It's simply meant to be

The first time we met was an average Tuesday night playing volleyball. It was Melissa's first time there but Josh was a regular at this place. We ended up on the same team where we barely spoke to one another except to say "nice set" or "good hit." We would have gone our separate ways if one of the guys there didn't invite each of us to Applebee's. We both went and after some small talk, Josh started talking about his Evo and that's when we really connected. We found out that we were both interested in cars and video games and from that point on we never stopped talking to each other.

Most of our time was spent at volleyball together. We met up every Tuesday night and almost always went out to eat dinner afterwards together or with our friends. If we weren't at volleyball we were at Josh's friend's house working on his Evo together. Melissa spent most of the time watching and learning and Josh was a great teacher. Josh finally finished his car after months of work and by then we were stuck with one other. We ended up finding another volleyball group that played more often and spent more time together than we did apart.

We went together to look at rings. Melissa wouldn't let me go looking alone because she said she didn't know what she'd like. We went to so many different places and looked at so many different rings but she picked it out right away. She kept looking around but always went back to that original ring. I tried sneaking and going to pick it up without her knowing but she always found a way to figure it out! But she never figured out how I was going to do it... It was Christmas Eve and we were at Melissa's parents house with family and friends. That morning I slipped the ring in my pocket when she went on an errand for the party. I found out later that before we left, Melissa had checked the bag to see if the ring was missing but I was smart and put the box in the bag in the same spot it was in before. I had made plans with Jeremy, Melissa's brother and Brenda, Melissa's mom to get everyone together for a group photo. They called everyone into the living room and we all grouped together for what they thought was going to be a quick photo op. Melissa was kneeling on the floor, trying to get Iris in the picture and I kept telling her to stand up but she wouldn't listen to me. She finally stood up after about the 5th time of me asking. We walked into the middle of the room, I turned around and knelt down and asked her to marry me. I knew I surprised her because right before I could even ask, she started yelling "really, really!" But she said yes!