In full disclosure, Eric and I had met a few times before this at UNH parties, but it hadn't been the right time for our story to really begin. But I'll take you wayyyy back to the Summer of '14....

It was late August and UNH classes hadn't started yet. My apartment senior year was all about the location--it was downtown and above The Knot, one of the only three bars on UNH campus. It was a peaceful summer evening in Durham and I was walking back to my apartment from a pre-classes meeting on campus. Naturally, I decided that on the way back to my apartment I should stop into the The Knot to see if anyone I knew was hanging out downstairs.

This is where I found Eric and we struck up a conversation, mostly about our mutual friends, and had a good time! We left this conversation with each other's phone numbers and plans to hang out when everyone came back to UNH -- and that's exactly what we did :) We would meet up at Scorps for Kick the Keg and Libby's for Dollar-Drinks, and dance the night away to the Top 40 hits played by DJ Downstairs!

I can't help but add a romantic aside I learned later - Eric had been interested in me from those few times before I mentioned and he was hoping to run into me at The Knot that night! I am so glad he did!

I'd say the rest is a happy blur of dating - one of our first dates was autumn apple picking, Eric said he liked to pick apples but didn't like to go alone...SO CUTE! Eventually I graduated and got a job in Boston like Eric, so we moved to the big city together in the fall of 2015 for our next Chapter...

We moved to Boston in fall 2015 and had even more fun exploring the new city together. Adventures down cobblestone alleys and walking along the Freedom Trail, we discovered more about each other as we anchored deeper into Boston.

On the first weekend in June 2017, we found ourselves northward bound on I-95 for a fun Saturday night out in Portsmouth with a bunch of friends. If you remember, 2017 had been a long winter into a cool spring, and this was set to be the "first good weekend of summer" -- I was tickled pink to return to Portsmouth to see everyone!

We had a blast seeing friends and family throughout the night - from dinner at The Gaslight to beers at Harpoon Willeys, and then rum buckets at Lazy Jacks! At some point someone told me, "Kayla, there are guys with telescopes in Market Square; its a really clear night so you can see Saturn!" and naturally I said, "LETS GO!!"

So the group of us proceeded to the center of downtown Portsmouth to see the celestial treats. I waited in line to see Saturn and noticed Eric talking to the street musicians. After looking at the distant stars, I rejoined Eric, putting my hands in his, looking up at him smiling, and asking what he wanted to do next. The music had changed a little and there was romantic Celtic music playing now; Eric didn't say too much more before dropping to one knee!!

And that was it! I was shocked and THRILLED! On the first good weekend of summer, in front of dear family and friends, my best friend had proposed to me <3 and I couldn't ask for anything more.