Hello Everyone!

For those of you who don't know the story of our courtship, let me begin!

It was August 2013 when Kate ran across "that chef guy's" profile on OkCupid, an online dating website. As she was scrolling through his pictures she liked each one better than the last! Oh my gosh, he's cute! Look at him with his Godson-- he looks like he'd be fun! But then, at the bottom of the page, the very last picture was of this "chef guy" standing on Lambeau Field wearing a VIKINGS JERSEY!!??

"What the $*@! ", thought Kate, "Well... he was cool up until this..." Never one to back down from a perfect opportunity to be a smartass (remember folks, she really was looking for love but this guy needed to know he crossed a line), she messaged him with an opening similar to this story:

"Hey there! I saw your profile and you seem like a fun person! You say you're a chef so that will come in handy for me since I'm hungry a lot of the time and love snacks! Everything on your profile checks out except that last picture of you on Lambeau Field. Excuse me, but out of respect you shouldn't have worn that disgusting purple slop (aka the Vikings jersey) on such a sacred stomping ground! Feel free to send me a message to explain your actions and I might reconsider. ;) "

The next day Kate received a response from Chef Guy :

"Finally a girl with a sense of humor! I was about to give up on this site!"

The two set up a lunch date at a sushi place downtown, each person having their separate wishes fulfilled: Mike "takes all his first dates to sushi" (classy guy) and Kate had just gotten her wisdom teeth taken out so soft foods were the only foods for quite some time. This story is just dripping with romance, eh?

Mike met Kate with a big hug before they sat down for their date. They both shared stories of their family and laughed-- a lot. Mike had a wedding to go to that weekend so they talked about how crappy or stressful some weddings can be. It was then that they agreed if they were to ever get married, each of them would want a relaxed wedding. "It all comes down to three things: good food, good music and booze," listed Mike. Kate agreed!

At the end of lunch the date needed to wrap up because Kate had to go to work. She was a flight attendant and needed to go to Kansas City that night. They said their goodbye's in the underground parking garage (again, drenched in romance). However, instead of the bear hug at the beginning, Mike gave Kate this weird one-armed hug from the side... like how you would hug somebody who just came home from the gym and they were still sweaty so you didn't want to touch them that much.

Immediately following the less than lustful "hug", Kate got in the elevator alone to get to the floor her car was parked on. After the doors closed, she said outloud, "Well, I guess I'm never seeing him again."

Later when she was at work, specifically during the Captain's briefing, Kate was still thinking about that Chef Guy (whose name was Mike, she now learned) and the weird hug. Then she heard the Captain say, "Weather looks good with only a little turbulence on the descent into Kansas City. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah... I just got done with a first date. What does it mean when a guy gives you a huge hug at the beginning of the date but a weird side-hug at the end? You both are dudes, what gives?" The entire crew came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't a good sign. Bummer.

Hours later, they land in Kansas City. Kate checks her phone on the way to the hotel and alerts her crew that she has received a text from that Chef Guy Who Hugs Weird.

"He said he had a nice time hanging out today and that it was fun! He wants me to give him a call when I'm back in town!" The hotel van erupted with cheers! The side-hug made even less sense now than before but that was fine with Kate. She really wanted to see Mike again, too. :)

As many of you know, Mike works in the Research and Development department of Buffalo Wild Wings and the job has some travel perks! Buffalo Wild Wings sponsors a College Football Bowl that is usually around Christmas/New Year's Eve. For the past few years, I've been able to tag along and this past year's Bowl was in Orlando, FL on New Year's Day. Mike and I went down to Orlando a few days before the Bowl for him to prep and me to relax in the sun!

We were staying at a beautiful resort with other people involved with hosting the Bowl game and there was to be a cocktail party on New Year's Eve with fireworks at Midnight, all put on by the resort.

New Year's Eve was upon us and we enjoyed our time at the cocktail party that had delicious food and drinks outdoors. The fireworks were scheduled to ignite over the lake on the resort property so just before midnight, Mike came up to me and said, "It's time." We walked along the stone path to where chairs were set up on the lawn. As we approached the area we saw a round, white gazebo with a tiny table and two chairs. Mike walked up into the gazebo and said, "Okay, he we are!" Stage whispering from the side of the gazebo, I tried to be discreet when I said, "MIKE! C'mon! This isn't for us! You can't just walk up there and sit. This is for somebody else! Get down! Get down! Come on, duuuude!"

As cool as James Dean, Mike replied slowly, "No. It's okay... sit down."

So I sat.

Mike walked around the back of my chair and said, "Allllll right, honey. You know I love you and you're very special to me." Then he got down on one knee on my left side, stared at me with watery eyes and with a sheepish smile asked, "Will you marry me?"

Any word I knew escaped my mind. I quickly memorized his face just before hugging and kissing him. Flashes of light came out of nowhere and I was again, without words. Two photographers and Mike's coworker were standing on the edge of the gazebo. It's possible that this is when I was asked what my answer was and I finally spoke and said "YES!"

Ka-BOOM! Sizzle! Pop!

As the fireworks exploded and the photographers captured the moment, my new fiancé and I nervously and happily swirled around the gazebo.

After our short and impromptu photo shoot, we were left alone with that tiny table and chairs. I sat down to relish the moment and examine the details. A rectangular silver tray was lined with chocolate-covered strawberries and a bucket of ice chilled the champagne. Mike opened the champagne and we toasted to our new adventure as the celebration of a new year doubled as a soundtrack to our new life!