Brittany's side of the story: My opening line to Sean was in response to a photo of him standing on a boat, pole in hand, buildings from Cambridge University in the background: "Are you punting on the Cam in that photo?". I couldn't believe that he had a photo of that experience, it's not something that I think is widely popular, and I only knew it by chance because I'd done it on a day trip to Cambridge, England myself. From that intro, our conversation flowed seamlessly and we quickly agreed to meet over a drink at McCormick + Schmicks. I was immediately taken with Sean. From his passion for pursuing his goals, to the sincerity with which he spoke of his hobbies, his education, his friends and his family, to of course, his handsome looks - I was excited for date number two. We went on a several more dates and with each passing moment, I was more and more excited to get to know the man who would become my future husband. Date number six sealed the deal though. It was the first time I invited Sean over to my apartment, and when he showed up, he brought me pink roses and two bottles of Stumptown cold brew. It's my absolute favorite coffee, and I must have mentioned it in passing to him - but he remembered and he went out of his way to pick it up before coming over. I was sold. But that wasn't the last time Sean would surprise me with his great memory and amazing attention to details.
Fast forward to February 2, 2019. Sean had an all-day workshop for school and that evening we were set to go see a movie together. In hindsight, he was acting completely strange the entire day. He called me three times to confirm the movie time. And once we got on our way to the theater, the man who is never on his cell phone insists we turn home to get his because he forgot it. From there, the evening was otherwise normal, until the movie was over. After the film, I excused myself to the ladies room while Sean patiently waited outside. Once I was ready to go, we started walking to our car when all of a sudden, now Sean needed the men's room. Why he couldn't have gone while I did was beyond me... my suspicions crept up on me. But then, we got in the car and started heading home. Again, totally normal. Until... Sean made a wrong turn. He claimed he just wasn't paying attention, but he kept going in the wrong direction, intentionally taking us to a park near our home. He pulls the car into the park parking lot. The completely empty, pitch black parking lot. Now I was confused. If I had thought proposal, I needed to think again, because who would propose in a dark, empty parking lot, at 10:30 at night? Well, I'll tell you, it's the man who remembered me saying that when I was a little girl, I'd hoped my future husband would propose under the Disney fireworks. So Sean arranged with his friends to set off a round of fireworks in the Raleigh Hills park to surprise me with the most romantic proposal I could imagine. When the fireworks were over, I turned around to find him on bended knee, ring in hand. I can't remember what he said, I was so overcome with joy. All I know is that my answer was a resounding and unequivocal YES.