How we first met / Unoffical Date
"We first met through our mutual friends Sean and Sarah. Getting together for a game night, I was irresistible to her with my drunken angry ramblings. We truly connected on our first unofficial date at the renaissance festival, were we were so engaged in our own conversation we kept wandering away and losing our group (Sean and Sarah again). We spent the whole day talking and couldn't wait to speak again" - Mark
"Ok, I remember us first meeting at a game night at Sean and Sarah's house. We were playing a game involving lying and deception called Secret Hitler. I had never played the game before, but I had played similar ones, so I understood the concept. I was one of the fascists (the bad guys the other players are trying to uncover), but I played innocent well, claiming any misstep I had was because I was new to the game. Only Mark was onto me, and I greatly enjoyed beating him. After that, he invited me to his company cabin along with other friends for a weekend full of board games, where I enjoyed playing against him again (and winning). He didn't quite pick up the hint that I liked him at that point, but when we went to the Renaissance Festival with Sean and Sarah, and spent the whole day talking, I think he figured it out" - Michelle
First Date
"Our first official date was getting together to eat thai food and watch Black Adder (an old british comedy). After that we went on series of dates, Michelle took me to belle Isle for the first time, apple picking for the first time and out to many, many restuarants. " -Mark
"Yes, our first date was watching Black Adder, a British Comedy he recommended, at my place. I remember him asking if I had a DVD player, and when I said I wasn't sure if mine still worked, he brought over a PlayStation and an X-Box with multiple cables to plug it in to make it work. Another early date was when we went to Wright and Co. in Detroit. It was a long wait so I took him to The Brakeman to kill time playing foosball. He said he "wasn't that good" but he murdered me several times in a row. He later revealed Ludo, Drew, and he had a foosball table in their apartment at college and played frequently. " - Michelle
First Trip
"Our first trip was later that year going to Harry Potter world, seeing a play in Orlando, then down to st. Lucia. It was a great long weekend getaway in the winter, that I couldn't wait to repeat every year." -Mark
"This was such an exciting trip because we both really wanted to go to Harry Potter World, but didn't have a chance to go yet. Needless to say, it was magical. We also saw the very funny play, The Play That Goes Wrong, per Mark's excellent suggestion. This was also the trip where we realized we needed to be very specific by what we mean when we say we want to "share" a plate versus "have a bite."" - Michelle
Covid / Moving In
"During covid Michelle moved in with me "temporarily" until it "all blows over in a few weeks". The temporary move in lasted until she officially moved in with me later in the year. Which came as a great surprise to me as I thought we were already living together." -Mark
"This was where I was clueless... During COVID I moved into Mark's house planning on it only lasting a few weeks until lockdown was over. Well, as you know, COVID didn't just blow over. Two weeks turned into a month, a month turned into two, and eventually, it was like, 'so are we living together?' I was waiting for him to ask me to move in because I didn't want to be presumptuous, but then I had a talk with Chamaine, and she was like, 'girl, you are already living together.' Well, we talked about it, and he officially asked me to move in when we were in Ashville visiting his parents." - Michelle
Spain!
"Spain was our first long trip together, it was great to be able to show places I love to Michelle, as well as experience new sites with her." -Mark
"This was our first big trip together, and it was amazing! Spain was beautiful. We loved getting to tour all the old churches, and realized we weren't big fans of Picasso post his blue period. Highlights included our biking down the greenway to the Valencia Aquarium and our day trip to Montserrat in the mountains. Mark got to experience me driving a stick shift for the first time, and we realized we both need access to the internet on international trips." -Michelle
Engaged
"I proposed on Belle Isle (one of our first dates) in February, driving to spot after spot, walking far off the beaten path to find the perfect location. I kind blacked out during most of it and asked a few times not realizing it. But she said yes each time so it all ended well." - Mark
"He faked me out so badly. Chamaine and Mark came up with the idea of doing several false proposals, so I wouldn't be sure when it was coming. I thought it might have been the weekend prior when we went ice skating in Campus Martius and had a nice meal out at San Morello. The whole day I was anticipating it, but it never happened. During this time, he was really insistent on going to Belle Isle, a place we went to very early on in dating, and have been back to several times since. Considering it was a freezing cold January day, and he really wanted to go to Belle Isle, I had my suspicions. Mark ended up getting down on one knee at the eastern tip of Belle Isle, after touring the conservatory, and the island for the perfect spot. He did a great job, even though he doesn't remember it." - Michelle
Run up to the Wedding
"Now we are here, engaged, fiance and fianced, planning for the rest of our lives!" -Mark
"This year of planning has been lots of fun! We've gotten to travel to England, where I got to meet more of Mark's family. My family has expanded as Kristin and Shane have welcomed my little niece Violet into the world. We also got to celebrate our friends expanding their families as well with the birth of Luca and Isla, and our very dear friends who introduced us, Sean and Sarah, got married as well! We're very excited to see what this next year will bring." - Michelle
