Nick and I met at Nick’s friend’s house at Miami University in the summer of 2007. Although, we both felt a special connection that first night, it took us a little more than a month to become an “official” couple. From that point on we were nearly inseparable!

Nick proposed Christmas Eve of 2009. While I was out of town, he bought the ring and planned an elaborate scavenger hunt. Christmas Eve, Nick and I sat down to open presents with his family. The proposal was a family affair! To throw me off, Nick gave me a picture frame and said we would have professional pictures taken, as my Christmas present. I was very happy with this and was surprised when I was handed another envelope. In that envelope was a Christmas Scavenger hunt.

Each riddle in the scavenger hunt lead me to a location where I would find a single letter. At the end, I had to unscramble the letters and go to a final location. Nick and I walked together to the side yard and that’s where I found the message, “Marry Me?” written in christmas lights and turned back to Nick to find him down on one knee!

Originally, we wanted a fall wedding. (Fall is our favorite season!) After thinking about it a little longer, we decided we’d like to take our honeymoon right after the wedding. Since I teach, the wedding would have to be in the summer. My brother is a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and will soon be deployed to Afghanistan, he would most likely be back by the summer of 2011. It’s cliche, but we started dating on July, 16th . . . so the date was set: July 16th, 2011.

My fiance proposed to me during a trip to Paris in August 2009. He and I went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, knelt down in front of the statue of St. Therese (my patron saint) and asked me to be his wife!

It was the night before, we were getting ready for bed when Nathan (out of the clear blue) had the nerve to say, we should use your promise ring for your engagement ring. I just looked at him. He then said he would have a bigger diamond put it in or we could pawn it to pay bills (which ticked me off). So I took it off and told him to take it and see how many bills he could pay with it. Then he went on to tell me that I should buy him an engagement ring. Which really ticked me off. Little did I know what he had planned for the next day. I went to bed plenty mad! Which fell right into his PLAN! Make her mad – throw her off guard, so she will be surprised on when she’s going to get her engagement ring. We both knew we would get engaged – I just didn’t know when and it was important to Nathan to surprise me.

The next day It started out when My (Misti) mom asked me to go shopping with her. We went to Kohls and when we were almost finished and about to go to dinner, when she said she had a terrible stomach ache and had to go home because she really didn’t feel good (all apart of the plan) and said she would meet me later. Well she called about 5 mins later while I was checking out Kohl’s and said “I’m going to just stay home I don’t feel good and your dad needs me to do something” so naturally I call Nathan and ask if he wanted to go eat and he says, well what happened to shopping (playing it all cool) but then says, yea we”ll go eat, just come home andI I’ll drive.

I pull into our parking lot and he was waiting outside for me. We get in the car and I say where are we eating? He says O’Charlies and I said man, that’s what I was thinking, we have been together to long if we can read each others minds. He chuckled and I was like ummm, ok strange. So he tells me he needs to go to Meijer and I say ok, I’m just along for the ride.

We pull into Meijer and he stops and hands me a flyer and said he was sorry for things he said and the way he acted the night before. He then told me Meijer symbolizes where we first met. So me being totally confused I say ok. Next stop was the movie theater where we had our first date and he gave me the DVD of the movie we saw. I thought he was taking me to the movies and was excited to go out to a movie instead of renting one and watching it at home! He then took me back to our apartment which symbolized our present. I am thinking, he must feel real bad, he has never apologized like this before – being all romantic. The last stop was our realtor’s office ( we are looking to buy a house). So my first thought was o my goodness, he bought a house and didn’t tell me! I don’t know what I am going to do. He then got me out of the car and told me everything we just did was our life in the past, present and future. He said “the future is our realtors office because the house we are buying represents our future and the rest of his life with me”. He very shakely got the ring out, got down on one knee and said “I want to spend the rest of my life with you – “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” I answered with a tearful and excited YES!

