3.31.18

Craig asked me to go get dinner and drinks over at a place in Framingham called Bourbons. Well when we got there the line was out the door and it was a 2-hour long wait! Luckily, Craig knew the area and suggested we go to a place down the street, Ken's Steakhouse. While the atmosphere was certainly not the millennial scene Bourbons had to offer, we had such an amazing time!! The night seemed to fly right on by. Now, we couldn't imagine it any other way.

We sure kept busy in the months after we met. We saw the Bruins in a playoff game, Zac Brown Band at Fenway Park, multiple Red Sox games with family and friends, weekend trips to Cape Cod, saw multiple couple friends of ours get married, and went on a big trip to San Francisco, Napa, and San Diego. In between all that, we managed to get a puppy (Austin!), I switched careers (#teacherlife!), and entered the last year of grad school (Go Eagles!).

Getting to the stands to propose was the easy part.... A few months before, Mark and I were in Mexico for February school vacation. Throughout the week I was getting texts from friends and family asking if I had any exciting news or big events that happened. I kept telling everyone that when it happens it happens! I knew that everyone would have expected it to occur while we were enjoying a week in the Sun at a romantic and relaxing resort. However, that was just too predicable. I did however decide on that trip that I was going to do it at Opening Day at Fenway Park. Mark was talking about the Red Sox and the upcoming season, he was rattling off stats and winning the series. I initially thought that it would be cool to surprise Mark with Opening Day tickets and then the idea of the engagement came to my mind. When we arrived home from Mexico I started planning it out. I took idea's from some friends on what to do and couldn't really settle on what to use for my "ask." A co-worker at the time suggested a watch, which sounded to me like the perfect idea. I ended up ordering a limited edition World Series watch that had wood from old Fenway Park seats as the backing. The proposal watch for Mark and then the same style one for myself. They were PERFECT. They were really nice watches, had sentimental value, and were limited edition. That night I ordered. About a week later, I got an email that the watches were not going to be ready until *after* Opening Day. I really loved the watches but timing just wasn't going to work out and Opening Day (April 9th) was fast approaching. I found a different company with a similar design and style that were being made in California so I switched the order to ensure delivery by Opening Day. Sure enough, the artist ran out of wood to finish one of the watches! He graciously offered to overnight the watch he had completed and I said that I really only needed Mark's and that mine could come in on a later date. April 8th, the day before Opening Day, the watch had still yet to arrive. In my 12 years at my job, I haven't ever really called in a favor...but with the pressure of the proposal the next day and no watch in hand, I was out of options. It seemed like this watch idea wasn't going to work out! FedEx had been trying to get our business for awhile and fortunately for me we had been talking for a week or so at that time. So I called in a favor and asked them to find the package and get it to the closest facility they could and I would drive literally anywhere that night to go get it. They truly pulled out all the stops and got my package to a facility in Taunton that night. They told me I had till 7pm to get it picked up. I left the office racing down 495 to make it in time. Meanwhile Mark was calling to see what time I would be home. I'm a bad liar but I told him that I had an emergency HR Issue in the Taunton store and I would be home late. He said ok and said he'd have dinner ready for when I got home. I pulled into the FedEx lot at 6:59, no joke. FedEXxhad a team waiting for me to arrive, doors open literally clapping for arrival. They all were so excited they could help make my special day happen! Box was in hand and I sat in my truck and opened it in tears, just hoping the engraving and watch was good to go as it was such a custom piece to get rushed to me in time. It was perfect. I sat in my truck just thankful for all those who helped me get the watch! FedEx should get a medal for all of their help and support! I arrived home and hid the watch in the car. Mark was getting things together for the game the next day as I got home. He was beaming with excitement, little did he know all of the plans I had ready for the next day.

Opening day was here, we left the house early to head into the city. We knew it was going to be extremely busy with all of the events leading up to opening day, celebrating the team for their world series win the previous year. We got into Game On to have a few drinks and some food before the game. We met up with a few of my friends (all previously arranged) and hung out. My buddy's father-in-law works for the Red Sox and when he heard what I was planning, he graciously offered to get us into the park early to allow us to have our moment with less people around us! I was so stressed at Game On ensuring that we were prepared to leave once he texted us. We originally were going to try and get up on the Green Monster but it was extremely busy so we headed to the seats. I invited my best friends, Meri and Joey, to come with us so they could see our seats, which were directly behind homeplate. We headed down to the first row and could see players practicing 5 feet away from us, with news media galore getting prepared for the ring ceremony. Meri and Joey suggested Mark and I take a picture in front of home plate so we walked down and they both started taking pictures of us. I then turned toward Mark, took the watch out, got down on one knee and asked Mark to marry me. He was so overcome with emotions he fell to the ground, but accepted, saying yes through a mix of happy tears and laughter. During the same time, the news media had turned around and started recording us! Then asked Mark and I if they could interview us. So we made the news (Maine local news but still on tv) ! It was just perfect. Mark was really in shock and Meri and Joey got it all on video! It was somewhat cold and rainy on opening day, so we decided to go up to EMC level and hang out and celebrate. I had a group of friends at the game who got tickets so they could join in our celebration. We spent a few innings up at the EMC club celebrating. But that wasn't what I actually had planned! I had another surprise planned for later on. I convinced Mark to head to Fanueil Hall to go to a few bars for an early dinner and drinks. I had worked with his friend Maggie to setup a surprise celebration at a bar downtown with all our friends and family that evening. Mark and I walked in and Mark was so surprised that I had planned a surprise celebration! We were greeted by a bunch of our family, friends and co workers to round out our perfect day! We celebrated, eat and had many drinks to celebrate our engagement!