How We Met...
I (David) had recently gone through
a hard breakup with a former girlfriend. I wanted to start dating again but
did not really know how to begin since I was not really into the bar scene.
I was driving to work one day and I heard an ad for speed dating in Tallahassee.
I decided I would give it a try since I had nothing to lose. The event was
at Buckhead Brewery. I was introduced to about 8 girls throughout the night,
spending about 5 minutes with each one. I was attracted to Rachel right from
the start. She was beautiful and had a wonderful, outgoing, and fun personality.
The next day I logged on to the website and entered who I wanted to match
with. I did not have any matches at that point since no one else had really
logged their picks. I left that day to go over to Destin for the weekend to
visit my parents. I checked my matches while I was there and I noticed I had
matched with Rachel. I opened my email to drop her a line and I noticed that
she had already emailed me! I saw she had given me her phone number so I called
her. We talked for about 30 or 45 mins. I asked her out to dinner. We decided
to go to dinner on Sunday evening. So I packed up and left Destin early. We
went to Cabos for dinner. During dinner she informed me she was a member of
Parrot Heads (Jimmy Buffet fan club) and asked if I would like to go to happy
hour with her Wednesday night. I said sure. I called Rachel again on Monday
and Tuesday and she informed me that she was going out to dinner with friends
on Tuesday night and I was more than welcome to come along. We went out to
TGI Fridays (where we had our first kiss). We went out again the next night
to Parrot Heads and have been inseparable ever since.
The Engagement...
Rachel and I were at the Parrot
Head Christmas party and while standing around the fire our conversation turned
to the "where do you think our relationship is heading" conversation.
I asked her to go first and she told me she thought I was the one. I told
her I felt the same way but did not want to tell her any earlier for fear
that she would not be ready to hear that. Rachel was so excited and started
planning the wedding. I asked her to take it easy until I formally asked her.
I wanted the perfect engagement so I asked her to go with me to Disney World
for Valentine's weekend. This was nothing out of the ordinary since we have
Disney passes. We stayed Friday night at her grandmother's house and went
to Disney Saturday morning. It began to rain on our way down (and did not
stop until we returned home early Sunday morning.) We hung out at Disney most
of the day until about 6:15 PM. I informed Rachel that I had a surprise for
her. We went to the truck and drove to Port Orleans resort at Disney where
I had arranged for a horse drawn carriage ride around the (simulated) Missisppi
River. After the carriage ride we went back to the truck and we both changed
into nice clothes for what she thought was nothing more than a nice dinner.
I then drove us to the Contemporary Resort, (she did not know where we were
going until we got there). I had made dinner reservation for us at the California
Grille. We sat at the bar and had a cocktail while watching the fireworks
go off over Magic Kingdom. I then pretended to go to the restroom while I
secretly met with the manager in order to set up my perfect proposal. When
it came time for dessert the manager hand delivered a covered tray and informed
us this was a special dessert that I had requested for Rachel. I then walked around
and got down on one knee while he uncovered a dish with a glass slipper sitting
on the plate. Inside the glass slipper was a small pillow that held her 3/4
carat diamond engagement ring. Written on the plate in chocolate were the
words "will you marry me?" She sat in shock for a moment or two
before saying yes!