She awoke with a sparkle in her eye as she glanced at me and smiled. I wiped little crusties from her eyes knowing today was the day. It was as if I was being reassured that my commitment to her was true and would be a secret no more when I walked outside and looked up. Bright blue skies, wispy fun loving clouds and a breeze that would gently wrap around you like a cool hug. These were the signs I had been waiting for, this was the day I would rendezvous with eternity.
Deana and I have been dating 2 years on this day our anniversary. She had always talked about her fascination with planes and flying. To her dismay she had only been on a single flight her entire life and unfortunately she was too young to remember the experience. She would frequently comment on how wonderful it would be to simply sit at an airport and watch planes take off. Hanging out at the airport all day screams national security issues but that’s another story. Throughout our relationship we did not have the resources to fly anywhere and had to resort to a rental car whenever we had the opportunity to take a long distance trip.
Deana would often tell me that if I were to propose it had to be romantic. Cliché, but I got the point so I contacted a company which flew air tours using a PA -32 Cherokee Six. In a nutshell it’s a single propeller plane roughly about the size of an Oldsmobile with wings. “Are we there yet?” and “where are you taking me?” were the repetitive questions which filled the air on that drive of anticipation toward our destination. She knew we were celebrating our anniversary, although how and what was to come continued to be a complete mystery to her. As we approached the airport and the car came to a halt a symphony of beautiful rambling drowned out the sound of planes taking off “how the…what… you …are we really.. .no… no way…are we getting on a plane!?” She was flabbergasted as we walked onto the tarmac toward the plane, so much so that the words she was rambling slowly diminished into thin air, her face turning a shade of fuchsia which it remained the entire trip. She was speechless. We got into the cockpit and buckled up as she assured me this was the best anniversary ever. I chuckled, just barely able to hold onto my secret any longer. As the plane got to speed the tiny propeller roared, the cockpit shook violently and we held on for dear life. We were flying over Cincinnati’s skyscrapers and stadiums, looking into each others eyes as the glistening sun began to set over the horizon. This was it. Now or never the perfect moment had arrived and I placed myself on one knee utilizing what miniscule area of cockpit that I could and what came from my mouth is still to this day unknown. What we are both sure of are the last moment of my speech on my knees. “…You are my everything and my always. Will you marry me Deana?” I figured people talk about being on cloud nine all the time so why not propose on it? A picture can say a thousand words but the picture shown says only one. “YES!”

The proposal:

It was at his fire fighting graduation at Colerain. The recruits were showing everyone all the things they learned. The last thing was climbling the ladder of the six story building that had smoke coming out of it. The Chief asked me to go to the top and present Chris with the leadership award when he got up there as the classes top recruit. I snuck up and he was the last person on the roof. With all his recruit buddies around I made a speech and gave him the award. When he opened it, it was blank. Then he said there is no award, and got down on one knee and proposed! I was beyond shocked. I cried like a baby. All the guys were taking pictures of it for everyone on the ground. I just held the ring in my hand because I didnt know what finger it was suppose to go on. He got up and put it on for me. I then heard my dad on the radio. I looked over the building and our friends and family were all there cheering. The chief had his speaker on so they could hear! It was perfect!

Somewhere there are photos of me searching for an engagement ring in the Olmsted Falls metroparks. It’s actually quite a fun story. You see, Matt (my fiance) proposed via geocache, and I was completely caught off guard.

For those who are unaware, geocaching is essentially treasure hunting for grown-ups using handheld GPS devices (I commonly call it sports for geeks). It’s a free hobby that gets our techie coach potato buns out of the house when the weather is nice. More info is available at http://www.geocaching.org. Go check it out if you are looking for a new hobby.

Now, you may be wondering, was the ring in the geocache? Isn’t that crazy? Well, yes, and no. Yes, the ring was in the cache. However, Matt enlisted the assistance of fellow geocachers Duke and Sarah to help hide and watch the cache.

Matt created a fake cache description on my GPS and showed it had not yet been found (first to find a cache is a point of pride in geocaching). As we were approaching the cache, Matt suggested we call Duke and Sarah to meet for dinner after caching, since we had forgotten to invite them along. I called as we pulled up to the metropark. Unbeknownst to me, this call was the trigger for Duke and Sarah to hide the cache. Since we were already there, there was no time to hide the cache. Duke and Sarah ran off to stay out of sight. Matt and I proceed to look for the cache (the one that hasn’t been hidden yet). Sarah calls my phone (Matt wasn’t answering his) and asks to change the time for dinner. Matt insists on calling her back to find out why. I think this is odd, but shrug it off as Matt being weird.

After talking with Sarah, Matt suggests we go further into the park to look for a different cache, since we’re having such a hard time finding the first one. The problem, in my opinion, is a lack of GPS signal, given that we were surrounded by trees. The logical part of my brain, the part on vacation during this trip, tells me going further into the trees will not establish a better signal, but I happily go with the flow, just enjoying being out on a nice day geocaching with Matt. After about five minutes of searching, I find the second cache. This is at least half the time it had taken Matt to find it on an earlier trip (when he was scouting for a ring hiding spot). Matt, certain this hasn’t been long enough for Duke and Sarah to hide the ring cache, suggests we look more closely at the waterfalls. He helps me down the steep slope and bac up again after looking (gaining a good 15 minutes for Duke and Sarah).

