THIS WEEK, WE HAD THE PLEASURE OF HEARING ANDY & SHAYNA'S LOVE STORY. NO DOUBT YOU'LL FEEL NOSTALGIC WHILE READING ABOUT THESE HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS. WE HAVE ALL THE DETAILS FROM THEIR FIRST HANG OUT AT THE MALL TO THE BOND THEY FORMED OVER TACO BELL'S CRUNCHWRAP SUPREME. AND FINALLY, THE PROPOSAL! BY THE TIME YOU FINISH READING THIS STORY, YOU'LL HAVE A FULL HEART AND MOST LIKELY A FULL STOMACH BECAUSE YOU GAVE INTO YOUR TACO BELL CRAVING (LIKE ME).

AS ALWAYS, WE ASKED THIS COUPLE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS SEPARATELY. EVEN THOUGH THEIR ANSWERS ARE FREAKISHLY SIMILAR, NEITHER ANDY NOR SHAYNA HAVE SEEN EACH OTHER'S ANSWERS...UNTIL NOW.

HE SAID:

How did you meet Shayna? 

Crazy story! We met through a mutual friend while on Xbox Live. I was playing Call of Duty 4 with him and he invited someone to our voice chat. That someone happened to be Shayna using her brother’s account “BranTheMan” so based on the voice and the screen name, at the time, I thought it was a prepubescent boy. After playing several rounds together I realized this was actually a girl playing. We talked and played Xbox every day for about a month until we decided to meet in person. Our mutual friend liked her at the time too. 

How long have you been engaged? 

We have been engaged since December 15th, 2019!

Who asked who out and how? 

We have this running joke that we never started “dating” because neither one of us technically actually asked the other out.

Where was your first date? 

There’s an annual Greek Festival that I have been going to with my family forever that’s held at my family’s church. I asked her if she wanted to come with me one night to the Festival because there are fireworks, live music, and great food. She said yes and came (I’ll never forget how beautiful she looked that night), and we had an amazing night, leading to the next question... 

Who kissed the other first? When?

The night of the Festival we kissed. We had an amazing night, the fireworks just ended and we were sitting on the church’s steps just talking. Her dad was arriving soon to pick her up, and my family was in the car gearing up to leave to go home, I remember them blowing up my phone to go to leave but I was trying to ignore all of that (they were not happy) because this was the perfect moment to end the night with the kiss. We were talking about how we should get going, then we locked eyes and kissed. Both of us wanted the same thing so we wound up both going in for a kiss. That night was August 24th, 2008.

When did you first know you loved Shayna?

I don’t remember a specific moment in time, it was more of a feeling that developed from all the good times we had together which made me tell her I loved her that Halloween in 2008. 

Tell us about the proposal(s) in your words. 

I booked a surprise dinner reservation at Bar SixtyFive, part of the Rainbow Room. I worked with their event coordinator to book an area for the proposal with an incredible view of the NYC skyline during sunset and then afterward a custom menu dinner with bubbly. I enrolled the help of Shayna’s sister, and cousin, in order to get her nails done, dolled up and at the restaurant right before sunset. The plan went like this: Shayna’s cousin would go and get their nails done a week before the dinner reservation. For the day of the reservation, Shayna’s sister was having a “bridesmaid get together” for her wedding on December 15th at “some nice place” near Rockefeller center. We didn’t want to tell her the name of the restaurant because it would have triggered her suspicions. I told Shayna I would be at a work-related event at the time in midtown to help sell the plan that I wouldn’t be around. Shayna and her sister would get to Rockefeller Center early, look at the tree lighting and get some coffee meanwhile I was getting dressed up to go to Bar SixtyFive to get in place to surprise Shayna. Sunset was at 4:29pm that day, we all coordinated to get Shayna into place at around 4:15pm in this private dining area so we could have privacy for the proposal and photos. The event coordinator led both of them into the room and told them to wait while the rest of the bridal party arrived. While waiting, they were taking photos of the skyline and taking in the view, with their backs to the door, I was waiting nearby at the bar and saw them go into the dining area. A moment later, the coordinator told me I was good to go, I entered the room, surprising Shayna. I then proposed to Shayna, we took photos and had an amazing dinner afterward. She had no clue that this was going to happen, she just thought it was just going to be a bridal party thing. Shayna’s sister really sold it too with fake text messages from a bridesmaid.

When are you getting married?

December 5th, 2020

Do you see children in the future / how many if so?

We both come from families of 3 kids. 3 is a fair amount of kids.

You and Shayna both grew up on Long Island, New York. Any plans to move out of state? 

As of now no, we love NY, our friends and families live here too. Although, we don’t love how much living in NY costs! Over the summer we took a trip to Maine and fell in love with it but it’s too far away from everyone else.

What is your favorite thing about Shayna?

I love her personality-it’s what originally caught my interest when we were playing Xbox together. Since she’s super witty too, the majority of our conversations are banter. Part of her personality is how reliable and consistent she has been the whole time we’ve been together. We get along great and I always know what to expect from her. Anytime I need advice or feedback she’s always given me an honest unfiltered opinion.

