seemed so easy! Chad and I had plenty to talk about, and he made me laugh the whole night. On the walk home, Chad held my hand and went in for the first kiss! He said later that in the chance we wouldn’t go on another date, he wanted to be able to say he kissed me. Can you tell he is a charmer?
From there, Chad and I started to see each other regularly, experiencing the city and getting to know each other’s friends and family. One of my girlfriends always told me that they knew they had found “the one” because being in a relationship was finally easy. Sure, you have your moments or disagreements, but the ease of being with each other and the way those moments are handled are how you know you found the person you should be with. Within months of being with Chad, I knew exactly what she meant.
how they asked: Over the next two years, our relationship continued to grow and we decided to move in together in June 2014. Chad and I had lived about 45 minutes apart the whole relationship, so we were looking forward to going from 2-3 days together, to being able to share at least one moment together every day. Our friends were planning to rent Chad’s condo, so they came over one Wednesday afternoon for a final walk-through before committing to the move.
The night of the walk-through, I went over to Chad’s house and we showed our friends the place. The condo has a 1-car detached garage, so I next suggested we all go downstairs to see it. Apparently, unknown to me, I wasn’t supposed to do that….
So Chad quickly jumped in and said, “I mean, it is a garage…why don’t the boys just go look and you girls can stay up here.” And since I am lazy, I clearly thought that was a lovely idea. Plus, putting shoes on sounded like a lot of work. So the boys went downstairs, and the girls stayed upstairs chatting until suddenly there was a knock at the door…
My first reaction was saying, “ugh, what?!” but then I realized that Chad must have forgotten his keys. When I got up and opened the door, Chad was standing there with a sign that read, “SAY IT’S CAROL SINGERS” and that is where the roller coaster of excitement and emotions kicked in. With the Killer’s song, “Shot at the Night” playing in the background, Chad reenacted HIS version of my favorite scene from my favorite movie, “Love Actually.” One by one, he went through each sign. They read:
SAY IT’S CAROL SINGERS
WITH ANY LUCK BY NEXT YEAR
WE WILL BE LIVING TOGETHER
BUT FOR NOW LET ME SAY
WILL ALL MY HOPE AND ALL MY LOVE
JUST BECAUSE IT’S WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25TH
(AND ON RANDOM WEDNESDAYS IN JUNE YOU TELL THE TRUTH)
TO ME YOU ARE PERFECT
AND MY WASTED HEART WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
CARRIE WILL YOU GIVE ME A SHOT AT THE NIGHT
CARRIE WILL YOU GIVE ME A SHOT AT YOUR LIFE
CARRIE WILL YOU
And then he got down on one knee, opened a little blue box, and asked me to marry him!
With every sign that he dropped, I became more and more hysterical, which you will see in the video. My favorite part (well, the whole thing is my favorite part) is when he looked at me and held up the ring and said, “Did you want to see this??” In the madness of it all, I never even looked at the gorgeous ring he had in his hands!
After the proposal, I was in so much shock that I remember hugging our friends and awkwardly kicking them out. I didn’t know what I was doing, all I knew is that my heart was racing and I had never been more excited in all my life. We popped the bubbly, toasted to our future, and of course started all the family calls.
I could not be more excited to get to spend my life with Chad. He has made me laugh and smile every day since we first met. I don’t really believe in soul mates, but I believe in finding the person that you want to be with every day, whether happy or sad, in good and tough times, and that for me is Chad. He makes me feel loved every day, and I just hope I can show him the same in return.
