We both went to the same elementary school. John Kelly was in my older sister, Jordan's, grade. When I was probably in 1st grade I was obsessed with all TLC shows and the Thompson family was on an episode of Trading spaces with their cousins, the Crawfords. My whole family sat in our living room and watched it on the night it aired so I always knew him as the boy that was on Trading Spaces.

When I was in high school- JK's mom, Robyn, taught me tennis and was my absolute favorite instructor and had the sweetest son who worked at the Bath & Tennis Club. JK would always say hi to me and ask me what was going on in my life. At first, I thought he was confusing me with my sister, Jordan. But, one day he was talking to both Jordan and I so I figured he had to know we weren't the same person.

A couple years later, when I turned 21, I went out to one of the popular local bars, Parker House. I saw JK from across the bar and went over to say hi. He was on his way home so our conversation was short but he went home and Facebook messaged me that night, I thought it was so sweet. I ran into him two more nights that summer and we got to know each other a bit more. After the summer, I went back to NYC to start my third year of college at Parsons. A few weeks passed and I thought of JK one day and reached back out to him on Facebook where we finally exchanged phone numbers.

For the next couple of months we started texting more and officially started dating right after New Years Day, 2017. Over the last 9 years we've grown so much together, had so many amazing memories, bought and renovated a house, and got engaged.

JK proposed at one of my favorite places in New Jersey, Rat's Restaurant. We had planned to go there with his family for lunch and to walk around on one of the coldest days of the year. Luckily, we didn't have to walk far before he asked me to marry him. He even had a photographer hiding across the lake so now we have photos of the moment that I'll cherish forever. After he proposed my family came out of the restaurant so both of our families could be there. We had some champagne and headed to Trenton Country club where he surprised me again with our extended family and close friends. It was the perfect day!

I like our story because we were always so close to each other, yet so far away. We grew up in neighboring towns, we went to the same grammar school at the same time, and I personally knew everyone in her family, but didn't know her. My mom was even giving her tennis lessons growing up, and we still never knew who each other were! There was another time where I was hanging out with both Jordan and Nicky after an ugly sweater party, we went back to the Sapnar house to hang out and STILL, no Lainey. So many opportunities to meet and get to know each other and it took about 21 years.

Now, when Lainey tells this story, she always said that we knew each other, but even when we went to the same grammar school together, our paths never crossed. I was lucky enough to get on her radar with my appearance on TLC's Trading Spaces, but I wasn't lucky enough to meet her in grammar school. I obviously knew her older sister Jordan, and later in life became friends with her twin brother, Nicky, but I never knew this mysterious sister.

I didn't start getting to know Lainey until I started working at the Spring Lake Bath & Tennis Club. For the first few years of employment, I was a young teen who did tennis maintenance at the club. Once I got older and started teaching tennis, I started to get to know more of the membership and on a more personal level. I would see Lainey with Jordan and Nicky and I would say hi to the crew. Then I would see Lainey around and start saying hey whenever I saw her, and then it got to a point where I would stop and chat with her and actually get to know what's going on in her life.

The first time we ever met outside of the the Spring Lake B&T was at the Parker House. I was hanging there in the early evening with some friends, but needed to make sure to call it an early night because my cousin, Ryan's, wedding was the following day. Just as I was leaving the Parker House basement, someone tapped me on my shoulder, and I was so surprised to see that it was Lainey! Although we talked for just a short time, I really enjoyed it, and just thought about her the remainder of the night. I didn't have her number and I didn't follow her on Instagram, so I decided to Facebook message (wild move). I reached out and said that it was really nice getting to talk to her and that I hoped to see her again soon. She basically said the same thing. After the weekend was over, I really didn't think about that moment, just as she probably didn't.

The second time we met outside of the Spring Lake B&T was again, at Parker House. It was a glorious Sunday Funday. I was hanging with my friend, Casey, and Lainey was celebrating her and her friend Abby's 21st birthday. All 4 of us were talking and they told me it was their 21st birthday, so I gave them $20 to buy drinks on me to celebrate and they didn't accept the offer. If roles were reversed, I'd have a Spring Laker in my hand in 2 seconds. I found that it was odd they didn't take me up on my offer. She told me it was weird that I didn't buy the drinks, but at the time, I barely knew her. I thought it was a nice thing to do while not being creepy. Anyway, we all headed down to the basement to catch the Pat Roddy band. We're drinking, talking, and dancing, having a great time, and then just like that, Lainey disappeared. We spent the rest of our time getting to know Abby and enjoying the rest of the night. That was the end to our second time bumping into each other.

Over Labor Day weekend, I was at the Osprey with a bunch of my friends. All of us were holding onto the final weekend of summer and made sure we had the proper send off to the summer. We were all having a blast and then I bumped into Lainey on the dance floor. We started talking and dancing and then I finally got her a drink. After that we did some more talking and dancing and then we kissed! We hung out the rest of the night and really got to know each other. Even after Osprey closed, I sat at the curb with Lainey while her mom came to pick her up.

We randomly bumped into each other 3 times that summer and we got to know each other more and more with each encounter, and somehow never got each other's numbers.

Months went by and again, it felt like we both had forgotten about the moment until one day in October, Lainey reached out, completely out of the blue, and I gave her my number. After that, we hung out a lot over the holidays. We shared a New Year's kiss and on January 3rd, I asked her to be my girlfriend. 9 years later I am so lucky to call her my fiancé and future wife!