What is Shayna's biggest quirk?

She is such a light sleeper, honestly, if I breathe wrong it wakes her up. I typically wake up a bit before her so I try to stealthily sneak out of bed-it looks like something out of mission impossible, and she always wakes up the second I try to slither out of bed.

We know you're a CAD wiz—does Shayna have any hidden talents? 

Shayna has what we like to call IMDB (International Movie DataBrain), she retains an insane amount of movie trivia, like who stars in what film, and even who is married to who. We’ll be watching something and she’ll be like “oh, he’s married to so and so”, and I’m in awe. This one time randomly, I was like, who's that macho action guy actor? and her first guess was “Jason Statham?”. Spot on.

SHE SAID:

How did you meet Andy?

We met almost 12 years ago; we were both 16, and enjoyed playing video games. We went to different high schools, but happened to have a mutual friend that we each played online games with. One day, we all played a game online together, which led to me and Andy becoming online “friends,” then real-life friends, and now we’re engaged!

How long have you been engaged?

Almost three months!

Who asked who out and how?

I think there was less of an “ask” and more of an agreement to finally meet in person after a few months of talking. We spent most days after school talking and playing games; when my Xbox died, we moved to instant messaging, which was probably when we realized that there was more to our relationship than just being virtual teammates.

Where was your first date?

In true teenage fashion, at the mall! We ate Taco Bell (bonding over a shared love of crunchwrap supremes) and wandered aimlessly.

Who kissed the other first? When?

Andy confessed that he “liked” me, and kissed me for the first time on August 24, 2008. We were at a Greek Festival on Long Island, and we went back to that same festival for many years after that. We've been together since that date!

When did you first know you loved Andy?

It’s really hard to say! I don’t think that I can identify a single moment when I knew, but from the beginning of our relationship, I could tell that it was special. In moments like this, I wish I had a diary or access to an old flip phone so that I could relive the early days, especially knowing that we’d be here now. I do know that I had wanted to tell Andy I loved him for at least a few weeks before he told me, and was happy to blurt it out after he did.

Tell us about the proposal(s) in your words.

In one word: perfect. I’m really hard to surprise, but Andy managed by colluding with my sister and cousin. My sister is getting married in July, and she told me that one of her bridesmaids was able to score us a reservation at “a cool bar in the city” where all of her bridesmaids would meet up (as a Maid of Honor, I felt obligated to go along and not ask too many questions, though I complained to Andy about how strange the plan sounded, and how much I dreaded being near Rockefeller Center during “tourist tree time” – oops). My sister had me get dressed up and put on a full face of makeup, and Ubered us into Manhattan. When we got to 30 Rock, I thought, wow, her friend really did have an awesome hook-up. A hostess brought us to a private room with a view of the sunset. While I was busy taking pictures of the view, Andy snuck into the room; I turned around and saw him, and asked what he was doing there (and quickly realized the answer! Side note: Top of the Rock is where we had our first date in the city). It was a beautiful moment, and my sister captured over 100 photos of the proposal. After, we were escorted to a corner table with chilled champagne and a personalized menu of amazing food waiting for us. Like I said: perfect!

When are you getting married?

December 5, 2020

Do you see children in the future / how many if so?

Yes! We’re each the oldest of 3, and I think that’s a good number (but really, I think we’ll see how we feel after the first one).

You and Andy both grew up on Long Island, New York. Any plans to move out of state?

Probably not, but I’ll never say never! We discovered a real love for Maine last summer, and still talk about it dreamily when we contemplate running away from everyday life.

What is your favorite thing about Andy?

There are so many things that I could list, but I think that the best phrase to encompass my favorite thing is that he is genuinely good-hearted; he is supremely loving and fun, and is a ridiculously fantastic friend and reliable partner. My favorite part of every day is the time that we get to hang out, and living life with him is the greatest treat.

What is Andy's biggest quirk?

We’ve lived together for almost six years, so I can think of tons of little quirks that have popped up over the years (leaving cabinets wide open after taking something out and walking away??). That said, I think Andy’s biggest quirk is how obsessive he gets ‒ which is truly a gift and a curse. He has an internal drive that is always on hyper-speed, which means that he gets a LOT done, but sometimes needs a reminder to take a break or slow down.

We know Andy is a CAD wiz—has he ever made something for you?

He’s made SO MANY things for me. He’s drawn models of our apartments so that we could furnish them, but my favorite things he’s made me are definitely physical. In high school, Andy knew that I liked to paint, so he made the biggest easel I’d ever seen (it was at least 6 or 7 feet tall, and was almost impossible to carry down into my parents’ basement). My favorite thing he’s ever made me, though, is a bouquet of roses made out of duct-tape (that I still have!). His brother told me a great story a few years ago: the first time he realized that Andy loved me was the night that he made that bouquet; apparently, it was completely agonizing, took hours upon hours to do, and resulted in a lot of yelling and cursing, but he powered through to be able to present it to me on Valentine’s Day. Swoon!