How We Met
We ended up going out with some mutual friends to see Christmas lights at Peacock Lane in Portland, OR and conversation began while walking along the winter streets there. We began spending more time after that with the same group of friends and eventually felt that God was leading us to one another.
We started dating February 13th, 2014 right after I came back from a missions trip, and knew soon after that we would spend the rest of our lives together.
how they asked
Nick mentioned earlier in the week that he would like to have a fall date this Saturday and take some pictures and enjoy the beginning of a new season. I loved this idea and we spent all afternoon out exploring and spending time together. After dinner (which apparently Nick could barely eat anything at because of nerves), we talked about grabbing sweats from his house and going home to watch a show or something. On the way to my house, I started dreaming about how nice it will be to be able to go to our own home someday and I continued telling him all the things I look forward to in the future with him.
Mid sentence, Nick randomly stopped the car in an apartment parking lot and told me to cover my eyes. This seemed very spontaneous and I was laughing because I had to put his hoodie on backwards in order to keep from seeing where we were going. While blindly in the car, I was joking about how it was good practice for me to not know what’s going on for when he proposes someday and how we may need to do more practice because of how nervous it was making me.
10-15 minutes later, after becoming more concerned and confused, we arrived and Nick told me to open my eyes. I knew exactly where we were. We were at the former-abandoned house where we first explored in high school together. This happened to be the first time God let the thought of love for one another come to our minds. I saw a car in the driveway and a person inside and started freaking out a little bit that a person was living there and we were parked in their grass, but Nick assured me he had permission and that it was all okay. I thought it was so sweet of him to be taking me back there, but was confused as to why he was taking me back behind the property. I thought maybe he planned a cute date of stargazing, but even that seemed a bit out there.
All it took was rounding the corner though, and I actually began to believe this could be the moment. Under the tree was a tent with a couch and candles and a movie screen all shining bright under the dark sky. Even at this point, I still kept my cool just in case I was wrong. Nick seemed so confident, and I thought, “He wouldn’t be so chill right now if he were about to propose..”
As we began watching the video he had set up to show me, I quickly realized that this was it- the moment I had been waiting for, for at least 2 years. I don’t think I have ever lived so in the moment as I did watching Nick get down on one knee. We were both in tears and few words were needed from that point on.
I just said yes.
Afterwards, my family put on a huge surprise engagement party complete with amazing food and drinks, a dance party, and all my favorite people. Everything was perfect. I don’t know if I could have planned a better engagement experience for myself to be honest. I am just so blessed with my family and I am so thankful for their support and encouragement through it all. I wish I could relive yesterday 10,000 times.
Ps- After he popped the question, we had our very first kiss after over 2.5 years of dating!
