How We Met
Jason and I met at a church young adults group. I had been attending for a few months and one day he and another girl sat at my table. I immediately thought they were a couple, so he wasn’t on my radar. I chatted with the girl afterward. I asked her where her boyfriend went, and she said, “Ew! He’s my brother.” She very blatantly started selling him to me, clearly a good wing woman.
The next week we waved at each other from across the room when I walked in. He says when I walked through the door I did a hair flip causing his heart to stop. He’s a cheese ball. He messaged me later that night and said he was sorry for not saying hi after and was very clear to inform me that a girl he wasn’t interested in had cornered him. I laughed it off and thought, “It’s cool bro, we’re not really friends.”
The third week we chatted for five minutes after the group. He messaged me that night asking me to go to dinner. He says he rewrote the message 17 times before he sent it. I nervously said yes to the date and 18 months later with complete certainty said yes to the rest of our lives.
How They Asked
Jason showed up at my house one evening with what he called a “pre-engagement gift.” I told him that’s not a thing and curiously opened the bag. Inside was a parka, snow boots, a beanie and a homemade plane ticket. It said we flew out of LAX in five days. I couldn’t believe it! The minutes moved like molasses for those few days leading up to the trip.
Jason and I travel a lot…like a lot. There’s even a hashtag #TravelingTrolley. In 18 months, we’ve been to Chicago, New York, Boston, Colorado, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Yosemite, and more. We try to go somewhere every month. We fell more deeply in love with each new adventure. I never imagined it, but it was perfect that he chose to propose on a surprise trip.
He kept our destination a secret all the way through the airport until we finally arrived at our gate and he declared we were going to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada! It’s been a dream of ours to go to Banff but we’ve just never made the time. I had even shown him another girl’s Instagram weeks prior to how she got engaged in Banff and I said that seemed unbelievable. He said he just about died knowing we’d be there doing the same thing in a few weeks.
Our first full morning in Banff he said we were going to two lakes that day and an amazing dinner. I thought he might propose that day but he seemed almost too relaxed. We arrived at the first lake and it was empty. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We walked out to a viewpoint and he said he wanted to take my picture. I thought That’s weird. There’s nothing else you might want to do right now? He took my picture and I thought maybe he’s going to be on one knee when I turn around. NOPE. He just took my picture. I probably look bewildered in that photo.
A minute later, he was hugging me and starting to tear up. I thought to myself, it’s happening. It’s finally happening. Jason told me that for the first time in his life he felt worthy of love. He said it would be an honor to spend the rest of his life earning my love, each and every day. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Through my tears, I said yes, for the rest of our lives.
Oh, and did I mention he had a photographer stationed to capture this moment? Because of course, this dreamboat of a man planned that too. When he took my photo that was the signal to the photographer to get ready, he was about to propose.
