Once Upon A Time...

About Stephanie

I am twenty-seven years old.  I was born in Balboa, Panama but raised in Philadelphia.  My father was in the military at the time of my birth and was stationed there, but my parents moved back to the United States a year later.  I am the youngest of four children.  I have two older brothers and one older sister.  I attended St. Martin of Tours for grade school and graduated from Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in 2002.  I currently work for the Bank of New York Mellon as a Checker Processor.  I have a son named Joseph who is currently in third grade at Our Lady of Ransom School.

About Brian

I am thirty-one years old.  I was born in Philadelphia and raised in the suburbs out in Southampton.  I attended Our Lady of Good Counsel School for eight years (1987-1995), then I attended Archbishop Wood High School from 1995 to 1999, where I graduated 10th in my class.  For college, I attended Allentown College of Saint Francis de Sales (which became DeSales University during my sophomore year) and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, with a minor in Mathematics.  Since July 2003, I have been employed at Concate Technologies as a software engineer, where I design, implement, and maintain websites and web-based applications.  After having previously been an altar boy and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (as well as working in the rectory office), I am now a lector at my church, Our Lady of Good Counsel, where I assist the priest at Mass by reading the Sunday readings and general intercessions.

Our First Date

Brian's Side Of The Story

Well, Stephanie and I had met online back in late May 2003, and we had been talking for awhile before we decided to get together and meet in person.  I finally met up with her on February 1, 2004 at Franklin Mills Mall, along with her sister and sister-in-law.  All four of us went to the movie theater there and saw Cheaper By The Dozen.  My first impression of Stephanie upon meeting her was that she was very cute, but I got the feeling (incorrectly, as it turned out later) that she wasn't that interested in me.  So for the rest of the date, I had begun to think that this was a "one and done" date, but that thinking probably helped me to be more loose and be more of myself.  After watching the movie, Stephanie and I went back to her house just the two of us, and we hung out in her basement.  We watched her DVD copy of Spaceballs while we hung out and chatted.  I can't remember all that we did or discussed, but we did play with an entertainment table (with table tennis and other games) she had at the time.  At some point, I wound up playfully chasing her around the basement (why? your guess is as good as mine).  By the end of the date, I enjoyed spending time with Stephanie, but I really thought she was not interested in taking this past a first date.  So you can imagine my surprise when she gave me a kiss when we were saying goodbye.  She still teases me for the look of surprise I apparently had on my face afterwards.  Needless to say, the end of our first date was only the beginning of something truly special...

Our Engagement

Our engagement took place on Sunday, June 5, 2011 - which was Stephanie's 27th birthday - but it almost didn't happen on that date.  I had purchased the ring two weeks prior, and I was told it would not be ready for pickup until a day or two after her birthday.  So I was prepared to figure out something else until the jeweler called a few days before to inform me the ring was ready for pickup.  With my original plan back on track, I went to Stephanie's house the Friday before and asked her dad for his blessing/permission.  On the morning of the engagement, I told my parents of my intentions, and they gave me their blessing as well.  They took Joey out to entertain him as they usually do while Stephanie and I went out to dinner together just the two of us.  Before Joey left with my parents (and while Stephanie was still upstairs in her room), I talked with Joey and received his permission to marry his mom.  So off he went for the time being while Stephanie and I went to our usual "fancy" food establishment (Olive Garden) for dinner.

After our enjoyable meal, I drove us over to Pennypack Park and asked Stephanie if she wanted to go for a walk since it was such a nice day.  I figured she would be tipped off toward my intentions (since we never do something like that), but she claims she didn't.  As we were walking, we passed a big rock that overlooked Pennypack Creek, and Stephanie told me that her grandmother used to bring her here when she was little and she played on that rock.  So thanks to Stephanie, I now had the spot where I was going to ask her the question.  After we worked our way into the park, turned around, and headed back to the car, I made some excuse to sit down and rest a few minutes on the rock.  We sat there for a few minutes and talked while looking out on the water, but I was also waiting until the few people walking/biking along the path had passed and we were alone for the moment.  While she was still sitting on the rock, I stood up to "stretch my legs," but I was still checking to make sure we were alone.  I don't remember exactly what I said, but I said something along the lines of how special she was to me and I can't wait to spend every day with her - and that's when I got down on my knee and asked her if she would marry me.  She was happy and, thankfully, she said yes.  She called her sister to tell her the good news, and I called my parents to tell them as well.  And Stephanie and I met up with my parents and Joey for dessert at Dairy Queen to celebrate.

- Brian

The Engagement Ring