For a moment, go back to your middle school years. Remember how slowly time would pass and how every day seemed just like the last? We all can relate to feeling this way at some point in our teenage years. To feeling like nothing important will ever happen to us. To feeling like life will be so much better once we get to high school. And that is how middle school ends up being wished away, passing by like a blur, and we bury inconsequential relationships in the depths of our memories. But what’s amazing about life is that our stories are always developing, even at those seemingly ordinary moments. Ilyssa and Mike surely crossed paths during middle school but they couldn’t have known then that their love story was beginning. They couldn’t have known it when they passed each other in the hallway or waited on the lunch line. They couldn’t have known it until life led them back to each other in the most ordinary but incredibly beautiful way. Here are our favorites from their engagement session, just one more part of their love story.
How they met:
Ilyssa: “We both grew up in Marlboro, NJ and went to Middle School and High School together. We hung out in the same group of friends for a few years, but we first became really close friends during our Senior year of high school when we took a Pre-Calc class together. We remained close throughout college, even though he went to Penn State and I stayed in New Jersey at TCNJ. We always hung out on breaks and even went on movie ‘dates’, but remained just friends. Then one night during our Junior year of college, Mike came to visit me at school while he was on break, and he randomly kissed me in the middle of a beer pong game – very romantic ;)!! We’ve been dating ever since!”
Mike: “We grew up in the same town and went to Middle School and High School together. We probably first met in middle school although neither of us would have remembered actually meeting. We became close friends in High School and had classes together – we both worked really hard to find ways to put in as little effort has possible. It would have probably been easier to just do the work that was assigned. The funniest part about our High School laziness is that is both of us couldn’t be more different now. It would be funny if we could find a picture that we are both in from Middle School if one exists. I was much smaller, and she was close to the height she is now. I loved playing basketball at the time and know that if she played me she would have destroyed me and gotten all of the rebounds.”
Their first date:
Ilyssa: “For our first ‘official date’, Mike took me to see Date Night with Steve Carrell & Tina Fey – very appropriate! The movie was pretty terrible, but the company was great! We drove around and drank Wawa milkshakes after (we’re Wawa’s biggest fans), and just talked. We still do that all the time!”
Mike: “Ilyssa used to have Optimum Triple Play which gives you 2 free movie passes every Tuesday at select theaters. I’m really disappointed this isn’t still offered since we would probably still go. Everyone saw the movie, The Hangover, except for me. She already saw the movie but still went with me anyway.”
When they knew they had found The One:
Ilyssa: “Even as friends, I always felt a sense of contentment with Mike that I didn’t feel with anyone else. He can always make me laugh like no one else can, even during tough times. I don’t think there was one ‘moment’ when I realized. From the moment we started dating, it just felt right and I couldn’t ever imagine not being together!”
Mike: “Long before we started dating, she printed out the article called ‘The Good Wife’s Guide: 1955’ and said, ‘…isn’t this exactly what you want?’ ”
The proposal:
Ilyssa: For our first anniversary, Mike took me to the Melting Pot for a fondue dinner. As broke college kids, this was a very fancy, impressive date night for us! He even surprised me with an iPod touch (throwback!) wrapped in a pink bow on the table when I sat down. We went back every year for our anniversary after that, it became “our place”. On our fifth anniversary, Mike took me to an “authentic” French fondue restaurant in SOHO. I suspected he might propose at that time, but I assumed he would surprise me in a similar way to what he did with the iPod touch so many years ago. When nothing happened at the restaurant, I assumed it wouldn’t be happening that night. But when we got back to Hoboken that night, we walked along the pier like we always do, and Mike surprised me by getting down on one knee on the water in front of the skyline. It was a really muggy, humid night and my hair was huge! Which is why no one has ever seen pictures from that moment, just the pictures we took after we got back to the cool AC in our apartment and cleaned ourselves up ;).
Mike: “We went to a fondue restaurant on our anniversary which I knew she’d really love. Fondue is one of our favorite things and this place was delicious. Ilyssa dropped the fondue skewers 4 times and I had to keep asking the waiter to give her new ones. This wasn’t because she was nervous or expecting a proposal…she just drops things. I proposed on the Hoboken Waterfront. After she said yes, we decided to walk down to one of the piers to have someone take a picture of us. We then heard a girl scream and saw a large crowd surrounding her. We were going to ask someone from that large crowd to take a picture of us, but they all had their phones out taking a picture of something else. It turns out another couple got engaged at the same time. We then decided to take a bunch of celebration selfies.”
One thing they love about each other:
Ilyssa: “In addition to being hilarious – and of course very handsome – Mike is one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. He’s a truly good, selfless person to the core, and you can see that in all of his actions. He’ll go out of his way to help anyone, even strangers, and will bend over backwards to make everyone he loves happy.”
Mike: “Her sense of humor.”
Ilyssa: “Having all of our friends and family together in one place – when else in your life will every person you love be in one room together to celebrate with you?! Oh, and of course the insane food at Nanina’s…”
Mike: “Food and cake of course.”
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