I joined a CrossFit gym in the area and was told by the owner that my first two weeks would be spent doing one-on-one onboarding with one of their coaches. The owner told me I’d be working with Gytis, then laughed and made a remark about how the women at the gym love working with him. I looked over at the guy he was pointing to and thought, “Why?” At this point in time Gytis had a goatee and long hair up in a man bun. The exact opposite of my type. But when I started working with Gytis, I found him easy to talk to and decided he seemed like a really good guy despite his choice of hairstyle. I started to develop a little crush on him until one day when we were stretching and I asked him how old he was. When he said “23,” all romantic notions I had came to a screeching halt. I was 28 at the time and had no interest in robbing any cradles. For about a year and a half I’d see Gytis at the gym when he’d coach my classes. We’d talk here and there but not much more— until I ran into him at the climbing gym when we happened to be in the same belay recertification class one Saturday afternoon. After that, we started climbing together almost weekly. For months, I thought we were just friendly because of our age difference. Until one day he asked me if I was dating anyone. Not one to get a hint right away, I was initially confused about why he was asking until I put two and two together and realized that maybe he was worth reconsidering (he was). We still argue about whether or not our first date was one night after climbing when we were both hungry and we went to grab food at Maize and Mash in Glen Ellyn (his perspective: we were two people eating food together in a relatively nice restaurant so it was a date) or on Valentine’s Day (my perspective: he actually asked me out so it was a date). Regardless, he says he knew I was a catch when he saw me eating ribs “like a 5 year old.” (Note: My parents used to jokingly warn me that no man would want to date me unless I got better manners, yet here we are!)

Kelly and I had a trip planned this past summer to go to Europe, so I thought it would be a great time to propose to her there with all my Lithuanian family present. I had an idea of the type of ring she wanted, but I had not realized how quickly my jeweler would be able to source the stone so I got the ring three months earlier than I had planned. We had also booked a trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky for our annual spring outdoor rock climbing trip. I thought, well maybe I'll take the ring with me and if the right moment presents itself I’ll pop the question. Our relationship took off when we started rock climbing together, so it would be in-theme, as well. We were staying there for four days so I thought there would be plenty of opportunities. I brainstormed ways to propose... maybe I’d ask a local guide to take us to some crags and after Kelly finishes a route and I’m belaying her down, I would do it then with the guide actually being the photographer? Or maybe I climb up and place the ring box in an obvious hold and hope she figures it out... but knowing Kelly, she’d probably climb right by it. So I just decided to wing it and not force it if the time wasn't right. We had been climbing for three days and were now on our last day of the trip with the ring still sitting untouched in the center console of the car. There were some moments I could have asked, but nothing that really felt right... and here I was, last day of the trip with no idea how, when, or even if it would happen. Luckily, on our way back from an afternoon hike that day, Kelly started telling me of a dream she had the night before: We were sitting on the couch in the common room of the inn we always stay at, when the owner of the inn, Jeremy, walks over to me and says, "Hey Gytis, heres the ring you asked me to get!” as he hands me the engagement ring right in front of Kelly. Her reaction in the dream was confusion because Jeremy just ruined whatever surprise I had planned. Kelly is telling me about this dream, and I’m thinking, “Well it’s not like I have a ring here or anything like that.” But that was it! Kelly's dream! That was how I was going to propose to her; I was going to recreate Kelly's dream in real life. As soon as we got back from the hike, Kelly went to our room and I went looking for Jeremy. He was on the back porch, and as I approached him I threw the ring box at him and told him that I don’t have time to explain, but when you see Kelly and I together in the common area come inside and tell me you found the ring I asked him to get, then hand me the ring box. I ran inside to sit down on the couch and pretend like I had been there all along. Eventually, Kelly came out and was standing at the kitchen island looking at her phone when Jeremy came in and executed his role. He handed me the ring and Kelly goes, “Oh my god I can't believe you told him my dream!” She was totally clueless as what was actually happening. I took the ring from Jeremy and walked over to Kelly in the kitchen, took a knee and asked the question. Kelly was surprised to say the least (she told me later she was also expecting the proposal to be in Europe). She thought I was joking around until I opened the ring box and she saw the ring. She was so shocked, that after she said Yes, she hugged my face with her hands and said “HI!” in her loss for words. And all of this was caught on camera by Mary, Jeremy’s girlfriend who also runs the inn and was stationed in the loft above with her phone filming the entire thing.