The constant through all of our life changes is the love we have for each other. We make sure to enjoy life together and I find new reasons to love him each and every day. Our personalities complement each other: Jake being focused on the “now”, while I like to make sure we have everything in our life planned out. No matter the challenges we face, we always know that we are a team and can take on anything together.

Knowing that one of Allie's and mine favorite activities is traveling and exploring the world, I knew that a proposal in Italy was the perfect plan. What I didn't realize is how hard it is to keep anything secret from her ... or TSA. Hiding the ring in any nook and crevice I found in my apartment, I was able to (not) sneakily bring the ring with me as we went through Newark airport. I found out months later that while she was helping pack our suitcases she found the ring in my nightstand and knew the whole time. Thankfully, she gave me a few months of thinking I was good at keeping things secret. 

Once in Italy, it was a picture-perfect memory - beautiful scenery, great food, tons of laughter, and Italian humidity that made you fuse with any seat you sat on. As we neared the engagement, I felt more and more nervous; I needed this to be a memory that Allie always remembers fondly with a smile from ear-to-ear. I had been contacting a photographer the past few weeks who helped set up a gondola ride and we met with in the middle of town. As we boarded the gondola, all I could remember was looking at her and the two of us constantly laughing and smiling, even before the proposal. We laughed so much that even the photographer had to ask us to try and act serious to no avail. When I finally did ask her to marry me, she was so nervous that she said "YES" before I finished actually asking her.