“We met in Washington DC in summer 2009. Jared lived and worked there after college from 2006 until 2011. I moved to DC in summer 2009 after I graduated college because I took a job there. A girl who I knew from college who had graduated before me and was already living and working in DC asked me to be her roommate. She sub-letted an apartment from Jared and his brother, so she knew them prior to me moving to the area and thus, after moving in with her, I met Jared! The rest is history 🙂 “- Heather
So how did he pop the question?
“We got engaged at Point State Park in Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh is a very special place to both of us. I (Heather) grew up in Western PA so I’ve always been a huge Pittsburgh lover, and Jared moved to Pittsburgh after living in DC in late 2010 when we first started dating. We have a lot of fun memories of our newly dating lives in Pittsburgh so it only makes sense for Jared to propose there!
He actually proposed on my mom’s birthday which meant a LOT to me because my mom is my best friend. My mom was actually recovering from a surgery at the time and I was NOT up for the Pittsburgh weekend that he had planned because I wanted to stay home with her and relax. Meanwhile, Jared and my mom had the whole thing planned out for him to propose. I fought him every step of the way about going to Pittsburgh that weekend. So much so that my mom actually had to call me and tell me that I had the worst attitude ever about it and needed to go to Pittsburgh and have some fun! So, I agreed.
Some of my closest friends were in Pittsburgh that night for a birthday, so I assumed we would be going out with them, which kept my suspicions at bay, haha. Jared actually took me on a Ducky Tour when we got there which we always said we were going to do but never did, which was really cute. On the tour they actually talked about and showed Point State Park and I made the comment that I’d never been out there to the fountain before.
Jared said we were staying at the Wyndham, where we stayed early on when we first started dating, so I thought that was really special and sweet of him and I was excited to stay in the city for the night, but still didn’t quite catch on to what was really happening #clueless.
We were going to “meet up with my friends” for dinner, and before we got ready, Jared asked if I wanted to go walk out to the fountain at Point State Park since the rainy weather that day had finally broke and the sun came out. I said okay but was hesitant because I had a feeling it was going to rain and ruin my hair 😉 As we walked through the park the sun was out and it was gorgeous – probably the only nice weather we had AT ALL that entire day was during our proposal!
When we were out at the fountain I knew Jared was acting a little weird but still didn’t QUITE think anything of it until he got down on one knee with my PERFECT ring (I still have that vision in my brain forever!). There was actually (so cheesy) a rainbow when he proposed because of the sunlight and the water from the fountain which was really cool and felt like it was “on purpose.” I smiled so much that my face actually hurt – I’m talking really, actually hurt hahaha.
We went back to the hotel and I called everybody and their brother, and then we actually did go to meet my friends out so I could show them the bling! Jared had dinner planned for us at Mandalay Bay on Mount Washington, which I had always wanted to go to, so we went there for dinner and had the most awesome view of the city, including the fountain at Point State Park. We had a champagne toast and a terrific dinner. It was a perfect day and I will NEVERRRRR forget it (and neither will Jared)!”- Heather
This is Macie!!! She is the sweetest dog ever..but then again, so are her parents! <3
“We love going out to eat (no really, a LOT haha), we like cooking with each other too, we love relaxing and watching movies or TV series or football (GO STEELERS!). We also like to spend time with our dog, Macie, even though she is a total nutcase, all of the time! We like to exercise together and take walks. We really enjoy church together and just recently found a new church that we really like here in Ohio. We travel a lot on weekends to be with family and/or friends – most of the people we love are a little further away than we’d like but it’s fun to take mini road-trips 🙂 Right now, we are immersed in our jobs where we both put a lot of time and energy, and doing projects on our new house, which is slow-going but also exciting! We’re also big proponents of naps (Heather more than Jared – just being honest). We also both big readers when we have the time available and aren’t falling asleep at 9 p.m. :)”- Heather
Give me three words that describe Jared:
“Sincere, caring, silly”- Heather
Give me three words that describe Heather:
“Kind, Big-Hearted, and Funny”- Jared
Jared and Heather, I can NOT WAIT to shoot your wedding next year. Girl you are going to be a GORGEOUS bride!! <3
