THE INTRODUCTION
What do you get when you introduce a yoga instructor and an entertainment attorney?? A wedding!
Opposites may attract but in this love story the old adage, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” could be more true. Read on and you decide….
Leah and Steve were introduced by chance encounter on October 9, 2010. Leah had planned to spend the day with her great friend Millie Callaway. The twosome was looking forward to catching up at an Octoberfest celebration in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville. Leah had been away in Greece on vacation and Millie just landed a promotion at her job, so there was much to share!
A few weeks earlier, Millie and Steve met in Chattanooga while visiting mutual friends. They made the connection that they both lived in Nashville and planned to look each other up once they returned. After a few failed attempts to get together Millie invited Steve to come down to the street festival.
Hearing the news there would be a third, Leah was less than thrilled. She had been looking forward to a girls’ day out and didn’t see how a lawyer from the “West Side” would add to the fun. But when Steve showed up Leah was surprised and happy to find a good looking, upbeat and up for anything guy!
After a fun-filled day at the festival the trio retired to Millie’s apartment. It was then that Millie announced she was off to a birthday party, but Leah and Steve were welcome to stay. The two shrugged their shoulders, not having any plans, and made themselves at home. The night turned into a party for two – music, dancing and talk, talk, talk!
And so it went.. conversations about childhood, school, career and life revealed many shared interests, experiences and perspectives. They each grew up in small Southern towns, attended similar schools and studied abroad. Both worked independently and shared a sense of the entrepreneurial spirit. Neither had been married but they wondered if a special person might come along in time…
A light bulb went off in both their heads, bewildering each other and themselves, they pledged their love and lives to each other in just a few weeks, but decided to wait a full year before taking the next step.
THE PROPOSAL
Steve and Leah celebrated their one-month anniversary on a weekend trip to Chicago. After two months they ran away to the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia for a snowy retreat. For their four-month anniversary the couple took a trip to the Bahamas. At the five-month mark they trekked out to Utah to try their hand at snowboarding. And adventures big and small continued throughout the year. When it came to their one-year anniversary Steve singled out Palm Springs.
Why Palm Springs? For the date shakes (it’s the date capital of the world!) and dirt biking of course! Dirt bike motorcycles were a recent interest of Steve and Leah’s and they thought spending a day riding in the desert would be the best treat for two novice riders. Thus, they spent their first full day of vacation out in the Mohave Desert in Ocotillo Wells. It was a glorious day, perfect temperature and setting. You could ride and see for miles around with no one in sight! They chose a destination marked on the map as the Pumpkin Patch figuring it would be appropriate for that time of year. It was October after all.
At the pumpkin patch Steve wanted to take the bikes just a bit farther up to get a better view, and then just a bit farther. Leah had her doubts, but it was a great perch. Over to the east you could see the Salton Sea and just north was the base of the San Jacinto Mountains. The view seemed to stretch out forever, and it was wonderfully quiet in that vast open space. Atop the hill overlooking the Pumpkin Patch they snacked on granola bars, oranges and, well, beef jerky before Steve announced he had one more treat. Leah assumed he had picked up cookies from the hotel tea service, but he pulled out a little black velvet box instead.
“I’ve had a really great year,” he began…. and just two days shy of their official one year anniversary Steve proposed!
