How We Met
We grew up together in Naples, Florida. We were both homeschooled and part of the same homeschool community there. We met when I was 5, he was 7. He was my brother’s best friend, so we saw a lot of each other. When we were a little older (12 or 13) we started “liking” each other. And that’s when I found out my family was moving to Scottsdale, Arizona (due to my dad getting a new job in 2012). So I had to leave him and all of my other friends and move across the country. It was hard. And though our relationship has had many ups and downs, he eventually moved to Arizona to go to college at Grand Canyon University (along with my older brother, his best friend. And my sister) no more than 30 minutes from my house. He drove to see me whenever he could and stayed with me every weekend. We started our relationship officially on December 6th, 2014, and have been together ever since.
how they asked
We weren’t able to be with Marshall’s family on Christmas due to work schedules, so we wanted to plan a trip to see them in January. Little did I know what was soon about to happen. I had my suspicions about this trip, but I had had suspicions about him proposing before, so I didn’t think much of it. I was at my best friend’s house and Marshall texted me that his parents wanted to go out on their boat that night and watch the sunset. It was already mid-afternoon so I started getting ready. He picked me up and he was acting a little strange, but I didn’t notice at the time. We drove to his house where his family was already getting the boat ready to go. We got on the boat a little later and I noticed Marshall’s strange behavior when he started rushing his family to leave. We rode over to a little island close by his house and started walking down the beach, just the two of us. We walked for a little while and then he suddenly stopped and got down on one knee. I was shocked and laughing and said, “What are you doing?” “Oh, just tying my shoe.” He replied. I looked at his shoe, it was already tied. “You’re shoe is already tied.” I laughed. “Ah, you’re right, let’s just keep walking.” He laughed.
I rolled my eyes and laughed, because I’m used to him being goofy like that (all the time, haha). But that’s when I realized this could be it. We started walking again and I was just looking at the shells on the sand. “Look at all that driftwood over there.” He said, pointing to our left. I looked up and saw a blanket set up with flowers all over it, a vase of flowers, and a canvas. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. We walked up to the blanket and on the canvas was a picture of us in a field that his grandmother had painted. He explained the meaning behind it and then got down on one knee (for real this time) and asked me to marry him. He is the most thoughtful man in the world and it was the most magical day of my life. He is my high school sweetheart, my best friend, and now he’s going to be my husband.
