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From Tess:
I think that it was late January when Mike first messaged me on OKCupid. I was surprised, to say the
least, to discover that he and I had friends in common - the guitarist from
his band and his wife were and are friends of mine from my greyhound group.
Never the less, I think I knew this date would be different when, from the
beginning, Mike acted like no other guy I'd ever dated. From planning our first
date (it was a surprise to me), to insisting on picking me up the first time (I
usually insisted on meeting blind dates at the restaurant, but I figured that
if he knew Tara, he wasn't an axe murderer...). Our first date was February 10,
2008. Just four days later (on Valentine's Day), I went to see his band play,
and after the show, he gave me a card with a cheesy poem that made me melt. A
few weeks later, my mom asked me if he was the "one". With a rare
certainty, I answered "yes".
As the months went by, we never lost that sense of fun that we started with.
In Mike I found the first partner who was willing to try anything with me - from hiking and camping,
to silly and fun outings, to the opera. He even let me drag him off to a convention in Florida so that he could meet my
grandmother, as well as all the friends who don't live here. He has never stopped doing the little things that mean so much to me
- that no one else ever did - like leaving me post-it messages all over my house one day. I am still trying to find the male
equivalent of flowers - so far chocolate and awesome bread seem to do the trick.
It seems only natural that I'd want to spend
the rest of my life with someone who gets me. In reality, I'm the luckiest girl on Earth.
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From Mike:
I first saw Tess as a profile on a website. We were matched as 85% and I couldn't help but send her a message. I was attracted to her from the very start, plus she has a greyhound - I might have an "in"! A couple of my best friends volunteer for a local greyhound rescue. I was thrilled when she replied and stayed thrilled when the replies turned into a phone number which finally turned into a date. From there it just felt like the best rollercoaster I've ever been on. Never had I felt such a connection with someone that I clicked with so well. Right away both of us knew that this was something special. We were trying to take things slowly... it was like trying to stop an avalanche. We both knew, long before we were ready to admit it to each other, that we had found "the one". Normal stress-causing things like meeting friends, parents and family seemed natural. When we finally talked about moving in together, talking about marriage was an easy next step.
So, what can I say about Tess? She is the sweetest, warmest, most loving person I have ever met. And I have yet to meet anyone who knows her to think otherwise. This is all in addition to being devastatingly cute! I am humbled and honored that I will soon get to call her my wife.
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The Proposal:
Mike proposed to Tess in their living room, when she was least expecting it, on September 17th.
He had played the evening off as "nothing special," leading her to expect dinner and a movie on the couch, or something equally laid back.
Instead, as they were getting ready to head out the door, Mike dropped to one knee and started to say a really beautiful poem
(check out Tessa's blog for the full details).
Tess, of course, interrupted him to say "yes." Afterwards, they went to Barolo, the best Italian restaurant in Denver,
where they were greeted with special attention: custom printed menus, and the evening's wine tasting gifted to them by Tessa's parents.
If you ask Tess, it was the perfect proposal.
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The photos in the From Tess and From Mike sections above as well as the "Engagement Photos" below were taken by Eulee of Eulee's Photo.
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