Chris here,

After trying online dating for a while beforehand with not so great results, I can’t believe that I finally found my true love and best friend! I came across Erika’s page and immediately was drawn to her beautiful smile. I liked and commented on a picture of her and her grandmother and told her that I would love to get to know her more. A short time later I received a response and within a few days we exchanged numbers. Our first date happened at Cold Stone Creamery after she denied my dinner invitation, not knowing if she would want to talk to me for that long. Little did she know we would spend hours sitting outside that ice cream shop. I immediately felt comfortable with her and when she commented on my shoes as well as my car in the parking lot, I knew this girl was special.

We began dating and enjoying all that we could during the cold winter months. One of my favorite memories with her is going to the Jack Frost Pop Up, to this day it is still my favorite date. We were taking some pictures and she paused and did a little shimmy back and forth to decide which side was her best side! I fell for her at that moment and never looked back. I have never met a more kind, supportive, honest and beautiful soul in my life. I tell her everyday that the only thing more beautiful than her physical appearance is her heart. She has shown me more love than I ever could have dreamed of. She goes out of her way to take an interest in the things I like and remembers the smallest details about me. I swear she knows me better than I know myself at times! I have the absolute best time with her no matter if we are lounging on the couch enjoying our favorite shows or driving us around to every farmer’s market and bakery she finds on social media. She truly is my best friend and the love of my life!

The Proposal

When thinking of how to propose I struggled initially because I knew that she wanted something private and I wanted to surprise her as best that I could. One day we were talking about the museums and our favorite ones to visit. We both shared a love for the Shedd Aquarium. I had known of a fact that penguins only have one mate for their entire lives and spend a long time searching for the perfect pebble to present their partner to signify their bond. So it popped into my head that it would be a great way to propose. I contacted the Shedd Aquarium and set up a private penguin experience for the two of us around our anniversary. After having the ring hidden in our apartment for a few weeks it was finally time! I was so nervous the whole morning as I just wanted everything to go perfectly. I am glad to say that it went off without a hitch. The penguin trainer had coordinated with me and said that “Penguins mate for life” while our penguin friends Mercedes and Fitz were in the room and that was my queue to get down on one knee and ask my best friend to not only be that but be my wife for the rest of my life. With both of us being so emotional we cried and kissed as she said yes and here we are! I can’t wait to celebrate our love and friendship with everyone at our upcoming wedding in July!

I am so happy to be sitting here, at Chris’s desk, writing our love story. I am going to start off by saying that I know I got incredibly lucky. I know that not every online dating story has a happy ending. It honestly took me months to even wrap my head around the fact that I would be dating again. I had a huge break up in 2020, along with surviving a pandemic, and moving back home to Chicago. Honestly, life felt upside down and I wasn't sure when it was going to be right side up but I had faith. I felt so deeply in my heart that God had something better for me. Little did I know that he was saving the most amazing man, just for me.

It took some convincing but my best friend Merry signed me up for the dating apps. She teases that she is to thank for this love story and she's not completely wrong. I had never tried online dating so it was a new, scary, and different adventure. It was about 4 days later when I received a message from Chris L. The conversation flowed so effortlessly and I immediately felt comfortable telling him my deepest desires. You know the short messages you get with online dating? Well Chris did not write me short messages, he put so much effort and time into his messages and it just felt different. I immediately stopped other conversations that were going nowhere and gave him my full attention. He planned a date about a week later and I got very nervous as the days went on. I decided to change the dinner date to an ice cream date because that felt more casual. Of course he felt like I was probably brushing him off and still teases me about it to this day! We met at Cold Stone Creamery and I immediately felt a sense of comfort. We spent hours talking outside and I instantly knew that this was different. I knew he was special, and I knew that I absolutely loved who I was when I was with him. Dating him was the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. The butterflies, the giggles, the love, it was everything I had been waiting for. It took a few months for me to introduce him to my family and friends because I was so nervous. I honestly don't know why because they fell in love with him immediately. I actually think they prefer him instead of me now! The way that man loves not only me, but my family, is something that I thank God for every single day.

The Proposal

I knew that Chris was thinking of proposing before the end of the year but he kept throwing me off! He then told me that he had a surprise for our anniversary so naturally I became suspicious. He kept teasing that it was a BIG but little surprise so of course I immediately knew that it was a ring and a proposal. Of course like any woman, I immediately book my nail appointment and freak out over what to wear. In all honesty though, it kept me busy because I was so nervous and so excited at the same time. I can't tell you how many random sobs of joy came over those next few days! The morning of our anniversary was finally here and Chris was nervous! He was pacing around the apartment and couldn’t figure out what shoes to wear haha If you know Chris, you know he has tons of shoes!! He then shared our plans for the day and the BIG but little surprise was actually a private penguin experience at the Shedd Aquarium. I said OHH, little but BIG… okay okay that makes more sense! Was I bummed? A little, but I knew that it was coming one day soon. So I shifted my mindset and got excited for a fun day with Penguins and the love of my life! A few days before, we talked about how adorable it was that Penguins bring a stone to their prospective mate and they live together forever. We also have a children’s book about Penguins that we got a couple years ago and dream of reading it to our baby one day in the future! Of course I became super excited to have this experience with him! We walked around the aquarium waiting for our time with the Penguins and Chris was more quiet than usual. I thought maybe he was tired because he didn't sleep well the night before but he assured me that he was fine. Finally, it was time to put our big boots on and go into the private room to hang with the Penguins. Two adorable little penguins came in by the names of Fitz and Mercedes. Fitz was playing with a toy diamond ring which I didn't pay much attention to because he had other toys there as well. The Penguin trainer spoke about the Penguins as we laughed because Fitz and Mercedes were so mischievous and kept stealing the trainer’s towels! The trainer then started explaining to us that certain types of penguins actually mate for life and that Fitz and Mercedes were actually mates!! I turned my head to look at Chris and he was down on one knee and the world stopped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and the tears started immediately. He started off his speech by letting me know that he knew very early on that I was meant to be his mate for life. It was the most special moment of my life. All I remember was his beautiful speech, how emotional we both were and that I couldn't stop hugging and kissing him! This man was going to be my HUSBAND and I could not feel more lucky. I could go on and on but you know what ended up being one of my favorites parts of that whole entire day? Sitting down by the dolphins exhibit, listening to him tell me all about how he asked my parents for their blessing. It was easily the best day of my life and I can not wait to spend the rest of my life with this man.