First of all, it wasn’t Raphael’s birthday party. If it had been, Joanna wouldn’t have known anyone except Jessica, whom she claims brought her to the party. It was actually the birthday party of Joanna’s friend Dan Leif, and she knew everyone at the party.

JO: Jessica introduced us, and a few minutes later you went outside to make a phone call. I followed you outside and pretended to fumble through my purse, so that when you finished your call we’d be able to talk. We chatted for a few minutes and I think became quite intrigued by one another.

That’s all true! I remember our first conversation very well—especially the fact that we connected immediately. I wanted to keep talking to her all night!

The only thing that Joanna’s side of the story leaves out—which is probably wise—is the content of my phone conversation, in which a roommate and I discussed our suspicion that a mouse had died in our bathroom wall.

JO: Jessica and I sang Neil Diamond’s “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,”

Which I—like the rest of the karaoke bar—had never even heard before.

JO: And then Jessica and I left while you were in the bathroom.

Painfully true.

JO: But then you came to my Christmas party the next night, took my cell phone off the table when I wasn’t looking, and entered your name into my phone—which is why it still, to this day, says “Ben that handsome devil” every time you call.

I also used her phone to call myself, so I could call her and make her see me again. We hung out the next day, and the day after that as well.

On the day I arrived, Joanna met me at the tiny airport with the rental car, we went to the grocery store, and then we made our way back to the hotel. When we got back, we found, to our surprise, that someone had written “Geana” in white paint in the spot where Joanna had been parking her car.

Sure enough, the hotel workers had taken a liking to Joanna, the unaccompanied red-haired twenty-something staying at their hotel–and when they repainted the lines in the parking lot, they figured they’d take the opportunity to let her know how they felt.

I can’t say the hotel workers were too excited to see me. I have to think that when they saw me get out of the car, they probably felt pretttttty awkward about the whole thing. And if it’s any consolation to them, I felt pretty awkward about it myself.

It’s a good story, though!

The three months of competition were intense. In the end, Ben won the tiebreaker (shuffleboard) to take the tournament. His prize is a plaque that hangs proudly over our couch. We’re now deep in the 2009 Summer Olympics, which will end right after our wedding (races down the aisle perhaps?)

Eventually we’ll have a wall full of these plaques from each summer – hopefully not all will have Ben’s name on them.

~ Joanna

You can find more of our underwater photos (and even some that take place on land) on my Flickr page.

Joining a league was the next logical step. Since we still weren’t very good, we tried to find the least competitive league available, and joined a league called “The Merry Mixers.” We asked our friends Jeff and Frances to join us—and even though they could’ve care less about bowling, it seemed like a fun idea, so they did.

While I’d love to tell you of our incredible success in the thirty-six-week league, and about how we overcame incredible odds to become the first place team, none of that would contain a word of truth.

We were easily the worst team in the league.

My mom was thrilled and found the whole story hilarious. My family hadn’t met Ben yet, but we ended the call with a lot of laughs and the promise that I would bring my husband home for Easter.

It was a very fun April Fool’s joke, and one we talk about each year.

Flash forward a few years and I’m glad we got engaged in early March instead of early April – it might have made it hard to convince my mom that it wasn’t another April Fool’s joke!

Having found the original ring in the ocean, I was fully aware of the inherent risks of proposing in the middle of the ocean. Weeks before I proposed, when I told my dad that I was thinking about proposing that way, he said, “Don’t do that, you’re going to put that ring right back into the drink.”

The more I thought about it though, the more perfect it seemed. Joanna and I love the ocean so much, and so many of our best memories have taken place on the ocean—it just seemed like the perfect way to ask her.

So, I proceeded with tremendous caution, and tied the ring to a length of 40-lb fishing line, which I thought I’d be able to affix to my wrist when I was ready to ask her. When the time felt right, I sent Joanna into the ocean ahead of me, put the ring and the fishing line in the zipper pocket of my swim trunks, and headed in after her.

A few minutes later, while Joanna was snorkeling a safe distance away from me, I called her over to see something in the ocean. While she swam the thirty of so yards over to me, I frantically removed the ring and fishing line from my pockets. But, of course, the fishing line (with the ring securely attached) had become entangled with our car keys, resulting in a jumbled mess of keys and fishing line and diamond engagement rings. When she finally made it to me, and I presented her with the ring (fishing line and keys still attached), she thought it was something I had found in the ocean. It wasn’t until I awkwardly stammered through my proposal that she understood what was going on, and proceeded to burst into smiling, laughing tears.

And, in case you wondered, she said yes.

Best Man
Brendan Sullivan

Groomsmen
Caleb Bark
Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Adam Conover
David Segal
Nathaniel Popik
Greg Hutko

Officiant
Chioke Nassor