-David-

“PJ had arranged for us to go our for a nice dinner in Washington DC where he was going to propose and had then got us tickets for the Nutcracker. I, of course had no idea, and got held up a work. Traffic was awful so I ended up being late. I called him and asked him whether we should even go? He must have loved that:). He grabbed me a change of clothes and we met halfway there. I ended up changing in his car and we just made it in time for the show. The show was awesome (one of my favorites as a kid) and then we went out for a nice dinner in the city. When we got home, he told me that I had a present waiting for me under our Christmas tree. We went inside and there was a card under the tree. I opened it and he got down on one knee and proposed – it was perfect! It was December 22nd and we were heading to Canada the next day so I got to surprise my friends and family with our engagement.”

-David-

-David-

-David-

“Every spring I (Jeff) go up to Pittsburgh to catch a couple of baseball games, as I’m a Pirates fan. This year I had bought tickets to take Sarah-Anne with me. We’d been talking about getting engaged for some time, she’d picked out a setting and knew that I’d been over to visit the jeweler a number of times, but she thought that our weekend up in PA would be too “obvious” a time to propose, and since I’m usually pretty contrary, she didn’t think I’d ask her that weekend. I knew of a really pretty public park out at the city point where the 3 rivers meet, and so I’d planned on taking her there and proposing next to the fountain at the edge of the park. However, when we reached the park, we found the entire place under renovation, with chain link fences everywhere — you couldn’t even get down to the water’s edge, and the entire fountain area had been unearthed. However, there was still a really pretty grassy area in the middle of the park that we could walk around, and so we eventually settled down underneath a tree there. I started talking about how I’d planned on going down by the water’s edge and talking to her about the rivers, the two smaller ones forming the larger Ohio, and she’s looking at me with an expression that says “what in the world are you talking about?” Anyway, I fumbled around for a bit longer, completely flustered by the way my plan had collapsed, but eventually wound up on one knee. And of course, she said yes.”

-David-

“This past summer DJ was away at Officers Candidate School for the Marine Corps. While he was away, he was planning how he was going to propose and even managed to order the ring from Quantico, VA. He got my parents involved in the surprise and had then bring the ring down to Quantico when we visited him for his graduation. All day I was looking forward to just seeing him, unaware that he had something way more special planned. After graduation, he had to go back to his barracks and change out of uniform. Prior to OCS, I had been teasing him about proposing during the summer, and he kept insisting that there was no way that he could get a ring while he was stuck on a Marine Corps base. So when he finally came out to meet us, he had me pat him down to show me that he didn’t have a ring. Then he said, “Well I don’t have a ring, but maybe your mom does,” and he turned to get the ring from my mom. Meanwhile I had turned to one of his friends to comment about what a jerk he was for teasing me, and as I turned back around I saw DJ on his knee, ring in hand. I was so excited that I started to shake, and when I finally bent down to hug him, I crushed the ring box….but I totally didn’t care!”

-David-

-David-

One warm August night in 2007, she was out with a group of her friends at Dixie’s Tavern in Charlotte. She saw him from across the restaurant and gave him a sly smile.
He noticed when she began to head for the door. He quickly went over to intersect her.
As she walked out the door, he reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Their eyes locked and she immediately felt the kindness in his eyes.
“I don’t know, but you’re coming with me,” She replied.
At the next bar, they danced and talked the night away and split a piece of pepperoni pizza.
He called the following day to take her out on a “real date”. Over the course of the next 2 ½ years, their love for one another grew stronger with each day.
In September of 2009, they planned a trip to the beach to celebrate her parents 30th anniversary.
They went to a place near and dear to his heart. As they walked hand in hand along the beach, he found a secluded place in the sand and asked her to sit beside him. He pulled out the ring and declared his love for her by asking her to marry him. They spent the weekend celebrating and planning the next new stage in their lives with her parents joyfully.

-David-

-David-

-David-