Tuesday, February 19, 2008

About Mark and Kimberly

Kimberly
I work for the federal government as an economist. I love running and have completed the Marine Corps Marathon twice. Mark got me in to swimming, and I hope to start biking with him too. I LOVE to bake cookies, cakes, brownies, and banana bread. My favorite color is green, and my favorite drink is calimocho.

Mark
I work as a forensic engineer. I'm on a kickball and softball team and love going out with my friends. I like running, swimming, and biking and am training for my second olympic-distance triathalon in Washington DC. In my spare time I play Nintendo Wii and watch 24 and Top Chef.


How did we meet?
At Boston University, where we both went to undergrad and grad school. Kim was on the dance team, and performed at all the men's basketball games. Mark was usually at the games and would talk to the dancers on the sidelines, but Kim only knew him as "the guy who mysteriously knows everyone on the dance team". During the summer between her freshman and sophomore year, the dance team took its annual trip to dance camp, driving from Boston to the camp at Rutgers in NJ. As the girls were packing their cars for the trip, Mark was there too! Kim finally asked one of my more senior team members who the heck he was and why he was coming, and she laughed and said, "You still haven't figured it out? Mark's the Mascot!". The dance camp they went to hosted a mascot camp as well, which he was going to attend.

What was our first date?
Kim thinks it was dinner at Sol Azteca, a Mexican restaurant in Brookline MA during her junior year, his senior year of college. She liked that he was an 'older guy', because he ordered a beer but she wasn't old enough to drink yet.
Mark would like to add that before the first "official" date he used to help with her statistics homework and she would come upstairs to his dorm room to watch The Late Show with Conan O'Brien. He later found out that she was not a big fan of Conan but came over just to be with him!

Our Engagement

As told by Kimberly

My boss sent me an email asking me to meet with him at 1:30 about a project I was working on, and I was super bummed because it was Friday and I was hoping not to work late. It was a very busy morning and I never quite found time for lunch, so at 1:2o I ran down the hall to grab a quick bite before the meeting. When I returned to my desk, there was a package in my chair with a note. The note said to change into the dress enclosed in the package, and meet Mark outside my building in 15 minutes....so the meeting had been fake, and my boss was in on it, as was my coworker who delivered the package to me! Outside, Mark was all dressed up in a suit and waiting for me with a huge smile on his face. He had one of our friends waiting with his car to chauffer us to the airport! Mark had packed an overnight bag for me and and even gotten me some lunch, since he figured I'd be too busy to eat. At the airport, we checked our luggage, and it was only then I found out we were flying to Boston! After we landed we took a cab to a bridge near the Boston Public Gardens, and walked over the bridge to the Esplanade, which is a path that runs along the Charles River that we had rollerbladed/run on when we were in school at Boston University. It had snowed earlier that day, so everything was covered in white. Under a street lamp, Mark got down on one knee and said since our relationship started in Boston, he wanted to be in Boston when we started our next step. The ring was his mother's diamond in a beautiful new platinum setting. Our friend was hiding in the bushes and took pictures of us to capture the moment! After dropping our luggage off at a fancy hotel, Mark took me out for a fantastic dinner at Stephanie's on Newbury, where he had roses delivered to our table. Back at our hotel, the staff covered our room in rose petals and had a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. The next day, after we went iceskating on the Frog Pond and to Mike's Pastry in the North End, he surprised me by renting a car and driving to his parents house in Albany, NY where both our parents were waiting to celebrate (and to meet for the first time!) over a huge, home cooked Italian dinner.
Mark still can't believe he pulled it all off!