Celebration Date 8/28/2021

My first interaction with Adam was far from normal. We met at a sorority/fraternity event where the newest fraternity members introduced themselves to the sisters and vice versa. I was so excited for this event as it was the first time the newest brothers had to introduce themselves to me. After all the excitement and the event was over, I noticed that Adam was the only brother that did not formally introduce himself. Needless to say, it was a bad first impression. Why on earth would he not come and introduce himself to me?! A few months later, I was hanging out with my friend Amanda and she randomly asked if I wanted to meet up with Ping and his friend at the Natick Mall. Hours later, we ended up closing the mall and exchanging numbers. From there, Adam and I were text-aholics constantly communicating with each other every day and making our busy schedules work to hang out throughout the summer. We have pretty much been inseparable ever since! (I guess he may have just been to shy to introduce himself to me during our first interaction?!) Even though our first interactions were far from normal, I'm so happy to have found my person. Being together for so long has allowed us to see the best and worst sides of one another, and experience the ups and downs of life. No matter what, we always get through it and grow better together.

Where do I start? 8 years ago we first met at what some would call a pretty typical way to meet a significant other, at an organized event coordinated by 2 different organizations, although this was far from organized. Amanda had become a sorority sister the semester before I became a fraternity brother, and this shindig was to introduce the brothers and sisters to one another. Introducing myself to the rest of the sisters, I seemed to have shied away from saying hello to Amanda. I'm not sure if it was a honest mistake and we had run out of time or if I was just shy and couldn't muster up the confidence to introduce myself to the prettiest one in the room. It was the latter, she was out of my league. College days continue on, and weeks later a mutual friend of ours suggests we meet up for a casual evening. At this point we could not legally get into bars, so we did what underage kids do best, kill time walking around the mall. After hours of conversation and laughter, we exchanged numbers and went on our separate ways to start the summer of 2011. Little did I know, nothing could keep Amanda and I apart all summer. We were texting constantly and found time to see each other while juggling busy schedules and summer jobs. I'm pretty sure I ran up a phone bill while vacationing in Canada because we couldn't stop talking. Turns out that little shy Adam said/did something that made this beautiful lady like me! Weeks turned to months then turned to years and through all this time we were really able to experience "growing up," which consisted of many best and worst sides of one another. But one thing stayed consistent through everything, we both were always willing to fight for one another and continue to grow together.

Because we haven't traveled alone for years now, we booked a trip to Costa Rica. We arrived to our hotel that day and enjoyed checking out the resort. The next morning, Adam went to the gym for over 2 hours. I guess that should have been an indicator right there, but all I was thinking about is when is he getting back so we can go to breakfast?! When he returned, he told me he stopped by the concierge and that the only day we could have a private dinner would be tonight. He also wanted this night to be our fancy dress-up night where we could get some nice photos before dinner. I thought it was a great idea! (Although, I really should have been asking, when has Adam wanted to plan anything, especially pictures, proactively.) We then got our day started and enjoyed the resort. Apparently we enjoyed it a little too long because I was rushing to get ready for our reservation. Adam was antsy and urged me to get ready faster, but we all know it takes some time to look good. I think I was only about ten minutes late from when he wanted to head to the beach to see the sunset. When we got to the beach, I started to scope out a fellow resort-goer for these pictures we wanted. I picked out a guy close by, and Adam declined the idea. "Let's walk further down the beach" he said. I guess I thought that was a good idea because I followed. Then all of the sudden, as I was taking in the scenery, he started to get down on one knee. I started immediately crying and pretty much blacked out. All I remember is something about him saying I'm his best friend and will you marry me. Of course, I said yes! Many happy tears and a good shove on my finger later, we were engaged! He surprised me with a professional photographer to take wonderful photos of his plan in action and my beautiful flush-from-crying face. After that, we were able to celebrate with an intimate dinner where I again randomly burst into happy crying a couple of times. Needless to say, he did an AMAING job!

When the time was right, it was a great coincidence that we had just booked a vacation to Costa Rica. Excited, nervous, and not having any idea how I was going to do this or what I was doing, I started with step 1: Asking her Father. I received his much respected blessing, and we celebrated. Now Costa Rica couldn't come soon enough. Finally, the day was here. Out of everything we were carrying, there was only 2 things I cared about, Amanda and the ring. The ENTIRE trip, my backpack never left my side. I mean, even when we were on the plane I wouldn't put it in the open seat next to us. We arrive to the resort, where I was taking notes on where and how I was going to pull this off. Friday morning, I wake up early to head to the gym. Yes, I actually did go to the gym on our vacation, but not before I spent time with the concierge and resort host setting up that night. I arranged for a private dinner(the perfect excuse to get dressed up) and a surprise photographer on the beach. Sunset was just after 5:30 and dinner was at 6, allowing for the perfect excuse to head to the beach for pictures. Heading towards the area of the beach where I asked the photographer to lurk around, Amanda almost asks another beach goer to take her phone for pictures. I quickly put a stop to that idea as I pull her in the opposite direction down the beach. Trying to be as discrete as possible, I am looking around for a lady with a camera around her neck who isn't a tourist. She peeks around one of the palm trees, gives me a wave, and I stop walking and face Amanda. Everything I was reciting in my head over and over again about what I was going to say to her went straight out the window. I drop to a knee and ask Amanda to marry me. And to my surprise, she was surprised! With a YES and a ring on her finger we pause for a quick proposal photoshoot and I couldn't stop cheesing for the rest of the night let alone the rest of the week.