"Drive Fast, Fall Hard"

I kept hearing stories from friends/family about how nervous they were before they popped the big question...

That really wasn't the case with Ana.  (forgive my sappiness ahead) After meeting on Bumble, and discussing what we were both looking for in a partner (which neither of us found in previous attempts) we realized we had a lot in common.  After stepping out, and meeting in person, I quickly realized I'd never felt so comfortable and fulfilled; I knew I was going to share my life with her.  Ana is the epitome of an empowered woman; smart, confident, successful, assertive, caring, nurturing, so on and so forth...her external beauty is just a cherry on top.  I'm excited for all of the challenges to live up to my responsibility an equal partner who can keep her on her toes.

Quite frankly, the most difficult part of this entire process was figuring out a special way to propose.  I'm not a hopeless romantic...I'm more hopeless in that department.  Proposing during the COVID pandemic, I think worked in my favor, because it allowed me to find an idea that was more intimate (i.e. NOT in the public scene).

I turned to the message boards of reddit for some recommendations and ideas to make the moment more special.  I found a post about someone who said they had a custom picture roll created for those novelty 3D view master toys.  I loved the idea, and more importantly saw women who had commented they loved the idea as well.  Works for me!

I think she knew something was afloat as we neared her birthday.  not wanting to seem to clichéd, I caught her off guard the night before and told her I had one gift she could open first as a prelude for the weekend.  I went downstairs and put the bulky ring box in my back pocket, hoping our dog wouldn't jump up to chew my butt, while I gave her the box with the view master inside.  She opened it up and began clicking through the reel of pictures throughout our relationship.  While her eyes were occupied, I pulled out the box and got on one knee waiting for her to look down...

She was completely surprised and quickly said, "yes!".  Almost as important, I had pulled it off!  I was so worried I wouldn't come up with anything memorable, but with a little help from the internet, we had the perfect engagement.

To top it off, I had reservations made at Monteverde, her favorite restaurant in Chicago right after she put the ring on her finger.  One of my best friends whom I'd shared my engagement plans had secretly ordered a bottle of wine, waiting for us at the restaurant.; THAT'S a friend if I've ever had one.  In return, we're letting/making him officiate our wedding in October of this year.  Ecstatic to celebrate our nuptials and continue our journey's in the future.  Until then...we're comin' home, baby.