Where to start!? Let’s take a trip back to 2009 when we met for the first time in 6th grade as we had the same class together. This is where Connor would stare at Dionna everyday until it was very much noticeable and Dionna would weirdly write his name over and over in her notebook surrounded by hearts. Fast forward a year later in 7th grade where we “dated” for the first time which entailed Friday night ice skating “dates”, meeting at a locker for a quick peck, and the countless times that Connor would sing “Grenade” and “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars to Dionna over and over again lol. This lasted for a few months as I think Connor realized he was indeed not Bruno Mars. A little fun fact from those few months: Connor gave Dionna a heart necklace for her birthday that year and Dionna for some odd reason kept that necklace after all this time and she still has it.

Moving onto Freshman year of high school we decided to revisit this little thing we had in middle school and see where it would take us. It didn’t take us too far other than to our E-wing math classes as we held hands in the hallway and kissed goodbye. Nothing really ever came about it just a few weeks of the “talking stage”.

So let’s just jump ahead all the way to 2016, it was our first year at the one and only Hooper University. Connor and Dionna had class right next to each other making it very easy to run into one another before and after class with the casual hello. Eventually Connor decided to reach out and shoot his shot. Connor asked Dionna to go on date after date and Dionna gave every excuse under the sun not to go. Connor kept trying but Dionna was persistent and did not budge refusing to have any kind of relationship any time soon. So Connor backed off well for a couple weeks at least until he was driving her brother Nico home from baseball practice and said, “tell your sister to hit me up” which surprisingly and thankfully she did that night! Dionna finally gave in with how persistent Connor was and allowed him to take her on a date! Our first date was on the beach in Seaside Heights, where we walked the perimeter of the shore line looking for shells, talked, got to know each other more than we already did and laughed a lot! Connor even found the most perfect shell that Dionna still has from that day. If you guys are wondering, Dionna ended up making the first move on the kiss goodbye as Connor dropped her off at home. They continued to talk and go on dates for a month.

Come November 19, 2016 after a double date, Connor decided to ask Dionna to be his girlfriend. And this is where our love story began.

Fast Forward to July 9, 2022. Amidst our summer getaway in Norfolk, Virginia where Connor had something very special planned. It was a windy, rainy day definitely not ideal to take a walk on the beach but that was the plan, so it had to happen. Nevertheless, Connor convinced Dionna to take a quick stroll on the beach before the dinner we had planned. We approached the sand and walked out into the middle of the beach, near a lonely photographer who just so happened to be taking pictures at that time, this is when Connor got down on one knee and asked Dionna to marry him! She said yes of course! The surprises didn’t end there, as both of our mother’s & Dionna’s sisters and best friend had made the trip to Norfolk for the special dinner! Truly an amazing day even though Dionna is a secret agent and knew about the entire thing just by piecing things together and from her intuition. Now Connor knows why she agreed to go on the beach in the rain after she just got ready. She would have never agreed to do such a thing if she didn’t know.

In those next few months Dionna and Connor began exploring different wedding venues as well as looking for their first house together which was not a walk in the park, as it took us roughly a year until we found the one due to this outrageous housing market. Finally after countless offers were declined with little to no hope left our offer got accepted and we closed on our first home on November 8, 2023. Opening another amazing chapter in our story and enjoying every moment of it waiting for the many more chapters that lie ahead of us.

It was always you!<3