How We Met
Bobby and I met in May of 2015, all because of a sprinkler and a Band-Aid…. Let me explain.
I’m from Manhattan Beach, CA and he is from Lincoln, NE. I had just graduated from the University of San Francisco when my girlfriends decided to take a celebratory trip to Las Vegas (the city of “love” HA!) and he, stationed in Texas with the Air Force at the time, had just found out he was selected to be a fighter pilot… so his friends dragged him to Vegas to celebrate as well (fun fact: he almost bailed on the trip because Vegas is not his scene! Thankful he didn’t).
Long story short, I was set on leaving a bar at 10pm and asked a friend to come with me. Well, upon exiting, she tripped on a sprinkler and completely ate it…. right in front of (you guessed it!) Bobby’s table. He came over to us, helped her up and handed her a Band-Aid. We ended up talking for FIVE hours, and after the bar announced it was closing, we planned a breakfast date (to hang again before our flights left that next day). During breakfast, we laughed the entire time, and swore we would find a way to see each other again someday.
We kept in touch and 2 months later, I was on a flight out to Wichita Falls Air Force Base (… a town so small you can’t find it on a map) for our first date.
4 years, 100+ trips, lots of distance, and a deployment later, I bring you to the weekend of June 30th, 2019.
How They Asked
In February of 2019, a friend asked if we were interested in hiking Half Dome in Yosemite. You have to apply for permits to climb the cables months in advance because it is such a strenuous, 20-mile hike. We were given a pass for Monday July 1st, and booked an Air Bnb in Mariposa for Sun June 30th- Tues July 2nd with a bunch of our friends. After booking the Air Bnb, Bobby called and asked me if I wanted to go up a day early to explore the park & camp. We had just spent a month apart due to USAF training, so obviously I agreed!
Saturday morning, we hit the road! After the long drive to the park, he pulled into The Majestic Yosemite Hotel (formerly The Ahwahnee) “for one drink”. After I walked into the lobby, I turned and he handed me a room key. I was SO confused because I thought we were camping! However, he told me there would be a trade-off. “You get a 5 star hotel and I get a 4 am sunrise hike”
“NOOOOOO” was my exact response– (he is a morning person and I am a night owl). Plus we were already going to do the 4 am, 20 mile hike the following day!
Somehow he talked me into setting our alarms for 4 am and next thing I knew, the morning had come. **He was also standing there with a HEADLAMP on because it was pitch BLACK outside** (see photo)
We arrived to Glacier Point at 5:15 am and made the walk to the top. I looked at Bobby and said “Check it out, someone else is just as CRAZY as us to be up here already!” In the distance there was a photographer hanging out in hiking gear, taking pictures of Half Dome.
I didn’t think anything of it because it’s one of the most photographed parts of Yosemite. In fact, I walked right up to the guy and asked if I could check out his cameras (I talk to everyone). He told us that he lives in a camper in the park, his dad is a former park ranger, and that he runs an instagram account for sunrises in Yosemite. Again, I’m not expecting anything.. I talked to him for THIRTY minutes (turns out Bobby was in pure panic mode because… he was about to PROPOSE and I was being Chatty Cathy!)
The photographer said he was heading off to a different spot, we said bye, and Bobby put a picnic blanket on the ground for us to cuddle up on. After a few minutes on the blanket, Bobby handed me a note.
“Hey, will you stand up and read this?”
As I stood and read the note, I saw the words:
“Carly, I did want to watch the sunrise with you this morning, but I didn’t bring you up here just for that…” The note continued on and on (meanwhile, I start crying) and as I finish reading “I’ll love you forever”, I looked to my right and he was on one knee.
Neither of us can remember exactly what happened next (it was such a blur), but I do remember leaping up and down from pure JOY while he attempted to put the ring on my finger.
After holding and kissing him, I glanced up and there was the photographer, Damian!! He had snuck back while Bobby put the blanket down and handed me the note. I was shocked. **I also didn’t think this would happen yet because I knew Bobby hadn’t been “one on one” with my dad in forever… but it turns out he asked him the moment he arrived back home from his deployment… in NOVEMBER 2018.**
Damian came up to congratulate us, and told me my “fiancé” had booked an extra 3 hours for an impromptu engagement photo-shoot ALL over Yosemite!
Best day of our lives. I can’t wait to marry you Bobby!
