A year prior to meeting, a mutual friend Eugene (who I played volleyball with) started talking up some guy named Brian who he wanted to introduce me to. At this point, I hadn't been in a relationship in 5 years. Immediately I wondered what was wrong with him since I had preconceived ideas about male cops and of course knowing Eugene....haha. He told me a little about Brian's story and the conversation didn't really go much further than that. Early summer, Eugene invited the volleyball crew to his wedding reception in August of 2016. Brian was going to be in attendance and if I was going to go then that would be a great time to meet. My girlfriend and I attempted to look him up on the internet and we were able to find his Linkedin profile with his picture. I wasn't really convinced at this time about moving ahead because he didn't "fit into my box". My girlfriend let me know that what I had been trying before hadn't worked so well for me and that maybe I should look outside the box. Eugene's wedding reception came. I was dressed to the nines, looking smoking hot in an emerald, green romper and black high heels. I went with my sister and sat with the rest of the volleyball crew. We then sat down for dinner trying to figure out which one was Brian. After dinner, I continued to people watch, and I was pretty sure I spotted him. He was running around, like a mad man, with a pitcher of beer in his hand. He had on khaki shorts and a black polo shirt. I just continued to observe him. After 2 1/2 hours of being at the reception and me assuming Brian knew I was there and not once attempted to talk to me, I thought forget him, and my sister and I got up and said our goodbyes to Eugene and Luanne, without talking to Brian. Chivalry is officially dead! The end of the year was approaching, and I talked to Eugene at our volleyball party and said, "listen if this guy isn't interested then I don't want to waste my time anymore. Why don't you give me his number so we can at least talk"? Eugene said he would check with Brian first. Brian gave Eugene the okay to give me his phone number. Sunday night January 1, 2017, I called Brian. We talked on the phone for two hours. At the end of that conversation, we agreed to meet the following weekend at Brian's house. On January 7, 2017 I was driving to Brian's house. I got lost and was getting really frustrated when Brian called to check in. He told me that I needed to go back the opposite direction that I was going. At this point, I was having second thoughts and told him that I was just going to go back home. He told me that I was only 10 minutes away and that he wanted me to still come. I agreed, drove up his driveway and met him at the front door. He had piercing blue eyes. We said our hellos and he gave me a tour of his house (because I asked for one). We then sat down to a supper of his mom's recipe for homemade lasagna and garlic bread and had some good conversation. At the end of the night, we were making a date for the next week. We continued our conversations every night. On Valentine's day, I met his two daughters and the rest is pretty much history. Almost three years later on Sweetest Day, I told him that I loved him for the first time. Fast forward to January 5th of 2024, Brian made me his mom's lasagna and we sat down and talked about our future for about an hour. Brian then got down on one knee, with my mom's wedding ring, and proposed. He told me the back story of everything he had done with my family to get my mom's ring. He also presented me with another separate ring with three smaller diamonds. It was a representation of our three daughters. I cried and of course I said yes!!!