How We Met
Rick and I met in an unusual way. My parents wanted me to work at a factory in Minnesota, which I did not want to do at all. They filled out an application for the job and I ended up getting the job in June. The first day at work, I was put on one of the machines and a coworker was training me in on it, but this machine just so happened to be right next to the one Rick worked on. Secretly, I thought Rick was very handsome, but he was actually dating someone else so respectively I said nothing. Little did I know, where I would be with him today…
On June 26, 2016, I was on a camping trip with my parents and my best friend Amber along as well. That night I received a message from Rick that evening. With all the excitement in my voice, I slapped Amber and yelled: “THE CUTE GUY FROM WORK MESSAGED ME!” Going into some explaining on who he was to Amber, Rick and I spent the rest of the night getting to know one another. We decided after a few days of constantly talking (but he always managed to avoid me at work while we were on the same shift) we made plans to hang out together. The first time we hung out together we walked along the river in Hudson, WI making the awkward-yet-necessary questions out of the way – whats your favorite food, do you have any siblings, favorite hobbies, and so on. Little did I know that day, Rick was actually not very interested in hanging out together after work that day… But with persistence and a lot of patience, I waited until he was ready to move forward with things. I would say that Rick and I became more serious after we went on a mini vacation to Country Jam in Eau Claire, WI. We spent a few days in the sun, relaxing, having some drinks, listening to country music and camping. Shortly after that vacation (and one bad hangover later) Rick ‘officially’ asked me to be his girlfriend on July 29, 2016.
Rick enrolled back into school that summer to study in the Criminal Justice field. Rick explained to me that he had always had an interest in criminal justice, but never pursued it after high school. Being that I am going for my Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice as well, I was able to relate to him and eventually convinced him to apply and he was accepted into the school and program. At the beginning of that school year, Rick and I lived in two different towns. Rick would come over to my apartment to spend time together and I would come over to his. Fast forward to the end of the first semester, I had a bad situation with my roommates and I wanted to get out of my lease. Leaving me with nowhere to live. Rick and I made the decision to move in together in December of 2016. Through living together we were able to learn more about one another and realize the love we had for one another, the rest is history!
how they asked
In February of 2017, Rick’s parents surprised us and let us know that we were going to be going on a cruise the following year. We would be heading to Nassau, Bahamas, CocoCay and Key West on the cruise line. Rick and I were both thrilled about this news and talked about it constantly throughout the course of the year. Come close to Christmas 2017, I sat down with Rick and explained to him that we should not give one another gifts this year for Christmas, but instead do a romantic date in the Bahamas. He agreed, but little did I know that he had his own plans for that day. Previously the night before Rick’s mom had let me know that she wanted to get some “family photos” done. I did not think anything of it since she loves to take pictures. She explained that it would not take any more than 15 minutes.
It was January 9, 2018, when we docked in Nassau, the sun was shining, the ocean was the bluest blue I have ever seen in my life. We got off the ship and jumped into a taxi that took us to a small convenient store, we were all sitting outside of this store while Rick’s mom was inside the store talking to someone on the phone. They explained to us the way we were going to walk down to the beach was closed, so we had to find a different way. Shortly after that a woman approached me and asked me what my name was. I told her my name and she told me that she was the photographer for the day. Confused, I went along with it because like I said, Rick’s mom loves pictures. We ended up driving to a different entrance to the beach, Rick and I were walking ahead of his parents and the photographer. Rick kept telling me that he loves me and kept being extremely sweet. We get to the area where we decided to take some photos. Rick’s parents took some photos together, Rick joined in with his parents, then I joined with them. Shortly after that, Rick and I took some photos together.
What the photographer said next, was their “cue words” to one another. The photographer explained quickly that she just needed to take a quick break, then shortly after that she said that she was ready. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rick moving down. Not realizing what was going on, I said “Rick, what are you doing? Get up!” Then I realized that he was slightly busy with something else. Rick then asked me to marry him, in complete shock I immediately started to cry and yelled YES!
Rick had the most beautiful ring picked out, I could not stop kissing him before he put the ring on my hand. I stood there, shaking uncontrollably in his arms in disbelief of what had just happened.
After we got through the initial proposal, Rick and I took an hours worth of photos together. Rick explained to me that he had plenty of stories to tell me about the ring. Rick had purchased the engagement ring in September of 2017. During that time there was a good handful of people who also got engaged, a few of those being close friends and family members. I would always joke with Rick saying that it was our turn already! Little did I know that Rick had already figured out an entire plan. The two things I had requested of him when he decides to propose was to have someone taking pictures there, so I am able to treasure the moment forever as well as to have my nails done, because I never have them done nice (and no woman wants her nails looking bad when she gets a beautiful ring on it right?) Rick remembered those two things, he and his mom looked hard for a good photographer and his mom gave me a gift card to get my nails done for Christmas.
The rest of that day Rick, his parents and I spent the day walking around Nassau. Being I did not have service two days later I was finally able to call my family and friends to let them know the news. Everyone was ecstatic for us. Since this day, we have been on cloud nine.
