Our Story
How We Met
As told by the Bride...
On November 7, 2003, I received an e-mail to my Yahoo! Personals account from REM1473. I read the e-mail, and wrote back.
An "e-mail exchange" between Bob and I began and would lead to our eventual "face-to-face" meeting at Panera Bread in Strongsville on January 7, 2004, exactly two months later.
Bob and I had a great "first date" and spent over 2 hours talking and getting to know each other. Even though I had a great time, I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.
But, we continued to e-mail each other after that night. And, a few weeks later, Bob e-mailed me and invited me to a Cavaliers basketball game. I accepted and met him for the game. We had a wonderful time, and following the game he invited me to the Boat Show a couple days later. His passion in life is boating, and he wanted to share that with me.
We met around 10am the morning of the show and spent 5 hours at the Boat Show, went to dinner and then went back to his condo to hang out.
The rest is history...
After the "Boat Show Date", we were inseparable!
We spent more and more time together, and met each other's families. My family adored him immediately, and kept telling me that he's a keeper. My friends felt the same way about him as well.
I knew he was special, and that I had found someone who loved me more than I had ever been loved before. He loved me for me, and that was all I needed!
We've had some wonderful memories over the past few years... weekends on the boat; trips to Florida; concerts; family gatherings; week-long boating trips; weekend trips to Washington, D.C. and Niagara Falls; the birth of my niece; and many more...
And, we have our whole lives together to create more memories!
The Proposal
New Year's Eve 2007
As told by the Bride...
Bob and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve at the condo in Florida, as we've done for the past few years. (Actually, this year we extended our stay from Dec. 27 through Jan. 6).
We decided to spend a quiet night in the condo for New Year's Eve, instead of fighting the traffic and crowded bars. We cooked a yummy steak dinner with my favorite brown rice recipe. It was a low-key night after dinner, watching TV and waiting for the "ball to drop".
Midnight came and the ball dropped. Bob's mom called to wish us a Happy New Year, and I called my parents to wish them the same.
Shortly after the phone calls, we were sitting on the couch, and Bob was looking strange. I kept asking if everything was ok, and he said he was fine. (I thought maybe it was the few beers that he had, and stopped worrying.)
Then, I looked at him and he was holding a box.
He said, "Do you know what this is?"
I started screaming! :-)
Then, when I calmed down, he opened the box, and I screamed again.
Then, it got very quiet... and I said, "Well, are you going to ask?"
He said, "Will you marry me?"
And, I said, "YES!!!!" :-)
It was quite exciting!!!
I really wanted to call my parents, but he wanted us to wait until morning since he had kept the ring a secret for so long. But, after a few minutes, he gave in and let me call.
I called my mom, who I had just talked to a few minutes ago, and she said, "What's up?" as she normally does... I said, "We're engaged!" And, I heard all this yelling! :-) Mom said that she "knew" it was going to happen... she just had this feeling. I made her go and wake-up my 91-year-old grandma to tell her. She went into grandma's room, and said, "Steph's on the phone." I could hear grandma say, "Did she get a ring?" I talked to grandma for a little bit, and then hung up with my family.
Then, I called Bob's parents and told them the exciting news. They were very excited as well.
The rest of our Florida trip was awesome. We celebrated our engagement New Year's Day night @ PF Chang's.
Bob's parents were supposed to arrive in Florida the day we were leaving; however, they postponed their trip so that they could have an Engagement Dinner for us the day after we got back. My parents, grandma, brother, sister-in-law and niece were there as well. It was a great evening!
