She almost missed her chance.  The chance for love, which was right in front of her.  It was her senior year of college and she was too busy trying to make lasting memories with all of her friends, before they went their separate ways.  Too busy to notice that he kept showing up where ever she was that night!  Melissa had met Kevin on one of those nights through a mutual friend.  Over some drink’s they discovered their common love for volleyball.

A few weeks later she went bowling with friends.  Guess who happened to be bowling next to them…yep, Kevin!  He said, After bowling, I asked her to be on my volleyball team.  {AKA…Will you go out with me 🙂 }  Funny part was that Melissa completely forgot she had even met Kevin.  She decided that it would be fun and they exchanged numbers.  It didn’t take him long to ask her out, she said no.  She says, As a bartender I was used to being asked out, almost nightly by random men with beer goggles on.  How was I supposed to know Kevin was serious?

The volleyball league was going great and Melissa realized just how much fun Kevin was.  So she thought she would take the leap to ask him to hang out.  He mentioned that there was someone else.  Feeling defeated and embarrassed I thought about skipping our volleyball game the next day.  I went anyways and to my surprise he was no longer seeing anyone else, she said.  They quickly became inseparable!

Amongst many unexpected turns and some surprises along the way, Kevin says, We ended up with 2 kids, Levi and Roxanne, before we were even engaged.  They are awesome and drove us even closer together! 

Because their love had brought them their children together, Kevin wanted to use them for the proposal.  Kevin laughs and says, This worked out nothing like I thought.  I just bought the ring and figured I would think of something.  My first thought was to have Levi take her a toy with the ring in it.  That would have been awesome, except he was having a bad day and threw it.  The ring came out and flopped across the floor.  Melissa did not see it.  So plan B came on the fly.  While talking to Melissa about having a garage sale and getting rid of the things she didn’t need he mentioned that her jewelry cabinet would be a place to start.   I pulled out the ring and said how about this one you never wear.  She just looked at me teary eyed and asked, Is this what I think it is?  Even though she put the ring on with no response, Melissa did say yes!  {Kevin still laughs at how many times Melissa told him no before she figured it out.}

Melissa and Kevin, I am happy to be joining you for your big day in December!  I can’t wait to see you both finally tie the knot after all you have been through together!  Many blessings!

..PLAN B..

love, echo

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echoes of love

She was out with friends one night and met a guy.  {The same guy facebook suggested she become friends with months earlier.}  They didn’t have much of an opportunity to talk, so the night ended without any progression or much interaction.  About a week later they ran into each other again at open dart night.  She recognized him from across the room and decided that she would go and say hi.  She remembered, Although the beginning of our conversation wasn’t going smoothly, the more we talked, the more of a connection there was.  They along with friends ended up at Denny’s that night, talking long into the morning hours.  She felt the blush on her cheek, the shy smile come on, and the racing of her heartbeat when he looked at her.  She knew that night was only the beginning.

She said, Over the next three months we continued to spend time together, and continued to fall for each other. I did not want to admit that I was in love with him. I did not believe I was ready for a relationship, but the more I prayed about it the more God kept putting this man back in front of me.  Throwing caution to the wind on March 18th, she agreed to be his girlfriend.  She finally let down the guard she had around her heart for so long.

Exactly two years later he told her that he had a surprise weekend planned for them.  He had them staying at the ..Belamere Suites.. and mentioned to her that she should start getting ready for dinner.  He nervously waited for her to get done, but when she stepped out and saw her all dressed up he knew the time was right.  He told her she looked beautiful and asked if she would like to dance right there in their room.  {Which he does not do.}  She said, I got the biggest smile on my face, to know that I am in love with a man that does things for me to make me happy.  He seemed nervous, I thought it was because he was just uncomfortable dancing.  He started Brad Paisley’s, We Danced.

And we danced
Out there on that empty hardwood floor
The chairs up and the lights turned way down low
The music played, we held each other close
And we danced…

Thinking to myself how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man. Losing myself in this moment I felt him pull away from me.

And from that moment
There was never any doubt
I had found the one
That I had always dreamed about….

I look at him and he smiles. I can feel my cheeks get red from blushing. He tells me he loves me.

And then one evenin’
When she stopped by after work
I pulled a diamond ring out of the pocket of my shirt…

At this very moment he pulls something out of his pocket and he gets down on one knee. I lost my breath, and I’m sure my heart stopped!  He opened the box, and I’m pretty sure he got out Yolanda Lee… before tears involuntarily started to fall from my face. The next few moments were a blur. I remember the second I started crying he stood up and took me in his arms. I believe he actually finished the question on his way up to hold me, I can’t remember. He continued to sway with me to the music as I calmed down. I told him yes, and that I would love to be his wife!

He told her he had dinner reservations at ..Nagoya’s.., her favorite restaurant!  When she walked in, all of her friend’s were ready to greet her and congratulate them both!

{If your still with me…}  I am more than proud to present to you my sister Lollie, and her amazing fiance, Caleb!

Congratulations again to you both!  I am so happy and blessed to have been able to capture the love that you have for one another!  I can’t wait to stand beside you on your wedding day and watch you commit your lives to each other.  Love you both!

..WE DANCED..

love, echo

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echoes of love