Like any other love story, ours began on a typical Wednesday night in June of 2010, at a birthday, in a bar with Smirnoff Ice. Stacey was out with friends celebrating her birthday at a Springfield College bar named Paddy's. I was out celebrating Wednesday. We both recognized each other from around campus, but were a bit too shy to say hi. Forty-five minutes of Miller Light pitchers and a shot of Vodka changed that when I turned around to see Stacey with a Smirnoff ice. "You're Iced Bitch!" she proclaimed. True Love.

With the help of more steady fingers than mine, 10 digits were saved into my late 2009 edition Samsung flip phone (thank you Casey Brodersen). Alas, it would be two weeks of "playing it cool" and another albeit awkward chance encounter at Paddy's, before I mustered up enough courage to ask her out on a date. The first of many.

Stacey was immediately attracted to my dream of becoming an athletics intern and I was intrigued by her dream-crushing student debt. Despite the obvious financial stability these dynamics created, we appreciated each other's company. She laughed at the majority of my jokes and I was desperate enough to do anything (Learn to ski) to be able to spend more time with her. At the core of our relationship, we knew how to have fun together and shared many values we still appreciate today. It made becoming Facebook official in September, easy.

After a year together at Springfield College, we spent the next three years long distance, living apart from September 2011 until October 2014. Stacey lived in and around Lake Hopatcong, NJ while I spent time working in the following parts of the country: Cape Cod, MA (297 miles, 5 hours), Columbia, Missouri (1059 miles, 16 hours), and Pittsburgh, PA (334 miles, 5.5 hours).

During this time there were many drives, flights, FaceTimes and late night phone calls. We couldn't be more thankful for the support our friends and family extended to us during this time, you all are a big part of who we are as a couple. While difficult to navigate the long distance relationship, we never doubted what we wanted; each other. Instead of driving us apart, the distance brought us together, forcing us to work on our communication and trust in ways we never thought we would need to. You would be amazed at the things you get into after 1000 hours of phone call time. That's what made October 2014 so rewarding, when Stacey took the plunge and moved to Pittsburgh. We could finally be together…YAY!!!

I had the day off on Friday and Jason enjoys drinking beer. So we planned a Thursday happy hour with friends in downtown Pittsburgh. Little did I know, Jason was planning the biggest surprise of my life! We took an uber to the bar and somehow Jason talked me into seeing the Christmas tree and ice rink before heading inside for drinks. I would have been all in on any other night, except this was the coldest night of the winter and we could barely feel our faces! Jason had to convince me that none of our friends would be at the bar yet and I gave in. We began walking towards the area when suddenly 20 or so of our closest Pittsburgh friends were hiding and ready to capture the moment. Jason got down on one knee and I started crying. I'm not sure if I actually said yes through the tears, but we both know that was the best night of our lives!