March 27, 2010
Palm Beach, Florida
~ Our Story ~
How We Met:
It all started our freshman year at Florida State in our dorm, Seminole Oaks, in January. A mutual friend introduced us, for the first time, in the cafeteria of our dorm. (We know now that we had both noticed each other long before this day.) Later on that week, I was walking home from campus when Mike was on his way to an afternoon class. As we passed by each other he said, “Sup Andrea”, and I was so excited that he had remembered my name, that I ran home to tell my friends, without ever saying anything back. I found out, soon after, that he was in the process of moving out of his room, and up to the newly renovated 4th floor, to have a room by himself. I was not so fond of my roommate situation either, so I decided to pay for a single on the 4th floor as well. Since we were on completely different floors at the time; the thought of being his hall neighbor helped me make the decision. Our new hall was the only one opening on the 4th floor, so everyone started hanging out together all the time. Mike and I started hanging out with each other almost everyday. We took our first trip together to Destin, with some friends for the day. After that trip we were together every minute we were not at class or work. On March 27th, 2004 we went out with our friends. Later on that night we shared our first kiss.
For the rest of that year we spent every day together knowing Mike was leaving for the summer, and would not be returning in the fall. He had already made the decision to play baseball at another school in South Florida. We made trips to see each other all throughout the summer. The Fall of 2004 was the year that several hurricanes hit South Florida closing Mike’s college for several weeks, in which he came to spend those weeks with me. After having the long distance relationship for about 8 months, Mike decided to come back to FloridaState.
We graduated together on April 28th, 2007 and moved to Jacksonville, Florida. We bought our first townhouse together, and live there with Darla and Thumper (our bunnies) and Bailey (our dog, and the love of our lives). Mike is working at Merrill Lynch and I am working at The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. We are both anxiously awaiting the day that we will say “I do” exactly 6 years from the day we first kissed and fell in love.
It all started our freshman year at Florida State in our dorm, Seminole Oaks, in January. A mutual friend introduced us, for the first time, in the cafeteria of our dorm. (We know now that we had both noticed each other long before this day.) Later on that week, I was walking home from campus when Mike was on his way to an afternoon class. As we passed by each other he said, “Sup Andrea”, and I was so excited that he had remembered my name, that I ran home to tell my friends, without ever saying anything back. I found out, soon after, that he was in the process of moving out of his room, and up to the newly renovated 4th floor, to have a room by himself. I was not so fond of my roommate situation either, so I decided to pay for a single on the 4th floor as well. Since we were on completely different floors at the time; the thought of being his hall neighbor helped me make the decision. Our new hall was the only one opening on the 4th floor, so everyone started hanging out together all the time. Mike and I started hanging out with each other almost everyday. We took our first trip together to Destin, with some friends for the day. After that trip we were together every minute we were not at class or work. On March 27th, 2004 we went out with our friends. Later on that night we shared our first kiss.
For the rest of that year we spent every day together knowing Mike was leaving for the summer, and would not be returning in the fall. He had already made the decision to play baseball at another school in South Florida. We made trips to see each other all throughout the summer. The Fall of 2004 was the year that several hurricanes hit South Florida closing Mike’s college for several weeks, in which he came to spend those weeks with me. After having the long distance relationship for about 8 months, Mike decided to come back to FloridaState.
We graduated together on April 28th, 2007 and moved to Jacksonville, Florida. We bought our first townhouse together, and live there with Darla and Thumper (our bunnies) and Bailey (our dog, and the love of our lives). Mike is working at Merrill Lynch and I am working at The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. We are both anxiously awaiting the day that we will say “I do” exactly 6 years from the day we first kissed and fell in love.
The Proposal:
Mike took me to Gatlinburg, TN when we were still in college because of my love for Christmas. Gatlinburg has a Christmas parade every year and decorates the whole town in lights, garland, and Christmas decorations. I instantly fell in love with this picture perfect Christmas town in the mountains.We decided to return in 2008 for a few days in between Christmas and New Year’s. I was expecting him to propose, but then again I had been expecting and daydreaming about a proposal at every major holiday, cruise, concert, and special date for the past two years. On Sunday morning December 28th, 2008 Mike told me to get dressed and ready for the day. The plan was to go down to our little ChristmasVillage of shops to look around. I got ready, but then was told we were not going to leave for a little bit. It was sprinkling out that morning. A few minutes later he decided it was time to leave and we walked down to the Village. I was confused by the fact that we needed to be ready that morning by a certain time, but then could wait out the rain. I decided to get some coffee in the Village, and then we walked around the shops. After I threw my coffee out Mike looked at me and said, I love you” and I responded, “I love you too.” We walked a couple feet and he said, “Baby, I love you” and I said, “Baby, I love you too”. I tried to walk towards shops on the left (since we had not been that way yet), but he pulled me to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. He kept saying I love you, but he often says it throughout the day more than once in a row. He then turned to look at me and said, “I love you” again. At this moment I realized he was getting down on one knee and was pulling out my ring. I started crying and shaking and was overwhelmed by the fact that the time had finally come. He said, “Andrea Lynn will you marry me?”
Mike took me to Gatlinburg, TN when we were still in college because of my love for Christmas. Gatlinburg has a Christmas parade every year and decorates the whole town in lights, garland, and Christmas decorations. I instantly fell in love with this picture perfect Christmas town in the mountains.We decided to return in 2008 for a few days in between Christmas and New Year’s. I was expecting him to propose, but then again I had been expecting and daydreaming about a proposal at every major holiday, cruise, concert, and special date for the past two years. On Sunday morning December 28th, 2008 Mike told me to get dressed and ready for the day. The plan was to go down to our little ChristmasVillage of shops to look around. I got ready, but then was told we were not going to leave for a little bit. It was sprinkling out that morning. A few minutes later he decided it was time to leave and we walked down to the Village. I was confused by the fact that we needed to be ready that morning by a certain time, but then could wait out the rain. I decided to get some coffee in the Village, and then we walked around the shops. After I threw my coffee out Mike looked at me and said, I love you” and I responded, “I love you too.” We walked a couple feet and he said, “Baby, I love you” and I said, “Baby, I love you too”. I tried to walk towards shops on the left (since we had not been that way yet), but he pulled me to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. He kept saying I love you, but he often says it throughout the day more than once in a row. He then turned to look at me and said, “I love you” again. At this moment I realized he was getting down on one knee and was pulling out my ring. I started crying and shaking and was overwhelmed by the fact that the time had finally come. He said, “Andrea Lynn will you marry me?”
I, of course, nodded my head and said yes, and put the ring on. In the midst of looking at my ring, and giving him kisses, and trying to get black mascara off of my face, I noticed flashes, and assumed some random person was taking pictures for me. Then Mike turned and said, “Andrea I would like you to meet Tracey”. Confused I introduced myself and hugged her unsure of what was going on or who she was. Mike told me that he had hired Tracey, who was a photographer, to capture his proposal. I had always told Mike to make sure when he proposed to have a camera with us. He took it to a whole new level and now we will always have pictures of him proposing to me! I tired to dry my eyes and stop my legs and hands from shaking, so that we could take some pictures. Tracey took the first pictures of us as an engaged couple all around our little Christmas Village. We went to our Italian restaurant after that for lunch, where it took me about 30 minutes to get words out of my mouth and my body to stop shaking.
