Michael & Tymeka | Waves of Love At the Beach
How did you and Tymeka meet & what defining moments in your relationship made you realize that they were the one?
Tymeka and Mike were lucky enough to meet through mutual friends - Tara & Lyle. Tara, their friend, had tried to set them up on a couple occasions but both times seemed to have fallen through. So the third time Tara decided to keep it to herself and be more strategic and planned an 'accidental' meet/ bump into each other without our knowledge.
On the 23rd of December 2022, Tymeka was out celebrating the end of another work year by having lunch with a group of girlfriends over some wines, which turned into a few too many margaritas. The girls had been eating and drinking at Melt in Henley since lunchtime and Tara, Lyle and Mike were planning to head down to the venue beneath Melt for some sunset drinks at Seasalt. Tara messaged Tymeka and said she was at Seasalt and to come down and say hi. Tymeka and her friend Tori made their way down to Seasalt to say a quick hello. Tara was in the toilet when they arrived but Tymeka had spotted Lyle at a table so she and Tori made their way over and said hello to Lyle and his friend - Mike. For those who know Tymeka and Tori, they're loud and outgoing at the best of times and then fuelled with alcohol, good you imagine?! The moment Tymeka and Tori left to join their friends again, Mike made a comment along the lines of 'wow that was a lot or that was a bit much' Tara and Lyle laughed and said that was just a little 'Tymeka Tornado' he had experienced.
Later that night, Tymeka and Tara were texting (both still in the Henley area) and Tara told Tymeka they were heading into the city for some more drinks and a boogie. Tymeka was keen to join along for the city adventure & boogie but apparently Mike wasn't overly keen, making a comment to Tara saying 'are you sure?' haha. They picked Tymeka up in their Uber on the way to the city and Tara was quietly telling Tymeka to 'simmer' in the backseat as her 7 odd hour drinking level was a bit different to the few drinks they had under their belts, and Tara had real hope that they would hit it off. Tymeka realised she was on a different level and brought it down a notch. As they arrived at Bank Street Social Mike and Tymeka sat near each other and began talking and this is where Mike realised she was a lot more than just this loud/ full on person. They spoke about all sorts of things and noticed they started getting closer and closer to one another on the bench seat as they became more interested and invested in one another and the conversation. Lyle and Tara were getting some more drinks and then they turned around to their surprise and Tymeka and Mike were kissing. What a turn of events! They hit it off and the rest of the night they were so wrapped up in one another, the chemistry was nothing like they both had experienced before, they danced the night away and the rest is history.
Mike's Response: It’s quite cliché but I felt like I knew from the first night we met. We had amazing chemistry from the get go and I made a decision that night that I was going to really give this girl a go.
Tymeka's Response: Mike flew out to Europe with his brother James for two weeks over Christmas and New Years just two days after we met. We continued to speak via text, phone calls and facetime throughout this time, really getting to know each other and it was during this time I knew Mike was someone special. However, I was a little more guarded about letting my walls down, to let someone in. When Mike returned to Adelaide we spent as much time as we could together before Mike needed to take off to Victoria to continue on his renovation project. We continued to speak everyday and we really wanted to see each other again. Mike flew me over to Melbourne later in January and it was this weekend we spent together that I knew I was going to date this guy. It was such a wholesome time together with so much chemistry, butterflies and laughter. My smile was ear to ear!
- Loyal
- Thoughtful
- Caring
- Nurturing
- Positive attitude
- Always giving
Just to name a few.
After I made this comment Mike wanted to prove he could be more romantic and incorporated this into the lead up of his plan for the big day, by starting to bring me home random bunches of flowers for no reason other than to make my day. And only two days before he proposed, on the 14th of February (Valentines Day) I was getting my hair coloured after work and I came home to a bit of a shock. I thought to myself, surely not! I honestly thought he might have been proposing but I thought I knew Mike better than that and a day like Valentine's Day was a bit too clichè and not our style. I walked up our hallway which was filled with red rose petals, tealight candles and red balloons everywhere to Mike, standing at the end of our hallway waiting for me (dressed lovely) and standing in front of a lit up 'T & M' on our kitchen island bench. He had cooked us a beautiful meal and there was a glass of red wine waiting for me, along with a card, some choccies and roses. My heart was pumping! We embraced in a hug and he said Happy Valentine's Day and did not get down on one knee! Haha. However, he was just warming up for two days time and also trying to completely throw me off, for what was ahead.
