How We Met: I was living in Hawaii while Braden was back in Utah where my family lived. I had seen his picture before, and knew that I had to meet him when I got home for the summer. So I came home and met him but for all the wrong reasons. My best friend was apparently “dating” him and wanted me to meet him and his friends. The first day I met him I had never seen anybody so happy and friendly. We basically went on a double date but my friend was with him, and I was with his friend. I’ll be honest, that night I gave up on the thought of me ever dating him. So I was ok just being friends with him because he made me happy, and if I had to wait a while it was ok with me. One week he text me and asked me to hang out, which wasn’t weird because we were friends so I said yes. Little did I know this “hang out” was the start of a million more hang outs. He came and got me and we went long boarding and talked for hours as we road along paths through the dark. I knew that this wasn’t just any hang out. The next week he took me on the first date which is when I fell in love. He picked me up at six thirty on the dot. Ran me to his car, and blindfolded me. I kept thinking “oh my gosh this is so cute he’s gonna take me on a picnic in the mountains and bla bla bla” NOO that is not why I was blindfolded. He pulled over opened my door and all I could hear were cars speeding past me on each side. There went the romantic picnic idea. He was laughing hysterically and told me whatever I did not to run. So I just followed his lead and when he took the blindfold off I was one step away from walking right into a dead raccoon in the middle of the highway. So thats my romantic fiancé no husband. I couldn’t stop laughing, and he was almost rolling on the ground. I didn’t stop laughing the rest of that night. He has made it clear that every time he sees roadkill he can’t help but think of his beautiful wife! There were many more dates after this one, but it is the one that made me realize that Braden was the perfect man for me. He made me laugh, and he put thought into everything he did for me. This date was so important because he also took me on the same date the day before we got married representing the first day of our dating phase, and the last day of our dating phase. This video goes through all of the most memorable moments with him, leading up to our engagement. It could be hours long, but I had to narrow it down to a select few. Everyone in life needs to find their Braden, and I was just lucky enough to find mine early on and I am thankful for that everyday.
how they asked: We decided to plan a trip to Hawaii so I could go show him where I used to live, and all my favorite hang outs. Let me back up because I don’t know if you could say we “planned” this trip. We showed up at the airport in Hawaii with three huge bags and no way to get to the north shore. We brought a tent and some sleeping bags, and were ready to camp out along the beaches of Oahu. Luckily I had a friend who was able to let us sleep in her house while we were there or I don’t think we would have survived, and this whole time Braden was just going to leave the rind in his bag on the beach! Anyways I new we were going to be in Hawaii and wanted my friend Amber Mozo, who is a famous surf photographer there, to take some pictures of us. The whole set up for the pictures was my idea, I just thought it was cool that we were gonna be there, and she could just snap a few couple shots of us for souvenirs. Braden had a whole different plan. When we were dating I told him that when I got engaged I wanted to make sure I had pictures of the whole thing because there is something so special about looking back on the pictures of the actual moment. So him and Amber had planned this amazing set up for the perfect engagement. We were at Kawella Bay, which is breath taking already, when he proposed. I was just messing around when Amber said she had an idea for a picture. The sun was just setting. She told me to look forward and have Braden go behind me. So I was waiting for further direction and she just started taking pictures so I turned around and there he was. Kneeling on the beach at my favorite spot at sunset holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. I remember I just kept asking is this real, because I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was. I told him that I didn’t want to pick out my own ring that I wanted him to choose all by himself so the pressure was on for him and he did an amazing job. To this day I can’t stop looking at the ring the love of my life chose for me. Since we have been engaged we have been to two different countries and aren’t stopping any time soon. He is the reason I wake up in the mornings. I know that sounds cheesy but once you have found that person, you stop living for yourself and start living for them. To say it was the perfect engagement is an understatement because it was beyond perfect all because I was starting a eternal adventure with the love of my life. I hope you like the video it’s a whole bunch of home videos leading up to our engagement!
Credit: Amber Mozo