How We Met
On our first date (above)! Jerrid and I met while we were attending our church’s college ministry group. Jerrid had his eye on me for a few months, but never really said anything to me. A few quick tap on the shoulders to say hello, a wave here and there, and the occasional glances back and forth. On one specific night, our pastor was speaking on how everyone had gifts and talents, and how we all have the ability to use them for the greater good. I am one of the worship leaders for our church, and the college ministry, so I was singing that night. After the message, a group was planning to go out for some food, and Jerrid was very insistent upon finding out where I was going, and I began to get some butterflies.
Was this older guy interested in me?! We have a 4 and a half year age difference between us, so I began to tell myself there was no way that could be true. On our way to our cars to go eat, Jerrid came and walked beside me and began a quick conversation. Telling me how much he admired my gift of worship and how talented I am. Still to this, whenever I think back to this moment I get the same amount of butterflies that I had that day. We ended up talking together, at our cars, for about 20 minutes. We somehow shared most of our life stories, and it couldn’t have felt more natural and perfect.
Jerrid said he was going to In-N-Out, while I had promised my best friend that we would go to TGI Fridays, but he told me he was going to try to drop by. Only 10 minutes after we sat down did Jerrid walk through the door. While there were no seats next to me, there were some across, and that is where we sat. All night long catching eachother’s eyes and smiling under our breath. The next morning I Facebook messaged him, and by the end of the night he had my phone number. 3 days later we went on our first date to Coldstones, and the rest is history! Our first date consisted of walking around a shopping center for 3 hours, talking non-stop. We were already in love, and we both knew it!! One month later I was take on a surprise date to SeaWorld where he asked me to be his girlfriend in the penguin enclosure, since penguins are kind of our thing. Then right after that he took me swimming with the dolphins and made my childhood dreams of becoming a dolphin trainer come true!
how they asked
May 27th and May 28th were the craziest days of our lives. I am currently in the process of becoming a certified birth doula, so I have been anxiously awaiting to witness my first birth! On May 27th, about 10 past her due date, mom goes into labor and I am on my way into the hospital! Jerrid and I had plans to attend Disneyland the next day, one of our most favorite places in the world, to celebrate our 2 year anniversary that was on May 26th. I wasn’t planning on staying at the birth long, since I was there to mainly observe. Meanwhile, Jerrid is on the phone with his friend Cameron who knows one of the Dapper Dans at Disneyland. For those who aren’t aware, they are a quartet that performs at various locations on Main Street. So Jerrid gets in contact with the Dapper Dan, Will, and he is able to arrange for him to call his manager Chris, who is in charge of Main Street entertainment.
There are able to arrange that at 1:10pm the following day at a white porch towards the end of Main Street. Meanwhile, I’m at the hospital thriving and falling in love with my job. Jerrid and I spoke very little that night, as I was pretty busy, so we kept our plans for him to pick me up at 6:30am the next morning to get to Disneyland when it first opened so we could enjoy the good rides at the beginning. Long story short, it was a long night and the baby wasn’t born until 4:30am on May 28th and I was leaving the hospital at 6am, only 30 minutes away from when we were supposed to leave!! I tried to reschedule Disneyland to the next day, since I hadn’t slept at all the night before, but Jerrid said he really wanted to go on that Saturday and we could leave at 9:30am so I could get a few hours of sleep. So Jerrid picks me up a few hours after I arrive home, and we are on our way. The hour and a half drive to Disney felt like 5 minutes to me who was passed out asleep. When we arrived to the gates, there was something wrong with out prepaid tickets, so we couldn’t get in.
I was sure the day wouldn’t turn out well because we couldn’t even get in!! But we upgraded our tickets, and we were able to get in. First things first, I got a Starbucks, and we walked around Main Street to shop and pin trade, one of our favorite things to do at Disneyland! At the end of Main Street, Jerrid says he is hungry, so he wants to sit down for lunch. He was quite insistent upon sitting at a cute white porch (sound familiar?!) because it was shady and we could people watch. Normally, I would have caught on to the fact that he was acting weird and that more than likely he would be proposing, but I was so deliriously tired I had no idea. While we were eating, Jerrid tells me he sees someone he know! I tell him the chances are its not the same person, but followed him to say hi anyways. So we go up, and much to my surprise, they knew each other. Which was true, but they had never met in person. This was Chris, the manager of the Dapper Dans. Jerrid arranged that he would introduce himself to us so the Dapper Dans could be made aware that we were the correct couple.
As we are talking to Chris he tells us the Dapper Dans are about to begin their performance, and we should watch because its so fun! So we go to the front to get a good view. Before we know it, we are getting pulled up for an “audience participation” song. They help Jerrid play a game where he sings a song with them, to me, and I’m in heaven. I LOVE participating in activities like this! At the end of the song the Dapper Dans cover my eyes and tell Jerrid he will get bonus points if he can guess the correct color of my eyes, when he answers the question correctly, they remove the hat from my eyes and right in front of me Jerrid is down one one knee asking me to marry him!!!!!
To say I was surprised is an understatement!
At this point, we have a giant crowd around us, and everyone begins cheering as I nod my head to respond with “Yes!”.
After the Dapper Dans congratulate us, we walk over to the side, and are greeted by our friends whom Jerrid hired to take photo and video for us!
We couldn’t wipe the smiles off of our faces all day!!!
We are just weeks away from the big day and it still doesn’t feel real! I’m about to marry my very best friend, my life adventure partner, my forever ice cream date, and so much more!!! Thank you to Chris, Will, Cameron, Josh, Taylor, my parents, and the Lord for allowing and helping making our engagement day one we will forever cherish and never forget!
