Andrea & Michael in Rochester

I was not expecting for Mike to "pop the question" when he did. It was truly a surprise. We had been dating a little more than 11 months, and Mike suggested we go out to dinner with our parents. Though I was a little suspicious when he made this suggestion, I did not want to jump to any conclusions and since we are both close with our parents, this was not something too abnormal. We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant we both loved. I thought it was strange that everyone had managed to bring their cameras, but I still did not want to assume anything. After dinner, we went nearby the restaurant to get ice cream at another one of our favorite places (the ice cream establishment was coincidentally adjacent to the parking lot in which we first met). As we got there, Mike rushed to his car and got a big package out of his trunk. It was in wrapping paper and definitely not the size of a ring box. Well, I opened this big, mysterious package and inside was a pillow with our names in a heart embroidered on it. Mike then explained that he wanted our parents there at the time because they are the most important people in our lives and he wanted them to share in this with us...then he explained that the pillow was for two purposes...one was so I would always have a keepsake and symbol of his love for me. Then he placed the pillow on the ground and knelt on it, asking me to marry him. I said yes and the rest is history. He has continued to do romantic things for me...one of the sweetest was when he gave me a jar of candy kisses when it was a year until the wedding, including the same number of kisses as the number of days until the wedding. We are very excited to get married and spend our lives together!