It was December 25, 2019, when Alaina and Noah first met. Alaina and her sister, Megan, were headed home from a family holiday party in Washington, DC. As they were riding back to her house, Megan said she wanted to stop at Samuel’s parent’s house. (Samuel was Megan’s boyfriend at the time, now husband). Alaina agreed and was excited for the festivities to continue! Megan and Alaina walked inside and were joyfully greeted by Samuel and his family. Hugs, laughter, and exclamations of the day's activities were shared. Alaina was sharing some funny things that had happened that day and everyone in the room was listening and captivated…except one person. Noah, Samuel’s brother, was working on a sculpture at a table in the corner of the room and looked up at Alaina maybe once or twice while she was telling her stories. Alaina thought this was odd and wondered why he was so distant. Alaina later found out that Noah was very much interested in her and very much intimidated. He didn’t know what to say. Alaina was the first girl Noah had ever met that left him speechless.

Alaina and Noah didn’t see or speak to each other again until March 2020. Alaina’s university had shut down due to COVID-19 and Alaina was staying with her sisters, Rebecca and Megan. For the first few weeks or so, Alaina stayed with Rebecca. As things shifted rapidly due to the nature of the pandemic, Alaina then left to stay with Megan. As soon as Alaina got to Megan’s apartment, she put her things down and Megan turned her right back around and out the door for dinner at Samuel and Noah’s apartment. That evening, Alaina and Noah sat outside on the balcony and talked for hours. They talked about nothing and everything–ants on a log, McDonald's McFlurries, philosophy, dumpsters, and so much more. They mixed Riesling with ice cream because wine and ice cream seemed like a good idea at the time. (Don’t try it, it’s terrible). Over the next two months, Alaina and Noah became really great friends. They spent their weekends on walks and doing puzzles during the early days of the pandemic. After two months of this routine, Noah moved to Arlington. The very next day Noah invited just Alaina over to help him unpack. As they were unpacking, Noah turned to Alaina and said, “So tell me. Do you know how many hours we’ve spent together over the past 2 months?” True to form, Noah had actually done the math. “We’ve spent over 200 hours together.” (Early in April 2020, Alaina had told Noah that she read a study about how it takes roughly 200 hours to establish a close friendship with someone). On an unrelated note, Noah added, “Did you know that I really like you?”

The week before the engagement, Alaina was in West Palm Beach, Florida for a work trip–her biggest event of the year. Before she left, Noah had asked Alaina if he could take her out for a classy date night dinner in the city once she returned. Alaina of course agreed because she would never miss a chance to celebrate with Noah! Alaina arrived back in DC and she and Noah spent the entire day on Saturday together. When it came time to leave, Noah threw on his suit, pulled on his trusty map socks, and Alaina threw on her most autumn dress. Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights played softly as they drove through the canopies of red, orange, and yellow leaves with the cool autumn air of the city rushing by. They soon arrived at the Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial. There are two reasons why Noah chose Iwo Jima/Netherlands Carillon to propose: 1) When Noah and Alaina started dating, they compiled a list of all the monuments and memorials they wanted to see together in DC. As of October 22nd, 2022 they had crossed off every place on that list, except this one. 2) The view from the Netherlands Carillon is hands down the best view of DC from Virginia. Noah and Alaina arrived and stopped to look at the memorial. They continued walking past the car further into the park to the Netherlands Carillon. This was the moment Alaina knew Noah was going to propose. At this point, Noah was completely distracted with ensuring that he was setting up the perfect moment. Alaina would comment on the view or ask Noah a question and he would pause for a few seconds before giving some response like “...yeah for sure” or “oh…that’s great love.” They finally arrived at the spot Noah planned to propose. As Noah and Alaina looked out at the monuments and the city they had seen so many times before, Noah turned to Alaina and said, "So tell me: Do you know how many hours we've spent together since we started dating?” Noah’s very rough estimate was around 2,000 hours over the past two and a half years. Alaina acknowledged that indeed was a long time. "Can I ask you a question?" A big smile lit up the face of the person who would be his girlfriend for the very last time. "How would you like to make it a lifetime?" (You can shed a tear now, dear reader) Noah was a little slow on reaching for the ring, so Alaina said yes before he could even get down on one knee. (In Noah’s defense, the box was inordinately large). Once the box was in the open, Noah kneeled and asked if Alaina would marry him. She said yes a second time and Noah immediately jumped up and gave her the biggest hug. At which point she reminded him that he missed the part where he puts the ring on her finger. They laughed and Noah put the ring on Alaina’s finger. At this point, Alaina looked over and noticed their friend, Adela Antal, snapping photos! After the pictures were over, Alaina and Noah left for dinner at Lyon Hall which was where they had their first official date. When they got to the restaurant, the hostess led them to the very back which was very crowded. Alaina thought “where is our table, there are so many people back here…” but she quickly realized that each of those faces were ones that she knew very well. It was this surprise that Alaina did not see coming at all. They spent the next 2 hours hosting the dinner as fiancé and fiancée with 12 of their friends and family. Afterward, Alaina and Noah got in the car and reveled in the excitement of the night. The best part was after all the excitement and congratulations were over, the pictures had been taken, and the champagne had been finished, at the end of that spotlight, there was no spotlight, no crowd, no audience–Just the two of them.

Nothing about this proposal was perfect or incredibly spectacular. But everything about October 22nd, 2022 was us–Messy and helplessly in love. Here's to the next 466,000 hours or however much time left I get to love you.

It was just the most perfect day and the easiest question I'll ever answer! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with someone whose love is the most gentle, kind, and genuine human love I have ever known.