Almost 3 years to the day we met, a weekend in Chicago turned into the start of our next chapter. A chapter that can quite literally be titled, Mr. & Mrs. Sam Flood.
On Friday, May 11, 2018, we took an early flight to Chicago. Our weekend was to be filled with visits with family, friends, and deep-dish pizza, like any other trip to the Windy City. We landed at Midway and after a minor mishap with our checked luggage (that little did I know, had Sam totally panicked), we picked up our rental car and drove to my hometown of Naperville. To kill some time before we could check in, we went for mani/pedis at a local salon and had lunch downtown at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Potters.
After checking into a lovely hotel along the Riverwalk, we took a quick nap and went for a walk around my old neighborhood. It was a little chilly and had sprinkled a bit throughout the morning, but the sun was starting to come out, so Sam suggested a stroll along the Riverwalk before we went to our rooftop dinner reservation. Throughout the duration of our walk, I kept asking to walk farther or go in a different direction, but he insisted we cross to the other side of the river and head back.
We continued along the river, walking across a bridge, and Sam pointed out a platform at the edge of the water. We took a seat, and he started to get nostalgic. “It’s almost 3 years to the day we met…” he started, reminiscing for a few minutes together on our relationship. The rest is a bit of an emotional blur for the both of us, but I know he stood me up, got down on one knee, and asked a question I wasn’t expecting, but happily cried “yes” to.
I ran through “the question” at least 100 times,
but nothing could have prepared me for how
nervous and excited I would be.
After The Engagment
After making some initial phone calls and sending messages to family and friends, we walked to our dinner reservation as planned, to find an incredible rooftop table with a view and bottle of chilled champagne waiting for us. We spent the rest of the evening drinking champagne and catching me up on everything I had missed over the past few weeks, including Sam meeting with my parents while I was out of town and almost proposing with an alternate ring since mine hadn’t been ready.
The entire weekend proved to be the most wonderful celebration full of surprises and fun. The morning after the proposal, my grandma hosted an engagement party where all of my Chicago family met us to celebrate. We had dinner with the Teofilo’s to thank them for capturing our special day. We strolled and shopped downtown Chicago, actually starting to plan the wedding we had been dreaming about. The White Sox must have known we were engaged at and the game, because they beat the Cubs at Wrigley for the annual Cross Town Classic!
I really like that you added a Juhn family photo.
Of course! All of my trips down to visit the Juhn family have been great!