Which now gets us back to the big day, 16/02/2024. Whilst I was at Harbour Town, Mike was gearing up our little puppy Maggie and getting ready to propose before dinner. I rang him when I got home from Harbour town and asked where he and Maggie were. He told me they were out having a drink with Mike's mate Kane, which wasn't usual as Kane lives around the corner from us and we both live near the beach. So I freshened up and got ready for dinner and once I was ready, I rang Mike to see how far off he was and he told me to just meet him and Maggie down the beach. I didn't realise we were going to bring Maggie to dinner with us, making a comments like 'are you sure you want to bring her?' and I was annoyed that he just couldn't pop home first to grab me so we could go together. Not knowing Mike wasn't really having a drink with Kane, in fact, he was down the beach waiting for me, ready to propose and Kane was there hiding in the sand dunes ready to capture it all on film for us.
I initially drove straight down the road we always do to take Maggie for her beach walks and I couldn't see Mike's car. I rang him and asked where he was and he was a little further up, on the other side of the Torrens outlet. He told me to come to that carpark instead as we can't walk from that side because of the outlet. I pulled up to the carpark where the Henley Sailing Club is and I couldn't see Mike in his car. I rang him again (by this point I was starting to get annoyed because I originally just wanted him to pick me up on the way to dinner) the funny part was, Mike was all mic'd up and all these phone conversations were captured/recorded. Again, I did not find it unusual that Mike was on the beach waiting as he had Maggie with him and I thought he was just down there giving her a run before dinner. As I got out of my car and started to walk towards the beach onto the sand (we had our first date down on the beach here at this spot) I could see Mike and Maggie from afar. As I got closer, I noticed something on Maggie, she had some type of black harness on (her usual harness is purple) and as I got even closer, I could see Maggie had a go pro attached to this harness. My heart started to race and I was super nervous, was this really about to happen?! There was so much going through my mind at this point. As I approached them, Mike and I embraced in a kiss/hug and he asked if I could see what Maggie had. I was super flustered as there was a bit happening with the black harness, straps and the go pro. But she also had a box strapped to the harness. Mike reached down and took the box off and opened it up and inside it, it had a gold necklace which had the initials T.S my current initials are T.B so I started to get really nervous at this point shaking and in disbelief, was a ring about to follow I thought to myself?! Mike asked if I liked it and if I would like him to put it on. I turned around for Mike to put the necklace on me and once it was clipped on, I turned back around to Mike down on one knee, with another box in his hand. Mike gave a beautiful little speech and then asked me to marry him. I was all the emotions, crying, giggling, smiling, nervous and madly shaking. Of course I said yes! I hadn't even seen the ring at this stage yet. Mike opened the box and went to put the ring on but I was shaking so much! We finally got my hand steady enough and I took one look at my ring and my first comment I said was 'WOW, it's beautiful'. Mike then pointed out Kane up in the dunes and he came running over to congratulate us. He captured everything on film for us. We then went to West Beach to have dinner with what I thought was just my family but Mike's family were also there to celebrate the special occasion with us. It was the most perfect night.
That was the most thoughtful and creative proposal we have heard to date! We are all in awe of your new initial necklace idea that Mike planned and getting Maggie involved, too cute! What are you both looking forward to in your new chapter together?
We both can't wait to travel the world together, we're heading off to Europe for 6 weeks in a couple weeks time! Then once we are home it'll be straight into all things wedding prep as we already have a venue/date! However, one thing we are really looking forward to sharing the experience together is designing our wedding bands as a couple. And then we can't wait to get married and for what's ahead of us!
