We instantly hit it off during a coffee date at Peet’s Coffee in DC. After talking for a while, our date was cut short because of an event I was working that night at the hotel. Tresley asked me for another date the very next day. We had the absolute best time ice skating and went out to dinner for pizza and wine (one of our favorite date night meals now). On our second glass, we decided to play a game of odds. I lost and had to put an entire bowl of olives in my mouth. Tresley snapped a photo of me, smiling with my cheeks filled with olives, and to this day, he swears that was the moment he fell in love. Around this time, I was slugging into DC and after a bad day at work, Tresley so nicely offered to drive me home. If you know DC, then you know how awful traffic to Stafford during rush hour can be. After two hours in traffic, we still didn’t want to say goodbye. We stayed in his truck talking for hours in the commuter lot… ten calls from my parents later, and I was racing home at midnight. We had already set a day and time for our next date. After months and months of convincing and learning how to love each other, two best friends finally decided to make it official.

Morais Winery is one of our favorite wineries, partly because it is a Portuguese winery, but mostly because of the great times we always have there. My brother, Robbie, and my sister-in-law, Alexa, were visiting Stafford for a fun-filled weekend, and Tresley’s parents were coming up from Florida for a visit. Both of our families were in town, and we were going to Morais on Saturday. That should’ve tipped me off right? Nope...because a few months earlier, Tresley had very specifically stated that he would never propose to me there. I naturally accepted that as the truth. Once we arrived, Tresley asked me to walk outside with him for a bit. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. When I said yes, I heard tons of cheering from afar. I was instantly in tears as I saw my family and friends who had watched the proposal nearby and were now walking towards us. We enjoyed the rest of the day with a surprise engagement party!