How We Met

By: Hannah

I never in a million years imagined that I would ever be the person to download an “online dating app” but boy was proven wrong after CoVid. It became almost the only way to meet people after the pandemic. I went on a few dates and I realized that I wasn’t quite “cut-out” for the online dating world. Most people would treat you like it was a job interview. It was mentally, emotionally exhausting. You would try to remember where you would leave off of conversations with different people and things that you would think went great, it would be a crisp in the air and all the sudden, you had been ghosted. You would never hear a word from them again. After several months of this I had just about given up hope of ever meeting someone that finally understood me, that was until I got a notification one day that “Michael had matched with me.”

I was scrolling through my phone during a break before I had another flight to work and next thing I knew we were boarding getting ready to takeoff for who knows where. I remember waking up the next morning and thinking, “Oh no, I think my “time had expired with Michael…and it did.” For some reason I was very sad and more sad than most that I had accidentally let this one “get away.” I was well into working my trip and had another break and the next thing I knew, “He had extended his time with me.” He must’ve wanted to talk to me just as much as I wanted to talk to him. I instantly replied to him and let him know that I am really quite busy for the next few days because I was working trips but I genuinely would like the chance to get to know him. It turns out he felt the same way too. The next few weeks we talked and texted non-stop. It was almost crazy to think I felt like I knew someone so well that I had never even met… yet. 

Mikey was on vacation with his family at Walt Disney World. The day after he got back he asked if he could please finally take me on a date. I agreed without hesitation. He came and drove to my house and come to find out, we were only about 10 mins away from each other this whole time.

I got dressed and he knocked on my door and asked if I was ready to go. He opened the car door for me and I got so nervous driving to the restaurant but when we sat down for dinner at Barcelona, everything shifted and I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and relaxation come over me. It was like catching up with a very handsome, intuitive, and funny friend that I had felt I’d known my entire life. Our conversation flowed so effortlessly, we actually got told that the restaurant had closed. We had completely lost track of time and it was if we were the only two humans in the world as time had stopped. We then left the restaurant and he drove us home.

He asked if “It would be okay if he got out of the car to give me a hug.” I told him yes of course. Then I asked if he would like to come in for a little bit. He got out the guitar and played a few songs for me and I was hooked, I’m talking full on hook line and sinker. I had just gone on one of the best dates of my entire life. He gave me a kiss and he went on his way. I texted my best friend Brandi immediately that, “I had just met the man that I was going to marry.” The rest is history and brings you to now.

By the way, every year My Mikey recreates our first date and it is always the thing that I look so forward to every year sitting at Barcelona and remembering that very first night we met and reminding each other just how far we have come and grown in our relationship together.

The Proposal

By: Mike

I knew Hannah was the one pretty early on in our relationship. We just had so much in common right from the start, and things felt easy between us. We’ve been together for four years now, and every year we recreate our first date as an anniversary dinner. This year, I decided to take it up a notch.

During dinner, I surprised Hannah by telling her we were leaving the next day for a weekend trip—but didn’t tell her where. I had rented this incredible house just south of Chattanooga, sitting on top of a mountain with about a 150-foot drop right off the back deck. The view was unreal.

I had planned to propose the first night, but we got in later than expected. Then the second night, it was supposed to rain. So that left me with one last chance—our final evening. After dinner, I suggested we take some pictures on the deck at sunset. I had already been filming off the deck here and there that weekend, so I don’t think she suspected anything.

We took a few photos, and while I was “reviewing” them, I told her I needed to change a few settings and do some more. That’s when I quietly hit record on the camera, pulled the box out of my camera bag, and walked over to her. Standing there next to the most beautiful girl—with an amazing (and slightly terrifying when you have a fear of heights) view behind us—I hadn’t written anything down leading up to it, I just spoke from the heart. The only thing running through my head was: “Don’t drop this thing over the cliff.”

She said yes. Definitely surprised, and pretty speechless for a few minutes. It felt like a long time coming, but also the perfect next step in our life together. And I think we might’ve just found our new favorite weekend getaway spot.