We met on the second day of our Sophmore year at Saratoga High School, in our 10th grade English classroom. Collin was sitting in the front row, while Andrea was just a few rows over in the second row. She kept making eye contact with this cute guy all throughout class and fell for his smile immediately. That Friday, she realized that she was his cheerleader, when he came walking in wearing his football jersey for game day. Andrea really wanted to ask him to the Homecoming Dance that year. She had her childhood best friend, which happened to be a mutual friend of theirs, set them up for a movie date and all three of them would head to the mall on a Saturday night, just to make things less awkward. They were set to watch Jackass 2, which was rated R. The two boys put Andrea up to getting the tickets, in which she failed to produce an ID, which meant all three of them were forced to wait out the 3 hours in the mall, waiting for their parents to pick them up. Andrea and Collin immediately hit it off, laughing at each other's jokes, walking aimlessly around the Wilton Mall, walking to getting ice cream cones at Friendly's, playing around with the basketball hoops in Dicks Sporting Goods and really got to get to know one another. They went back home to hop on the computer to then message and talk to eachother later that night. I guess you could say... the last 17 years is history. ;)

For a few weeks through the summer, Collin wanted to ask Andrea to marry him. Only one thing kept getting in the way...She always signed up to work weddings with her wedding planning friends on weekends!! After a few plans getting derailed, he told Andrea that there was a work retirement party that his bosses really wanted her to attend, on her birthday weekend. The catch was that this party was in the morning before the races, at the Saratoga Race Course. He knew Andrea wasn't a morning person, so she would absolutely not have any other plans. She came home late at night from working a wedding the night before. Exhausted, she woke up to Collin requesting that she choose their outfits together for the party that morning. Collin kept asking Andrea when she would be ready (to get on her nerves purposely) and right when she was ready, he ended up leaving without her to his parents house!! Once she arrived there, Collin came out saying that we were going to have some morning mimosas by the pool since they had some time before the party "started". Once Andrea made her way back to his parent's backyard, she saw that his brother, Lincoln, his wife, Christina, their two kids, LJ and Adalyn, and his parents were all lined up together surprising her with the most amazing surprise she ever received. Collin was kneeling between his niece and nephew while they held signs and photos of the last 17 years together, reading "Andrea, Will You Marry Me?". Collin's parents were holding the leashes of the two dogs who were also wearing little tuxedos. It was such an easy "YES"!