Hi, Mer here. I'm here to tell you the story about how Ian and I met and fell in love. (He always makes me tell the story, anyway.)

We grow up thinking that there's one person in the world for us; that it's love at first sight. When you see that person from across the room, everything stops. That dance-at-the-gym, cinderella-enters-at-the-top-of-the-stairs, accidentally-run-into-and-drop-everything meet cute. Well, friends and family, ones, sometimes that isn't the case. *record scratch*

Smash cut to a new scene: I enter one of my favorite Chicago bars with a friend. ("Longroom.") I see Ian sitting at the bar, and I haven't seen him in years. I start to charge right over to him. Now, dear reader, you might think that it would be a fun reunion, right? One where we ask each other, "Where have you been?" No, no. I was about stomp up to Ian and say, "YOU." You're probably wondering how I got here.

No, it's not as dramatic as you think. But I do remember seeing him sitting there and thinking to myself, "this guy." A year or two prior, Ian and I made the WORST impression on each other. Turns out, we were both going through breakups, and were not the best versions of ourselves. Fast forward to the night at Longroom: I ended up spending the entire night talking to him, and learning: oh, this cute guy is pretty awesome. (He was dating at the time, so it wasn't on my radar to pursue him or anything.)

After our reunion, we exchanged numbers and started becoming real friends. We would check in with each other, and see how the other's day was going. (Did I have a crush on him? Yeah, obviously. But, I didn't want to force anything.) One night about five months later, I had about the worst night you can have. I texted Ian, and he said he was at one of the bars we frequent. ("Burke's.) I went and met him there.

(I'm told later by Ian that he didn't expect me to come. In fact, someone sitting next to him vacated his chair so I'd have a seat. His buddy behind the bar and the folks around him were rooting for him the whole time. You must ask him to tell you that story sometime.)

My friends, this is where it gets stupid.

Ian walked me home. At the time, I lived near a beach. It was a late, clear night, and I didn't feel like going home yet, so we went and sat on the beach. We kept talking about nothing and everything. You won't believe this, but we saw a shooting star.

After that he kissed me.

I know, barf.

I don't necessarily believe in specific higher power, but I do believe the universe tries to teach us lessons. If we don't effectively learn that lesson, the universe will reroute us, or keep trying to teach us. That's been a fundamental element of our relationship: we never stop learning; never stop being curious. And, like, we laugh a LOT. :)

After he proposed to me in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon at Disney World, I can't help but be grateful that it was love at second sight.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. :)

Ps. Make sure you ask for Ian's version of this.