We head back toward the ring cache. I’m searching everywhere and not finding a thing. Matt seems to be nt even trying, and I’m getting frustrated with his not helping to look. I’m just about to suggest we give up when the phone rings again. Matt answers this time. Sarah tells him we’re looking in the wrong spot. So, Matt attempts to redirect my search. However, the cache is hidden in a place I had looked before it was there. I’m of course arguing that I already looked there, but grudgingly I look again. Low and behold, there’s a cache there.

As I bend over to pick it up, a group of kids come tearing down into the park on bicycles. I promptly drop the cache and pretend to look like I’m just randomly standing in the woods next to a fallen tree for no reason. (Since geocaches are routinely pilfered by “muggles” (aka non-geocachers), stealth is important.) Matt is freaking out. I’m looking at him like he’s nuts. He’s shouting, “What are you doing?!?!?! Catch it!” I again give him the “you’re crazy” look, reach down, and pick it back up. As I pick it up, I say, “Why are you freaking out? It’s just a rubbermaid full of plastic toys and junk.” Normal geocaches are filled with trinkety stuff that no one would miss or be upset by if it was broken.

Now thoroughly frustrated and fairly confused as to why Matt is being so weird, we walk to the one bench nearby. I sit and put the cache on the bench next to me. Mat says, “Aren’t you going to open it?” Usually, Mat opens to cache while I look for a pen to sign the cache log. The quizzical look still on my face, I start opening the container. The darned thing is so complicated of a container that I almost thrust it at Matt and make him open it. Finally though, it pops open. I reach around into my back pocket searching for a pen while opening the lid away from me (so I don’t see what’s in the box). I feel Matt staring at me and look up at him. He’s staring alternately at me and at the box.

So, I finally look down. Remember, the logical part of my brain is on vacation… My eyes register there’s a ring in the box. In the span of three seconds, my internal monologue says, “Oh there’s a ring, a ring, this is a real ring, not junk, someone must have meant this for his girlfriend, we must have found it by accident, wait, is this Matt’s ring, is this for me, oh my god, there’s a ring in this box!” Apparently, the entire time my internal monologue is running, I’m staring at the box like a deer in headlights. Matt finally reaches over and touches my arm. I turn to him with tears in my eyes and smile. He says, “So, are you going to marry me?” Shaking my head yes, I squeak out something that resembles a “yes” and finally get enough control of the English language to say, “Are you going to put it on me?” He asks which finger, I start giggling, and as I lean in to kiss him, I hear clapping from the top of the hill.

It turns out that Duke (groomsman), Sarah, Lucian (our photographer), and Katy (his wife) were watching the entire time. Lucian took photos the entire time, so somewhere, there’s a photo of me looking like a deer in headlights. I’m still piecing everything together in my head as to what’s happening when I finally exclaim, “You all knew?!?!?!?!”

I promptly kiss Matt again for being awesome and start calling people. Turns out, Carla (bridesmaid) knew, too. And poor Becky (matron of honor) got the world’s craziest Dana voicemail announcing the event while she’s on a cruise ship en route to Cancun. Everyone else heard the announcement in English, after I had calmed down a bit.

Ultimately, our wedding will be the same weekend we were engaged, only two years later. This same weekend is also Becky’s anniversary and another friend’s anniversary, too. In theory, at least one of the guys will remember the date each year and remind the other two.

Matt and I got engaged on May 22, 2009. Being an extremely good listener, with an extremely good memory, Matt decided to propose at the lake by my parents’ house. This lake was dear to me as I grew up there going for bike rides with my father, walks with my mother, and even spent one summer there training for the Marine Corps Marathon. Matt took my father out to dinner that night to ask him for my hand in marriage, while my mother thought it would be nice if I came over to have dinner at the house with her while the men were out. Matt suggested we go into DC for drinks after dinner, so I dressed up a bit. When they arrived back at the house, Matt asked if we could go down to the lake instead to feed the ducks and geese that lived on a small island there. He had already picked up some bread from the Italian restaurant, so how could I say no? After we finished feeding the ducks and geese, Matt suggested we continue walking to the nearby dock. As the sun was setting, he took my hand and walked me out onto the dock where he got down on one knee and proposed.

Wow. These are all such great stories! I’m glad I’m the one taking the pictures…Alison has to choose the winner:)

Congrats to all of you on getting engaged!

No stress on me for choosing the winner; that is what random.org is for! :)