Ages: 28 & 26
Occupations:
Chris: Disability Examiner, Florida Department of Health
Annalise: Fiesta of Five Flags (Volunteer Coordinator)/Nancy’s Haute Affairs (Day of Events and catering)
First Date: Our first public debut was the University of Alabama vs. University of Florida bowl game in 2008. He and all of his friends are Auburn fans and she was rooting for ‘Bama. Needless to say,
his friends were a little questionable at first. Ultimately they welcomed her with open arms.
Our Love Story:
“Love Story” by Taylor Swift came out right around the time we met. I couldn’t hear it enough, even playing it at work as a graduate student teaching classes at FSU. There was a
stronger, more powerful meaning behind it, after all.
Although we met six months prior through my big sister in the sorority (she and Chris worked for ARC Gateway), I struck up a conversation via a social media outlet about his favorite
football team. It was casual at first – I wasn’t looking for love, I had my final exams for my Master’s degree coming up and my father had just passed away – but it quickly grew into
more than being just friends. I had barely graduated with my Master’s degree, but I knew I was going to move to Pensacola for him, if only on a whim at first. It had been a three-month
process just to find a job to get a start. I moved here with a car full of clothes and shoes – I never looked back
Chris is a native to Pensacola and Annalise soon learned that he would not want to live anywhere else. As a tourist to Pensacola throughout college, she saw the true beauty of the historic town and understood his reasoning.
She confessed her love for him at a wedding in April. There was love in the air and far too much wine in her glass. Chris is so reserved that the love
“word-vomit” took him
by surprise, as he said nothing in return. She just smiled and said, “I know you love me too!” With a shy smile from him she continued on,
“I see the way you look at me when I make you laugh. You love me!” Even though it’s a moment that some people dread – not having a reciprocating
answer when the L-Bomb is dropped, Annalise didn’t mind at all. Later that May, he finally made the decision he was ready to say it back.
As things continued to get more serious, all she wanted was a picture perfect proposal at Disney World. When he said, “book a trip,” her heart (and mind)
raced. A trip to Disney World was planned for November 2010. Much to her dismay, there was not a ring presented to her under the fireworks at Cinderella’s
castle. As his mom explained to her later, “Chris will analyze a situation down to every last detail before he makes a move.” Instead of Cinderella’s castle,
it was a pavilion overlooking the water in Apalachicola after a casual dinner at That Place off 98. It was a true fairytale.
Like any true love story, there are always good and bad times. I had a preventative surgery in March 2010 and I don’t think I would have been able to go
through it without him. When I was told last week that I need another preventative surgery, he rushed home from work to be by my side. He has done
nothing but be by my side through it all. He never looked back, either.
Due to the surgeries, we are thinking about going through with a courthouse wedding to save money. The irony is that I help plan and coordinate weddings
for a local caterer. I have had the chance to attend so many Pensacola weddings that it would be rather devastating to not be able to have our own love story
end with a ‘happily ever after’ wedding day. There is nothing more I want than to see his ever-reassuring shy smile at the end of the aisle.
Occupations:
Chris: Disability Examiner, Florida Department of Health
Annalise: Fiesta of Five Flags (Volunteer Coordinator)/Nancy’s Haute Affairs (Day of Events and catering)
First Date: Our first public debut was the University of Alabama vs. University of Florida bowl game in 2008. He and all of his friends are Auburn fans and she was rooting for ‘Bama. Needless to say,
his friends were a little questionable at first. Ultimately they welcomed her with open arms.
Our Love Story:
“Love Story” by Taylor Swift came out right around the time we met. I couldn’t hear it enough, even playing it at work as a graduate student teaching classes at FSU. There was a
stronger, more powerful meaning behind it, after all.
Although we met six months prior through my big sister in the sorority (she and Chris worked for ARC Gateway), I struck up a conversation via a social media outlet about his favorite
football team. It was casual at first – I wasn’t looking for love, I had my final exams for my Master’s degree coming up and my father had just passed away – but it quickly grew into
more than being just friends. I had barely graduated with my Master’s degree, but I knew I was going to move to Pensacola for him, if only on a whim at first. It had been a three-month
process just to find a job to get a start. I moved here with a car full of clothes and shoes – I never looked back
Chris is a native to Pensacola and Annalise soon learned that he would not want to live anywhere else. As a tourist to Pensacola throughout college, she saw the true beauty of the historic town and understood his reasoning.
She confessed her love for him at a wedding in April. There was love in the air and far too much wine in her glass. Chris is so reserved that the love
“word-vomit” took him
by surprise, as he said nothing in return. She just smiled and said, “I know you love me too!” With a shy smile from him she continued on,
“I see the way you look at me when I make you laugh. You love me!” Even though it’s a moment that some people dread – not having a reciprocating
answer when the L-Bomb is dropped, Annalise didn’t mind at all. Later that May, he finally made the decision he was ready to say it back.
As things continued to get more serious, all she wanted was a picture perfect proposal at Disney World. When he said, “book a trip,” her heart (and mind)
raced. A trip to Disney World was planned for November 2010. Much to her dismay, there was not a ring presented to her under the fireworks at Cinderella’s
castle. As his mom explained to her later, “Chris will analyze a situation down to every last detail before he makes a move.” Instead of Cinderella’s castle,
it was a pavilion overlooking the water in Apalachicola after a casual dinner at That Place off 98. It was a true fairytale.
Like any true love story, there are always good and bad times. I had a preventative surgery in March 2010 and I don’t think I would have been able to go
through it without him. When I was told last week that I need another preventative surgery, he rushed home from work to be by my side. He has done
nothing but be by my side through it all. He never looked back, either.
Due to the surgeries, we are thinking about going through with a courthouse wedding to save money. The irony is that I help plan and coordinate weddings
for a local caterer. I have had the chance to attend so many Pensacola weddings that it would be rather devastating to not be able to have our own love story
end with a ‘happily ever after’ wedding day. There is nothing more I want than to see his ever-reassuring shy smile at the end of the aisle.
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