We met in Virginia in 2000.  Gillian's high school alumni directory came out that year and I was working with Jesse McKnight (also a Desales graduate).  He noticed that Gillian was living in the area so he contacted her.  Over the next few years we became good friends.  In 2003, Gillian took a job with NCIS and moved to San Diego but stayed in touch.  In 2007, she moved back to Virginia to find that we were all still here.

    Gillian and I officially started dating October 25, 2007 as our first date was watching game 2 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Boston won the game 2-1.  Since we had known each other for years, everything just seemed to be right.  In February of '08, we decided to try living together.  Since both of us had condos, we decided that I would move into hers and we would rent mine out.

    In July '08, we took a trip to England for 10 days.  It was Gillian's aunt's 50th birthday and 30th anniversary so there was a family reunion.  I got to spend a lot of time with her and her family in Wilmslow (just outside of Manchester).  I also got the nerve up to ask her father for his blessing.  The next day we left most of the family and went to Newcastle to stay with another aunt for a few days and then we went on to London to stay with her cousin.  As I knew we wouldn't be seeing her parents again until after I popped the question, I told John that he could let Catherine know once we left.  As it turns out, I think most of the family knew before we ever left England but luckily for me, I don't think Gillian caught on.

    The following weekend, we took a trip up to Boston to catch a Red Sox game.  The first night there, we went out to dinner at Legal Seafoods.  After dinner, we walked back to the hotel when we noticed the Sox game was tied 1-1 and they were going into extra innings.  So we went back to the room to watch the end.  At this point, I was getting a little nervous and trying to figure out just how I was going to ask her.  I quickly grabbed the ring and hid it in my pocket.  Finally, I got up the nerve and told her that the past week had been the longest week of my life and I couldn't wait any more.  I pulled the ring out and handed it to her.  She quickly put it on.  After a few moments, I had to ask her if that meant "yes".  She confirmed it and then we watched the end of the game (which happened to end in a 2-1 Boston win) and went to bed.  The following day, we had tickets to the Red Sox game.  As we watched the game, I told her that I thought about asking her by putting a message on the big scoreboard but didn't think that I would watch any of the game if I did.  She agreed that I made a good decision there :).