Our Story

Our story begins many, many moons ago...

Flashback to 2007, I had just returned home from a three week summer camp in Alberta. I was 14, it was the first time I had been away from home for an extended period of time and I had made some amazing, lifelong friends - it was the best summer of my life.

Until I arrived home.

During my flight from Alberta to Ontario I had been looking forward to relaxing for the remaining few weeks of my summer, my last summer before entering the scary world of high school. I got off the plane, had an emotional reunion with my family and was then informed that I had been offered a job and would be starting work on Monday. Apparently my brother had submitted an application for both of us for a student position on an apple farm. I was crushed I would be missing out on relaxing for the rest of my summer, but I had never had a job before and was up for the challenge.

So I took the position, and my brother was not lying when he said it was a student job. There must have been 20 people, around my age, all hired for the same reason. We were there to work in a corn maze.We were responsible for helping people if they got lost, instruct people on the rules and *attempt* sound affects. The maze had a Australian theme and even though some days were better than others, this was an awesome first job. My bosses were great people, I got to be outside all day and I was making friends. I cannot lie and say I had met everyone I was working with, I had at least seen all of my coworkers at one point or another.

September eventually rolled around, I strapped on my backpack and entered my high school for the first time as a student. I won't lie, I was scared. Everyone was taller than me, I did not know where ANY of my classes were and most of my friends from elementary school had chosen to attend the other high school in town. Thankfully I had arranged to have my homeroom class (drama) with my two best friends. We arrived to a class full of people I had never seen before, except for a short, skinny blonde guy sitting across the room from me. I had never actually been introduced to him before, but I knew his name and remembered him from work. His aunt and uncle were my bosses and owned the farm I was working for. Now I don't know what it was, the fact that I had two of my best friends with me, or that I was just excited to finally be in a classroom of people in my grade, but I screamed "JOHNNNNYYYY!!" at the sight of this kid. He looked at me in shock (I found out years later that this gesture had actually really scared him), quietly said hi and looked away. Not exactly the reaction I had been expecting.

Later during that same class, we were assigned our lockers for the year. At the time this really annoyed me because I could not have my locker with my friends, who had lucked out and gotten lockers together. I was assigned a locker beside two strangers, one of which was John. At first, we didn't talk. I would see him between every class and we just didn't say anything, but eventually that changed. It wasn't long before we were cracking jokes, spending our lunches together and making two person clubs. Over time I had developed a little crush on John, but he was so shy and a full foot shorter than me so I ignored it and over time it faded. So our friendship continued that way until the end of the year.

The next year was different, John and I didn't have lockers beside each other anymore. There were no more in between class jokes or hanging out at lunch. We were still friends, I just didn't see him as much as I had the year before and eventually we grew apart. By the end of tenth grade our friendship consisted of quick "hellos" in the halls between classes.

Fast forward two years...

By the twelfth grade, John and I weren't really talking. I would see him, he would see me, but we had grown apart. By this point, we had different social circles, were both in relationships and always had differing class schedules. That is until we arrived to our last first day of high school. By complete chance, we ended up having a class together. When I saw him that day I was shocked. John was not the short, skinny kid I remembered from grade nine anymore. He still had the same blonde hair and the sarcastic sense of humour but he had a growth spurt over the last couple of years and was actually taller than me. My long running short jokes were over.

Over the semester John and I began spending time together again. We would talk between classes and at lunch. We were both dating other people and did not want to cause any trouble, so we really only saw each other at school. At the time I wasn't imagining any kind of relationship with John, I was dating someone else and more than anything was just excited to have my friend back.

When second semester started John and I ended up having our spare period at the same time. At first we spent our time hanging out in a group of other students, playing cards and just taking a break from school. Eventually that routine got tiresome, so John and I began using our spare period to drive around and find things to do, which once resulted in us visiting the Hershey Chocolate Factory just for fun.

