Patrick and I were introduced by mutual friends. I had just moved to the Chicago area with my friend Rachel after graduating college and was working in a restaurant. Some of the girls I worked with invited me out after work one night and they had secretly been telling Pat about this "single girl from Pennsylvania." We talked a few times over the next two weeks and eventually, in a very chivalrous manner, Patrick asked me for my number and then out to dinner. You know the rest!

The proposal came on our 5th anniversary. Pat knew if he planned something I might be suspicious so he asked me to plan the date. I picked our favorite sushi spot in Wheaton, Il. He researched the area a bit and took me to a cute little park nearby. It was in front of a fountain that he dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him.