How We Met, Started Dating, Got Engaged and Ended Up Wed...
We met in the spring of 2004 at a Spanish class at the US Department of Agriculture Graduate School. Emily was taking the class as part of the requirements of her MA program and Matthew had just returned from Latin America and wanted to keep his Spanish sharp. We sat next to each other throughout the semester and, much to the chagrin of our instructor, whispered and laughed incessantly throughout the class. [Interesting trivia fact: You will notice that Emily usually refers to Matthew as "Mateo" since this was what she called him throughout the Spanish class and now she can't seem to switch!]
"Remind me again why we have never dated." These fateful words, uttered during a conversation about relationships, launched our whirlwind romance. Two years of long-distance friendship, shared work and covert flirtation, were suddenly transformed into last-minute trips across the ocean (Emily to London in April 2006 and Matthew to DC in early June 2006), very long phone calls and eventually, Matthew's move to DC in June 2006.
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." Reading this inscription, the last at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, together, Matthew led Emily down to the Tidal Basin. Facing the Jefferson Memorial, pink and orange with the last rays of daylight, Matthew dropped down on one knee and, revealing a conflict-free Canadian diamond ring, asked Emily to marry him. Emily said "A million times yes!" Matthew had pre-arranged to have his cousin Jeremy lurking in the shadows taking photos of the proposal.
Earlier that evening, Emily had met Matthew near L'Enfant Plaza, where they peeked into the classroom where they met, and then took a long stroll down to the FDR memorial. Along the way, Matthew discussed what it was he loved about Emily, and asked her to recall two of her favorite memories of the relationship.
Giddy with excitement after getting engaged, we then had a scrumptious dinner at a French restaurant and spent most of the night saying "I can't believe we're engaged!" "I'm so happy!" "The ring is so sparkly!"