Towards the end of the year, Johnny, myself and a few other people got an invitation to my cousin's 18th birthday celebration in Quebec. Our plan was to rent a couple of hotel rooms, go to a bar and PAR-TAY. Everyone was excited. Two weeks before we were supposed to go, my boyfriend found out he wouldn't be able to come. He had a mandatory interview at his future college that he wasn't able to get out of. I was disappointed he couldn't come, but since it was my cousin's birthday, I couldn't miss it.

Thankfully the rest of us (John included) were able to go. So off we went to Quebec. Looking back, this was not the best thought out plan. We hadn't booked a hotel, hadn't looked into good/safe bars and none of us spoke any french. This made things difficult when trying to find a hotel. After looking around for a couple of hours, we finally landed at a very inexpensive motel close to a bar we had found. We checked in, purchased some beverages and started our celebration. Everyone was having a great time. We made it to the bar, stayed until close and made it safely back to the motel when it was all over. John and I spent most of the night together just talking and laughing. He was considerate and fun to be around. This was the night I knew.

The next morning we packed up and drove home, mostly in silence since we were all feeling very under the whether. I got dropped off and I immediately called my boyfriend. While I cared about him very much I knew I wasn't being fair to him anymore, so I ended my two year relationship, not knowing what to expect. A week later John asked me to be his girlfriend. It was a vary drama causing affair at the time, as I had just broken up with my boyfriend, and John had just broken up with his girlfriend. We weathered that storm and since then have gotten through nearly six years of dating long distance while we each finish school.

Over the last six years, the topic of marriage emerged in conversation between John and me on more than one occasion. We would talk about what time of year we had imagined it being in and how old we wanted to be, but we never made any real plans because we were still in school. It was just not something we wanted to think seriously about until school was done.

Last September, John and I both began our final year of post-secondary. This wasn't anything we hadn't done before, except this time I began a new program at a new school and wasn't able to keep my usual student job. This wasn't really a problem until the holiday season. My previous job happened to be at my old school, which allowed me ample time off before, during and after holidays. I wasn't as lucky this year. Thankfully my employer gave me a considerable chunk of time off, but I wasn't able to make it back to my hometown until late afternoon Christmas eve. John was set to arrived home almost two weeks before Christmas and I remember him being annoyed and trying to figure out a way to get me home earlier.

When I finally arrived home, John rushed over to see me. My mom normally has her Christmas celebration dinner on Christmas Eve, so thankfully we were able to spend most of the night at my mom's with my family. When the night was over John and I said our goodbyes and got in the car set to go to his mom house. As we were approaching our destination, John continues driving. I was confused at first, but he quickly informed me that he needed to get some seasoning from his aunt for his mom's Christmas stuffing. This lie had totally made sense to me because I knew his mom h was suffering from a bad case of the flu and wouldn't have been able to make it for seasoning. As we pull up to his aunt and uncles, John stops at the barn on the farm where I worked when I was 14. As he went to leave the car, he asked if I was going to come with him to find the seasoning he needed. I declined.  At the time I was still getting used to the colder temperatures in my home town (I am spoiled in the Niagara Region), so I wasn't interested in leaving the car for fear of freezing to death.

After some insisting, I caved and went on the hunt for seasoning. We entered the barn through a side door and John led the way into the farm store. As soon as I entered the room I noticed something, mine and John's song was playing over the speakers. He led the way to the back of the store where he had arranged for candles to be lit, flowers to be out and had spelled out 'Steph, Will you marry me?' in chocolate chips. I was shocked. When I turned around he was on one knee, saying all the things that made me fall in love with him and then gave me the most beautiful ring. It felt like a dream. No, I could not have dreamed of a more prefect proposal. He thought of everything, and if I ever forget he even got it on tape.

It was so strange at first, I didn't know what to do or who to call. I told my mom first and we tried to tell everyone close to us before announcing it online in our excitement. Afterward John told me his goal was to surprise me, mainly because I don't like them. Goal accomplished.