Colin and I met in high school at The Pennington School. Pennington is a small school so you get to know everyone really quickly. On one of the first few days of freshman year, I was walking up the stairs to class in Old Main, when apparently, I caught Colin’s attention. He said when he saw me, he turned to his friend and asked “who is that girl?” and thought to himself that one day we would be together. Well he wasn’t wrong!

Colin left halfway through high school to play Junior Hockey in Omaha, Nebraska but even with the distance we remained good friends, and when he would come home for break or an event, our friend group always got together. Throughout college we always kept in touch, we were both D1 athletes so how we had a lot in common. Colin played hockey at the University of Vermont and I played soccer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. One night during freshman year of winter break, a few of us met at a friend's to catch up. This was the first I saw Colin in months, and I couldn’t help but think WOW Colin Markison is so attractive and I really love talking with him.

This was the first time I thought about Colin as more than a friend. But time went by and we were on different schedules with athletics. In our fall semester of junior year before winter break, Colin asked if I would be his date to his eldest sister Adrienne and her now husband of five years, Marcello’s engagement party that his parents were throwing. Of course, I said yes and was beyond excited! Colin picked me up for our “first date” and from then on I knew he was the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. When Colin was walking up my parents' driveway to the front door, I couldn’t help but smile and a sense of warmth came over me. It’s a feeling I never can explain but I still have to this day every time I look at him. It’s almost like butterflies, but it's far more than that. That short week he was home for winter break, we spent every day together including Christmas. We have been inseparable since that first date five and a half years ago! After college Colin went right in pros. Hockey seasons are long so I move with him where ever it may take us.

Colin did an absolute amazing job planning a beautiful weekend in New York City without giving it away that he was hiding a really big secret. He isn’t the best at hiding things from me so this was extremely impressive!!

Anytime we travel into the city we hop on a train. When we arrived, we walked to the Lotte Palace Hotel where Colin booked us a room for the night. The Palace is a special place to Colin. Growing up, his family had a holiday tradition where they would stay at the Lotte Palace and see a Broadway show. This was my first time at the Palace, so that was big deal for me. Our room was absolutely gorgeous and overlooked St. Patrick’s Cathedral! We quickly got ready and went to one of our favorite restaurants followed by the Broadway show, The Book of Mormon. We had a night cap at the hotel bar and that was the end of our evening. I did think at one point, he might propose but, he did not. The following morning, we had room service come. There was a beautiful breakfast display that included a large, beautiful flower arrangement, as well as a card addressed to myself. Colin handed me the card and at the end it said, “I just have one more question…” I looked up to find Colin down on one knee. This intimate moment was one for the books that will forever be one of the best days of my life. But the surprises weren't over. Colin arranged a limousine take us “home” but instead we were dropped off at the Hopewell Valley Vineyards, where we were met by our families waiting for us to celebrate! The entire day was unforgettable, I loved that Colin wanted the proposal to be intimate and to later celebrate with our loved ones.