OUR
Story
First Date
​
On a chilly and slightly damp December 19, 2016 evening, I found myself walking toward the Elysian Tangletown in Seattle, Washington, to meet my Match date for the first time. Being that the date was a blind one, I came prepared for just about anything. As I approached the front of the restaurant, I noticed there was a very cute guy standing outside. He looked at me warmly with a big smile spreading over his face and all I could think to myself was “wait a minute, I’m not prepared for this totally charming and cute guy.”
He gave me a quick squeeze and then we entered the restaurant and grabbed a table. I was so nervous. Unreasonably so given how good natured and conversant my date was. He introduced himself as Tamás and explained that he was from Hungary. I thought “oh, brother! He’s charming, handsome, and European!?!” My nervousness just continued to escalate, so much so that I immediately launched into some anxiety-fueled banter about how crazy it was to be so close to Christmas and then I turned my attention to discussing the NFL Combine because come on, isn’t that what girls are supposed to talk about on first dates!?!
Tamás was so patient with me and just smiled through the ordeal as I came to think of it. We talked about work, family, and our Christmas traditions which seemed like safe ground until every few minutes I seemed to keep exclaiming, “Can you believe it’s almost Christmas!?!” Tamás just smiled and kept giving me reassuring looks and I think he even patted me on the hand a couple of times for good measure.
By the end of our first date, I was beginning to think that a second one might be hoping against hope until Tamás mentioned something to the effect that it (my overwhelming nervousness) would subside some by the second one. At last, I could breathe a sigh of relief!
The moment I laid eyes on Tamás I knew there was something very special about him. What I came to learn over the course of our first date was that his warmth, sense of humor, patience with me, and, of course dashing good looks all pointed to one thing for this girl; I wanted to experience this forever more.
Lucky for me, and lucky in love, Tamás and I have been living our happily ever after together ever since.
Proposal
On April 29th, 2017 we set out on our usual morning weekend routine of going to our favorite bakery. This time I suggested we take the dogs with us and walk in the park. Katie mentioned that while I was away at a BBQ competition the previous weekend she had taken Teddy to the Sammamish Lower Commons Park where she had seen several woodpeckers and an owl.
​
Although a slight change in my game plan I quickly grabbed my camera bag knowing she wouldn’t think twice about it since I take a lot of nature pictures. I hid the ring inside and bag and we were off to the bakery. After we grabbed our coffee and goodies we headed to the park. It was a peaceful morning and there were only a few other people on their morning walks. We wondered over to a bench in the middle of the grassy hill that looked out over the wetlands below. Katie was to my right and my camera bag to my left. I waited for the walkers to be out of eyesight and I set down my coffee and started fumbling with my bag. As I turned back towards Katie I dropped off the bench on bended knee and proposed…it was the first time in our time together that she was truly speechless…until she finally said yes :)